BRAAIVLEIS, rugby, sunny skies and… Okay, let’s just face it, for today’s generation of new car buyers the brand most associated with those three words is the manufacturer of a brewed beverage and not Chevrolet, which was once ensconced in our collective conciousness courtesy of a catchy jingle. No, for those who grew up during the era that General Motors morphed into Delta and became economically active at, or after, the bowtie badge’s return to South Africa in 2003, Chevrolet is synonymous with Korean or Australian products that appeal primarily to the pocket but not really the heart…
The Chevrolet Cruze 1,8 LT Automatic, which was in our company for a little over a year, has certainly gone a long way to convince CAR that the second part of that statement is no longer strictly true. To be honest, the 1,8 LT Automatic isn’t the pick of the litter, although it comes with a lot of toys and never skipped a beat during its tenure with us.
The strong impression begins with the Cruze’s looks. Although this compact saloon is not the fi rst Chevrolet to sport the brand’s now characteristic dualport grille design (that honour goes to the current facelifted Aveo), it’s arguably the most handsome bowtie-bearing car to be launched in South Africa. A steeply raked windscreen, arching roofl ine and concave shoulder lines contribute to an instantly recognisable profi le and its large headlamps and clamshell bonnet dominate the frontal view. As its brethren became increasingly visible on local roads, our Cruze continued to draw interest, especially by virtue of its striking 17-inch alloys and, moreover, we never got tired of its macho looks.
When there was an errand to run around town, the Cruze was pushed into action with relish. Its handsome dual-cockpit interior features a combination of light grey leather upholstery, metallic-look facia trim and softtouch grey and anthracite interior plastics and, above all, comes kitted-out with a lot of mod cons in standard LT specifi cation. Climate control, electric windows, self-locking doors, a multi- function steering wheel and a folding rear backrest are to be expected at this price level, but the folding and heated side mirrors, self-dimming rear-view mirror, auto-on lights, rain-sensing wipers and rearmounted park distance sensors were most appreciated, as irony would have it, when testers drove other vehicles immediately after the Cruze and found themselves forgetting to switch on the lights/wipers or having to reverse without the aid of a nanny beeper…
At the end of the long-term test the interior remained impressively rattle-free and apart from scuffi ng on the plastic surfaces at the edges of the footwell and the bottom of the door linings, only the light grey leather trim proved somewhat impractical because it was hard to keep unsoiled in everyday use. Some testers said the automatic air-conditioner felt “powerful” and set the cabin temperature higher than they’d usually prefer to compensate, and drivers who like to sit close to the steering wheel remarked that their left knee tended to brush against the ventilation adjustment knob to the bottom right of the facia hangdown. The Cruze also made it diffi cult to sneak home late at night… not because of the follow-me-home headlamp function, but because when the alarm/immobiliser engages the car’s hooter emits a short, sharp “brahp” – it’s virtually guaranteed to wake the neighbours’ mutts…
As we noted in the road test of the similarly-specced 2,0D model, something that would warrant inclusion is a USB jack to complement the auxiliary input for the MP3-compatible six-speaker radio/6CD audio system, and the ability to fl ip between folders on discs which had multiple collections of MP3 fi les burned onto them.
Being more spacious than many C-segment cars, the Cruze otherwise excelled at transporting a family of four (such as dad, mom and two primary school pupils) in comfort. To seat a pair of adults in the rear required some negotiation with the front occupants to fi nd a compromise on legroom, but at least there’s decent capacity for the monthly shopping spree. It was noted that the elongated U-shaped bootlid hinges prohibit users from packing the boot to the top on either ends of the aperture without squashing the contents when closing the lid…
Up to this point in the writeup, one could say the Cruze has covered itself in glory because its smart packaging is backed by ride and handling qualities that reflect the dynamism inherent to General Motors’ Delta 2 platform. Overall, the ride’s quite absorbent, with neutral handling and predictable responses to steering inputs. There’s a relative lack of steering feedback and body roll will be apparent during enthusiastic cornering, but these occurrences were unfortunately quite rare, because, frankly, the 1,8 LT auto’ is a slow-poke.
Our single biggest criticism of this particular model remains the odd combination of its droning 104 kW engine with its middling torque peak of 176 N.m and an over-eager six-speed automatic transmission. During the first half of the evaluation, the test team lamented that when overtaking acceleration was required, the 1,8 LT’s transmission would frantically select a lower ratio or two – even when less than the kickdown pedal position was used, the engine would buzz like an embattled blender, and then the ‘box would shift up immediately into a cruising gear when the driver gradually lifted off the gas.
Having discussed the “gear hunting” phenomenon with a local General Motors representative, it was suggested that we book in the test unit at Reeds N1 City to have its electronic management software for engine, transmission and stability systems upgraded to the latest specification. The update is usually carried out at the one year/ 15 000 km service, but we were keen to see whether the update would effectively solve the “problem”. As it turned out, there was indeed an improvement after the no-cost upgrade – the ‘box made better use of the engine torque at its disposal by kicking-down more moderately and then hanging on to the lower gear for a trifle longer. Having said that, the Cruze is still a modestly-engined automatic model that’s best suited to leisurely driving – towards the end of the car’s evalution some testers preferred to select the auto’s manual override mode from the start and change gears by hand while giving their left foot a rest. We are confident that was never GM’s design for that function!
Meanwhile, it also bears mentioning that the service experience from the sizeable Reeds N1 City franchise was very satisfying. Even though the Cruze was registered on GM’s database as a member of General Motors SA’s fleet, I was still greeted cordially by name when I parked the 1,8 LT on the forecourt of the workshop. Both the software update and one-year/15 000 km service bookings were confirmed promptly by e-mail after initial telephonic enquires from the CAR office, and the service advisors on duty on both occasions were personable, well informed and helpful. There were SMS updates from the dealerships on the two days in question, and after the scheduled service (that was completed by 3pm that day), feedback for the service was requested by the dealership via e-mail.
TEST SUMMARY
Although the outright performance of our long-term Cruze wasn’t particularly sparkling, this new-wave Chevrolet is packaged in a way that caters well for the buying power, spec requirements and aesthetic tastes of a younger clientele. It still underscores the General’s strong emphasis on good value for money, but it’s individualistic and charming, too.
Our experience of the torquey 2,0 turbodiesel model, for example, demonstrated that added muscle could give the Cruze some go to match the show… We hope that the topof- the-range petrol models will follow suit in the near future, because this model will be a pleasure to live with, but only for those who must have an automatic!