2013 Chevrolet Cruze Review

Solid, American-built compact car.

Introduction

The Chevrolet Cruze is an excellent choice among compact sedans. It offers a long list of standard features and admirable fuel economy, especially with efficient Eco models. Inside, it has a roomy interior with attractive, quality materials, and it has a big trunk. It's an attractive car with relatively conservative, angular styling. A four-door sedan, Cruze seats five, four comfortably.

New for 2013 is Chevrolet's MyLink infotainment system. Standard on all upper-level models, including the 2013 Cruze LTZ and 2013 Cruze Eco, MyLink includes voice recognition technology, Bluetooth streaming audio, and support for Pandora and Gracenote. Two new audio systems also appear on the 2013 Chevrolet Cruze, as well as new options and packages. An optional Enhanced Safety Package for the 2013 Cruze LT features a blind spot alert system, rear cross traffic alert and rear park assist.

Launched as a 2011 model, the Cruze is a front-wheel-drive compact sedan developed jointly by GM tech centers in Asia, Europe and the United States to compete with the stylish Hyundai Elantra, sporty Mazda3, and affordable Kia Forte, as well as the sales-leading compacts, the Honda Civic, Ford Focus and Toyota Corolla.

The styling is conservative, though it's a well-designed, handsome car. Its interior is one of the roomiest in its class, with acceptable space for four adults, and it's also one of the nicest. Its trunk is also one of the largest in a compact sedan.

Cruze is offered with a choice of two four-cylinder engines. The base Cruze LS gets a 1.8-liter inline-4 that makes 138 horsepower and 125 pound-feet of torque. Cruze LT, LTZ and Eco models are powered by a turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder good for 138 hp and 148 lb.-ft. of torque. There's a choice of 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic.

Fuel economy is very good from the turbocharged 1.4-liter, at 26/38 mpg with both transmissions. Cruze Eco rates an impressive 28/42 mpg with the manual transmission and 26/39 mpg with the automatic. Fuel economy for the 2013 Chevrolet Cruze with the base 1.8-liter engine is an EPA-rated 25/36 mpg City/Highway with manual transmission and 22/35 mpg with the automatic.

Cruze Eco's high fuel economy rating is thanks in part to its aerodynamic features, including grille vanes that close at highway speeds, which help it slip through the air more easily. It also weighs about 200 pounds less than other Cruze models. Efficiency comes with a price, however, as the Cruze Eco sacrifices performance in the form of slower acceleration, longer stopping distances, and poorer handling compared to the less fuel-friendly Cruze models.

Ride quality is outstanding, and we found the Cruze handles exceptionally well. Its steering is powered by electricity to save fuel. Underway, the steering feels sharp, with decent feel. We enjoyed driving it.

Cruze comes well-equipped with premium features such as a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel. On all trims but the base, the wheels are made of alloy, and are not only lighter than steel, but quieter. While the Cruze starts a segment-appropriate $17,130, a loaded, top-of-the-line LTZ will crack the $26,000 barrier. True, it comes swathed in leather and loaded with technology, but for that kind of money, the alternatives include larger, very nicely equipped midsize sedans. For this reason, we think the midrange Cruze LT hits the sweet spot in this class.

In short, the Chevrolet Cruze deserves to be on the list for anyone shopping for a fuel-efficient economy car.

Lineup

The 2013 Chevrolet Cruze is available in four model levels, with a choice of four-cylinder engines and either a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic transmission. All Cruze models are four-door sedans.

Cruze LS ($17,130) is powered by 1.8-liter inline four delivering 138 horsepower and 125 pound-feet of torque, with a standard 6-speed manual transmission. Standard features include air conditioning, power windows/door locks/mirrors, remote keyless entry, a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel with audio controls, six-way manually adjustable driver's seat, 60/40-split folding rear seat, a six-speaker audio system with CD player, Bluetooth phone connectivity, an auxiliary jack, USB port and satellite radio capability. The standard wheels are 16-inch steel.

Cruise 1LT ($18,560) is powered by the turbocharged 1.4-liter engine and comes standard with the 6-speed manual. Additional features include leather-wrapped steering wheel, cruise control, body-color power side mirrors and 16-inch alloy wheels. Cruze 2LT ($21,040) upgrades further to leather upholstery, a six-way power driver seat, heated seats, a 7-inch touch screen with Chevrolet MyLink, a sport-tuned suspension, 17-inch alloy wheels and four-wheel-disc brakes.

Cruze LTZ ($23,550) comes standard with the 6-speed automatic transmission, the contents of the 2LT package including leather upholstery, plus further upgraded interior trim, automatic climate control, keyless ignition, auto-dimming rearview mirror, rear-parking assist, fog lamps, heater mirrors and 18-inch alloy wheels.

Cruze Eco ($19,680) is optimized for fuel economy. It's powered by the 1.4-liter turbocharged engine and is nearly 200 pounds lighter than other Cruze models, with aerodynamic aids that make in slipperier through the air and a smaller gas tank, among other minor changes that save weight. Standard features include air conditioning, cruise control, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a 7-inch touchscreen display with Chevrolet MyLink system and 17-inch alloy wheels with low-rolling-resistance tires.

Safety features on all models include stability control, antilock brakes, full-length side curtain airbags, front knee airbags and front and rear side impact airbags. Cruze LS, 1LT and Eco models use a front-disc/rear-drum brake setup. The 2LT and LTZ models use disc brakes on all four wheels. Also standard is OnStar, which includes automatic crash notification, on-demand roadside assistance, remote door unlocking and stolen vehicle assistance. Blind-spot monitoring and cross-traffic alert are optional for all Cruzes except the LS. The 2013 Chevrolet Cruze gets a top five-star safety rating in government crash testing, and a top score of Good from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Walkaround

The styling of the Chevrolet Cruze is handsome and nicely proportioned.

The Cruze is large, as compact cars go. Measuring 181.0 inches bumper-to-bumper, on a wheelbase of 105.7 inches, the Cruze is slightly larger than most of its competitors, including the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus.

Cruze is more angular than other recent Chevrolet sedans, including the popular Malibu. Its front end mimics the Volt plug-in sedan with a prominent Chevrolet Bowtie logo. The headlight housings are large, sweeping upward and around the front edges of the car.

The roofline arcs subtly from its steeply raked windshield through fast-sloping rear pillars, creating a generally sporty profile. Its wheels are pushed out to the corners of the car, with minimal overhang. No, this compact sedan doesn't break new ground or wow with its curves. But it's tidy and quite confidant looking, and the package generates a feeling of quality and solidity. Wheels range from 16-inch steel with plastic covers on the base LS to spoked 18-inch alloys with low-profile tires on the loaded LTZ.

The Cruze Eco is a slightly different beast from the other Cruze models, because it's designed to be Chevrolet's conventional-engine fuel economy leader. The differences start with 42 steps intended to trim weight, right down the size and location of welds in the body. As a result, the Eco tips the scales at 3009 pounds, or 214 pounds less than the comparably equipped mid-level Cruze LT. Cruze Eco adds a host of aerodynamic tweaks, including some adapted from the Chevrolet Volt. These start with active grille shutters that close at higher speeds, blocking much of the grille surface when the cooling demands of the engine allow it, and smoothing air flow over the front of the car. The Eco also sports a lower front air-dam extension, plastic panels that cover large portions of the underbody and a carefully crafted rear spoiler. It's finished with low-rolling-resistance tires on specially designed rims. That means a bit less braking performance or grip through the corners, but it also means less friction when the Eco is cruising along for better fuel economy.

Interior

The Chevrolet Cruze is roomy inside, with ample dimensions in most directions. The cabin is finished nicely with quality materials. Sound deadening measures result in quiet operation. Overall, the Cruze cabin delivers an excellent balance of quality, coziness and space to breathe.

Cruze is near the top of the class for the look, fit and feel of the materials inside. The seams join with tighter tolerances than those in many other cars, including some of those a class or two above. The textiles and plastics are rich, appealing and nicely grained, and the metallic trim looks good. The fabric used for the door inserts matches that used on the seat cushions, and it flows from the doors across the bottom of the dash. It's unique, and visually inviting.

The leather upholstery that's optional is thick, yet supple, and stretched tightly over the seats. The headliner is form fit with a soft, sturdy knit material, and it's only the outer layer of five in the roof's insulation. About the only thing not up to snuff is some hard plastic at the bottom of the door pillars, and while no one will look at it much, it's stands out as sub-par because everything else is so nice. The front-seat adjustments in the Cruze allow occupants to find the right spot quickly and easily. The optional power controls for the driver are just as easy to use, and the tilting seat bottom has more range, from steep angle to nearly flat, than one finds in some luxury cars. There's plenty of fore-aft travel for drivers well over six feet tall, with even more front headroom. If anything comes up short, it's width. Published figures rank Cruze at the top of the class in front hip room, but the center console is on the wide side. Larger drivers who drive with their legs splayed may find their outer thighs or knees rubbing on the dash or door panel. You can drive better with knees closer together, anyway, a position that's better for braking and downshifting.

The steering wheel is thick and grippy; with the optional leather, it feels great in the hands. The wheel tilts and telescopes in all models, and we applaud Chevrolet for adding redundant audio controls on its right spoke on all but the base LS. The cruise-control switches on the left spoke are the best in the business. There's an on/off master switch and a big cancel button, sandwiching a thumbwheel that flicks down to set or add speed, and up to resume or reduce speed.

Gauges are big and crisp, illuminated with ice-blue LED lighting. With the RS appearance package, they're trimmed with chrome and covered with bezels that make them pop even more in darkness. The tachometer is located on the left and the speedometer on the right, with smaller fuel and temperature gauges in the middle. Underneath the smaller gauges, a digital display shows current gear, direction of travel, and a host of options for vehicle or travel information. It's easy to cycle through the choices with a toggle on the turn signal stalk, and just as easy to set preferences for automatic vehicle locking and the like. Again, it's impressive in a compact.

The center stack of switches looks great, though a bit complicated at first blush. In fact, it's rationally laid out and easy to learn. There are four large, primary knobs for volume, tuning, fan speed and temperature, each ringed with a nice rubber surround. They turn with a satisfying feel that conveys the amount of adjustment just by the amount of movement. Other switches are pushbuttons, with entertainment and information high, between the dash vents and just below a large display screen. Climate controls are at the bottom. There's a single, large pushbutton to cycle through all the various airflow-direction options.

GM's so-called favorite button is handy, even if it takes a bit of mental adjustment to shake preconceptions about conventional AM/FM presets. This button allows the driver to cycle through five pages of six preset stations. But rather than being organized by AM, FM or another frequency band, each page of favorites can store any station available. That means you can store an AM news or talk station in the same page as your favorite satellite TV channels and FM music stations, enabling quick switching among them. The local traffic feed from satellite is thrown in for good measure. Conventional thinkers can still set each page to AM, FM or satellite, if that feels better.

Storage space inside the Cruze is adequate, if not overwhelming. There's a handy covered bin in the dash above the center stack. It can keep a phone, wallet or remote stored out of sight, and it's lined with rubber to minimize sliding. The pockets at the bottom of the front door panels are decently sized, but the hard plastic generates an annoying sound when a CD case slides forward under braking. The glove box is fairly spacious, but the console box is fairly small, with enough room for an MP3 player when it's plugged into the port inside. There are two cupholders in the center console.

The rear seat isn't fancy, but it's roomy and impressively supportive. The cushions for outboard passengers are carved, countered and bolstered almost as much as the front seats in some inexpensive cars. The downside is that the third space in the middle is narrow and flat, and not well suited for anyone past age seven or eight. This is really a four-passenger car. The outside passengers, though, will find plenty of headroom and decent legroom, with enough space under the front seats to easily accommodate large feet.

There's a power point for rear passengers on the back of the console, but no air vents. Those in back will have to rely on the center dome light, because there are no reading lights, either. The fold-down center rear armrest stops exactly at the height of the armrests on the doors, so elbows can rest evenly. The armrest has decent cupholders for those in back, but storage space is limited to fist-sized bins at the bottom of the doors and map pockets on the front seatbacks.

The trunk offers plenty of space. With 15 cubic feet of volume, the Cruze trunk matches the best in class, with substantially more room than what's available in the Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla (12.5 and 12.3 cubic feet, respectively). The opening is large, and the trunk lid parks straight up and well out of the way.

The rear seatbacks fold easily to expand truck space, but the bottom cushions are fixed, so the expanded surface is not entirely flat. The height of the pass-through space limits the size of objects that will slide through, and there are no tie-down points to easily secure something that might turn into a weighty projectile in a sudden stop. There are hooks for a cargo/grocery net just inside the trunk opening.

Driving Impression

The Chevrolet Cruze is a product of joint engineering among GM tech centers around the world, and the cooperation shows in the way the Cruze performs. It isn't perfect, but the Cruze moves Chevrolet to the front of the small-car pack.

In many respects, particularly measured by interior comfort and overall refinement, the Cruze performs a class above the compact-sedan standard. We can't say that about its engine and transmission performance, however. Cruze's powertrain isn't glaringly weak, but it's not one of the highlights in its dynamics portfolio.

The Cruze is available with two four-cylinder engines, and both have most of the latest control, durability and maintenance-reducing features, including fully variable timing for both intake and exhaust valves. The base engine displaces 1.8 liters, producing 138 horsepower and 125 pound-feet of torque. The upgrade engine is actually smaller, at 1.4 liters, but it's equipped with a high-tech integrated turbocharger.

The turbo engine generates the same 138 horsepower. It does produce an additional 23 pound-feet of torque, but that in itself doesn't seem enough to offer a choice. So why the second engine? We're not sure either, but we can guess. The 1.4-liter four generates its power using a bit less fuel. It's one reason the Cruze Eco model is EPA-rated at 28/42 mpg City/Highway with the manual transmission, and 26/39 mpg with the automatic. Those are the best EPA Highway ratings for any compact with a conventional gasoline engine, and better than most subcompacts.

Both transmissions have six forward gears. That's rare in this class, and another contributor to Cruze's overall fuel economy. The 6-speed automatic is technically advanced for a conventional torque-converter automatic in this segment, with GM's ActiveSelect manual-shift feature and a control program that unobtrusively puts it in neutral when the car is idling, even when the gear selector is in Drive. That, too, helps save fuel. We found the 1.4-liter turbo engine does an adequate job of propelling the Cruze. It's impressively smooth and reasonably quiet, even when working hard, and at 75 mph hour on the freeway, it's only turning about 2800-2900 rpm in top gear. The power comes on fairly low in the rev range, and then evenly all the way to redline. You don't have to wait until it's screaming at 6000 rpm for it to demonstrate any gumption. We'd guess that maybe 80 percent of typical drivers will be satisfied with its performance in daily use.

The dissatisfaction comes for that percentage of drivers who more than occasionally like to accelerate full bore, or drive harder than normal commuter-grade travel, and not just because the Cruze is slower than most cars in this class. On paper, it accelerates from 0-60 mph in the high 8-second range, which is not quick but probably quick enough for most drivers. Our complaint is more about how hard the engine is working in the process, and how you really need to keep it floored to get this car to go. It may also be that, because the Cruze is so well sorted in other respects, it could handle a lot more power.

The 6-speed manual transmission works fine, with a firm, smooth, shifter and gear ratios well suited to maximizing the limited power.

The automatic, though, has a similar bi-polar character as the engine. It works great when you're going at a relaxed, fairly casual pace, but not so well when you really step on the gas. As a full automatic, the transmission's shifts are positive and impeccably smooth. If you step on the gas just a bit to gain speed around a dawdler, it will shift down one gear smoothly, deliver a moderate bubble of acceleration, and then find top gear again as quickly as it can. But if the road opens up through the countryside, with nice curves that mean slowing fairly hard and then speeding up again, the automatic is less co-operative. Perhaps to maximize fuel economy, Chevrolet engineers seem to have programmed it to always seek the highest gear mechanically possible. The Cruze automatic doesn't like to shift down more than one gear at a time, and it won't unless you floor that gas pedal. And once it does downshift, it's most concerned with getting back up into sixth gear as soon as it can. In such circumstances, the manual-shift feature is the preferred choice, and it works almost surprisingly well. The shifts are quite quick, but still smooth, and the transmission will hold the chosen gear at fairly high rpm.

One important way the Cruze surpasses much of its competition is in its tight, ultra-solid body/frame structure. The Cruze unibody has as much extra-high-strength steel in key locations as any car Chevy has built, according to engineers. It has earned the highest scores in government-mandated crash tests in Europe, and Chevy says it expects the same in the United States. More to the point, the solidly -, body provides a solid foundation for a lot of good things that make Cruze pleasant to drive.

Interior comfort is one of them. Very little vibration finds its way into the Cruze cabin, and it's one of the quietest compacts we've driven, even with its little, hard-working engine. Moreover, the noise passengers do hear is the sort that tends to be less obtrusive, like the crack of tires on pavement seems. There is very little wind noise, and not much of the high-pitch mechanical or vibration buzz that can come across as white noise.

The solid body also contributes to excellent ride and handling. Even without a fully independent rear suspension, something that can make cars of this type jittery and prone to bounce in the rear, the Cruze's ride is nearly flawless. It absorbed mid-winter potholes with the aplomb of a luxury sedan, without a lot of bounce-rebound-bounce, or anything close to mushiness or float. In total, this compact leads the pack in ride quality, but it isn't sluggish.

In wintry weather we found the Cruze stellar, even with its standard all-season tires. Its lithe, balanced quality helps the Cruze on slippery roads, because if the driver is reasonably smooth, there won't be any squats, dives or side-to-side body swaying that can shift weight, upset traction and make the car harder to manage, as if there were a giant bowling ball rolling around in its shell. Traction control takes care of modulating the gas pedal. The driver just steps on it, and the electronics allow the Cruze to accelerate as fast as it can accelerate, given the traction available. The electronic stability control helps the driver stay ahead of the game, and it rarely lets anything get to the point where the Cruze might spin or swap ends.

When the pavement dries and the road clears, the Cruze can be good fun to drive, though more so with the manual transmission, as mentioned. Its power-steering pump runs on the electrical system rather than by drawing its power directly from the engine, and it's reasonably well sorted. It requires almost no effort to turn at low speeds, but resistance builds somewhat as speeds increase. The steering is also fairly quick, to the point that a driver might have to correct and re-adjust the car's trajectory through a curve, because the wheel was initially turned too much.

Overall, we'd rank the Cruze as a fine handling car. The nicely controlled body motion that helps in sloppy conditions applies on warm, dry pavement as well, at much higher speeds. At a more urgent clip, the Cruze maintains the poise it exhibits in a blizzard, with nothing jerky or surprising in its reactions. And there is quite a bit of lateral grip in the upgrade, low-profile tires, so it holds the pavement nicely though a fast curve. No real complaints about the brakes either. The pedal can seem a bit grabby when first applied, but the driver gets the hang of things in short order. The anti-lock brake system (ABS) manages full-panic stops nicely, and smoother, steadier braking quickly becomes a breeze.

The Cruze Eco's outstanding mileage ratings will no doubt appeal to many compact drivers. Though we haven't had a chance to drive one, experience suggests that there will be at least a slight payback for the higher mileage. The Eco's so-called green tires will be harder, less sticky, than those on other models, and that could adversely affect both ride and handling. The Eco may prove at least a bit less responsive than other Cruze models. Everything about designing a car is a compromise.

Perhaps more significantly, the Eco's weight-reducing measures could influence overall performance, and not from the safety perspective. Chevrolet engineers have trimmed weight from the Eco's body by using thinner steel blanks and fewer, smaller welds in strategic locations. They've probably trimmed some of the sound-insulating material, and all that could affect the Cruze's excellent structure and noise and vibration control. Shoppers are encouraged to drive both the Eco and other Cruze variants before buying.

Summary

The Chevrolet Cruze is a solid choice among compact sedans. It has plenty of standard features, good fuel economy, and a roomy interior, but falls off a bit in power and performance, and gets pricey at the high end of the model range.

Laura Burstein reported from Los Angeles; with NewCarTestDrive.com staff reports.