Filed under: Economy, Sedans/Saloons, Green, Plants/Manufacturing, Chevrolet
Cruze news: Cobalt replacement to get turbo'd 1.4-liter and 40 mpg
Rising fuel prices, both in the U.S. and abroad, means that automakers can now offer similar engines in vehicles sold throughout the world. According to Automotive News, General Motors' next small car, the Chevrolet Cruze, will be offered with a new 1.4-liter force-fed four-banger, putting out between 120 and 140 horsepower and returning fuel mileage in the 40 mpg range.The first version of the Cruze will be a sedan, but other body styles, including hatchbacks and wagons, are likely to come to market soon thereafter. The Cobalt-replacing Cruze will be built in Lordstown, Ohio, and sales will begin next Spring in Europe after the production version of the car is shown in Paris this October.
Gallery: 2011 Chevy Cobalt - spy shots
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
mike 8:36AM (7/14/2008)
40 MPG??????????? Finally, this shows that GM can do something right. I still want to see how it will compare to Civic in interior quality, looks and overall quality. I want to point out the word INTERIOR, it needs to be competative with Civic ( which is just great) and also the price needs to be low.
This looks like it has a potential to be something interesting, however this also shows how weak the managment is for GM, this car should have been here 2-3 years ago. Now all this car can do is help GM fight competition......had it come 3 years ago it could have given the Focus run for its money, they could have easily converted the aging Focus crowd into Cobalt crowd.
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Dave 9:12AM (7/14/2008)
If you want to see what the Cruze will look like and drive like just go test drive a Saab 9-3. If you look at the spy pics next to the Saab you can see where they are getting the platform.
And since the current Cobalt is basically the OLD 9-3 reused...it would seem they are again reusing an old Saab design for a Chevy.
Even the Turbo 1.4L engine would be the one that first showed up in the Saab Aero X concept.
The Other Bob 9:16AM (7/14/2008)
"This looks like it has a potential to be something interesting, however this also shows how weak the managment is for GM, this car should have been here 2-3 years ago. Now all this car can do is help GM fight competition......had it come 3 years ago it could have given the Focus run for its money, they could have easily converted the aging Focus crowd into Cobalt crowd."
While I somewhat agree, it is also true that this car was in devlopement two to three years ago, when gas was still somewhat affordable. Most pundidts will says that this car was in reaction to $4/gallon gas, but really it was being readied long before that.
The thing is $4 gas might make small cars PROFITABLE, which until now, wasn't worth banking on.
Vintage 9:19AM (7/14/2008)
I know the interior sucked, but I was able to eek out 38-43mpg in my old 1997 Neon 5spd. It handled great, stopped great, and since it weighed around 2400lbs, it was quite fast (15.9 e.t.)
It's kinda sad that over a decade has passed yet GM still isn't able to achieve that level of performance.
JimmyD 9:24AM (7/14/2008)
The Civic interior looks terrible, it shouldn't be hard to beat. I was going to buy a new Civic for my wife the but interior turned us both off, it reminded me of a mid 90's Pontiac interior. The 2001-2005 interior was far nicer.
TJ 9:27AM (7/14/2008)
@vintage: Chrysler can't even match that anymore...
Sean Flanagan 9:29AM (7/14/2008)
I disagree that this is finally something right. It's a step in the right direction, but they're still behind. You mention the Civic in terms of quality, but how about in terms of engine? The R18 in the Civic makes 140hp and gets 36mpg, naturally aspirated. 40mpg in a turbocharged engine means that it won't be easy to see that 40mpg, because it will make that number off-boost. Given that off-boost, a turbo engine will make a fraction of its power at any given time, this engine off-boost will make less than 100 peak hp, which means that most drivers will be on-boost more frequently than they would with a more powerful turbo engine, and on the throttle more than a similarly-rated naturally aspirated engine (as in the Civic). Sure, it might make more torque than the Civic at full-throttle, but it won't be much more due to the difference in displacement, and let's face it, what doesn't make more torque than the R18 engine?
Don 9:58AM (7/14/2008)
Better get your facts straight, the Cobalt XFE is best in class for MPG. Also, better than the Civic and Focus.
http://www.autosavant.net/2008/04/suddenly-cobalt-beats-its-competition.html
slider912 10:16AM (7/14/2008)
@ Don - there are a few inaccuracies in that autosavant article. the Corolla MT gets 35 MPG, for ex. and the Cobalt auto is waaayyy behind Civic/Corolla in overall MPG
still the XFE is a great showing by GM, and this Cruze looks really promising, if it can indeed deliver 40 MPG!
Vintage 10:20AM (7/14/2008)
@TJ: Yeah I know. Sad. Stupid 3400lb Caliber. I miss the 2400-2600lb neon. That car plus a bit more refinement and a better interior would be a world beater car.... in stock form, a neon will easily outhandle a mini cooper... and the SRT4 drivetrain was superb. Even the non turbo 2.0 liter DOHC and SOHC engines were pretty great, once they fixed the headgasket issues.
Kimura 10:25AM (7/14/2008)
Dave, you have no idea what you are talking about. The 9-3 is on a modified version of Epsilon, the Cobalt is on Delta. The Cruze will be on Delta II. Do a little research before spewing useless crap out of your mouth.
Torrent 11:45AM (7/14/2008)
40 MPG? SIGN ME THE HELL UP!
why not the LS2LS7? 11:46AM (7/14/2008)
Sean:
Did you just say off-boost the engine will make "only" 100HP?
Trust me, the times that in your car you use even half the max power are very low. 100HP is a ton of power. For example, if your house has 200A service (22KW service), that's 33HP. So you could turn on everything in your house and attach it and two of your neighbors' houses to a generator attached to a 100HP engine and run all 3 houses with "only" 100HP.
It is a common misconception to think that turboed engines are commonly on boost. If you had a boost gauge, you'd know otherwise. Unless you are towing a trailer, you essentially cannot be on boost on the highway (without reaching unreasonable speeds very quickly) and in the city, unless you are pumping the pedal for a jackrabbit start or in a speedy passing maneuver, you're not on boost there either.
And on top of this, a turbo engine is actually at its most efficient when on boost. Yes, it's using a lot of fuel, but it's uses the minimum amount of fuel needed for the power it's making. This is because you are virtually always at WOT (wide-open throttle) when on boost, and gas engines are most efficient at WOT.
psarhjinian 11:56AM (7/14/2008)
The Saab 9-3 has nothing to do with this car's platform, now or ever. The 9-3 is a short-wheelbase Epsilon (the Malibu, Aura and G6 and LWB versions of the same car; the Opel Vectra is similar to the 9-3). The Epsilon has, among other things, an fully independent rear suspension.
The Cobalt is a Delta car (torsion beam rear), and shares with the Astra, Ion and HHR. I don't know if the Cruze will be a Delta or not, but if it is, the most it might share with the 9-3 is it's transmission. This powerplant does not appear in any Saab to date.
Cary 12:45AM (7/15/2008)
I tried a bit of hypermiling in my mother's pathetic 2008 or 2009 [new] Corolla and managed 46MPG on the freeway over 45-50 miles. That's rated at 36 (best), I wonder what I could in this...
Dude 8:52AM (7/14/2008)
They need a coupe!
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Torrent 12:09PM (7/14/2008)
they will.....they have a cobalt coupe... this replaces the cobalt, so they would be foolish not to have a coupe. But GM is foolish by getting rid of the cobalt name, so right now they're kinda unpredictable.
MajorGeek 8:52AM (7/14/2008)
GM seems to have the wheels turning slowly, but at this rate, 2010 should be a huge year for them. Camaro, Volt and now a 40 MPG vehicle afterwards. Stock specualters hopefully pick up on this and toss some cash in the ring to keep them moving. Afterall they do have other nice vehicles and a solid pickup truck.
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xcrunk 8:55AM (7/14/2008)
Wow...this Cobalt replacement looks like a winner.
Between the exterior shots and the interior shots, now news about a 40MPG version, things are looking good for the General.
Let's hope they can deliver.
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BLS 8:56AM (7/14/2008)
So, 2 + 2 is 4 then? Chevy is getting a new 1.4L car that gets 40 MPG to be built in Lordstown and Chevy is debuting the Cruze a for worldwide sales to be built in Lordstown. I hope everyone figured this one out on their own.
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