Unexpected satisfaction in strait-laced

THERE is good news and bad news regarding the Chevrolet Cruze.

The good news is that you can expect very good specials on the current model. The bad news is that a newer Cruze launched last month -- it’s bigger, but 113 kg lighter and comes with swooping curves that make the current Cruze
look strait-laced — a bit like 50 Shades of Grey against a Grey College fifties yearbook.

This is because the design of the current Cruze goes back a bit, all the way to 2006, when GM Daewoo in South Korea played a leading role in the design and engineering of the Cruze, along with GM’s German-based Opel division.

Millions like it

Still, the new Cruze has big boots to fill. Since its 2008 global launch, the current iteration has sold over three million models in more than 118 markets.

In the 10 main markets for the Cruze, China’s millions have, over the years, mopped up four in 10 of all the Cruzes made, followed by the Americans, who bought three more and also made it the 2014 Fleet Car of the Year.
We South Africans also did our share, buying a very respectable 27 000 Cruzes — almost one percent of all Cruze sales — despite our market being minuscule in world terms.

And the old Cruze will not be making life easy for the new boy, as dealers will bend over backwards to flog you the last of the current model, adding all the extras that make outgoing models such relative bargains.

Handy to have

Top-end models of the new curvy Cruze will have the first wireless charging Active Phone Cooling feature, with an air vent to cool the charging bin. Because cooler phones last longer, don’t you know?

This, however, is a nice to have. A must have in the old Cruze is Chev’s MyLink.
Hence I really don’t see how Chev can add to the current MyLink without making the system bulkier and slower, as has happened with iTunes. Note, for me to call the MyLink a "must have" is an about face. For in the seriously fast little Sonic RS hatch, I could not link the same-named system for love or money to the Sony phone that I easily paired in three clicks in the Cruze -- go figure.
In the Cruze the MyLink even talks to BlackBerry's (to think I let my phone touch the same system, ieeuw!) and allows you to play stream your music through the touch screen via Bluetooth. You can also access your play lists, music and much more through the easy-to-use USB port.

It is so good I used the Cruze as an office, taking calls in there over MyLink rather than on my smartphone.
Also handy to have in the current Cruze are the USB charger, humidity-sensing air conditioning and cruise control.

All in the name

The current Cruze 1,4 SL automatic is no charger. I could not get it to do 0-100 km/h under 14 seconds.

Among modern cars, this is glacial acceleration, but afore ye judge, there are extenuating factors. The automatic 1,4 Cruze car weighs 1 873 kg in its socks. With 60 litres of petrol (which add another 44 kg) and my svelte self and assorted man bags, the Cruze’s “wet” weight is over two tons.

To speed up all this weight, the 1,4 turbo makes “only” 103 kW from around 5 000 rpm, which means at the start of the rev curve on the 0-100 km/h dash, my right foot liberated only a smidgen of a Watt to move each of my extra-fat kilograms. 

Watts are not, ahem, watt the Cruze is about. As the name implies, the Cruze is for cruising and it is when you drive like a man who pays for his own petrol that the proven 1,4 mill comes into its own, effortlessly pulling the compact sedan with all 200 Newtons from a low 1 850 rpm.

Watch the space

These high Newtons make for pleasing acceleration in second gears, which is what you need in city traffic, and allow the engine to only sip at cruising speeds.

Driven thus, the service intervals are 12 months or 15 000 km, with a service plan of three years or 60 000 km included in the price, as is Chevrolet’s warranty and roadside assistance for five years or 120 000 km.

When Chevrolet dealers announce special deals on the now strait-laced Cruze to make space for the curvy Cruze, you could do a lot worse than go have a look. For as 50 Shades teaches, strait-laced hides a lot of satisfaction in unexpected places.

Cruze pricing

(Valid in South Africa at the time of posting)

L 1,6 R230 400

LS 1,6 R247 200

LS 1,4 turbo R262 500

LS 1,4 auto R272 400