Well, maybe not beyond, but at least to and from. Getting there though we were graciously allowed the opportunity to take a brand new Chevy Cruze down to Austin. Now, I have to thank James Wood Chevrolet in Decatur for lending us a temporary ride and for Drive Me Happy Chevy DFW for making it happen!
So, I started this blog because of the lack of enthusiasm for car culture today and I was happy that Chevrolet was able to see into this, not by way of me or anything, but by bringing the company to the youths of sorts. Sponsoring SXSW, the social media attention and other local events that Chevrolet has been helping entertainment seekers get to, is kind of an interesting and astounding move. You never know what kind of marketing will work, but in this case of the Facebook/iPad generation, they took the market to them. I won’t go into my spiel about how the younger generation cares not about the automobile, but at least they are being tapped into to show that if you have to get somewhere, why not check out the fact that we are hip to the world also. What I will do is embrace a new found way to create car culture. That’s what I’m about. This time it was a road trip to Austin, via Drive Me Happy Chevy, after winning passes to SXSW.
So, on to the good stuff. We picked up our Cruze as early as we could get to Decatur on a great Wednesday morning. We thought we would just be picking up a demo car with no options, not even a Cruze really, probably an Aveo or hopefully a Sonic. But we really got hooked up with a Cruze LTZ with RS package. I’m not as fond of the headlights of the Cruze but as an overall package, the car looked really good and gleamed in Silver. Great news is that we had hands free Bluetooth, push button keyless start and leather trim on nearly everything. I want to commend Chevrolet for using European style leather on the steering wheel with quality cross stitching and a fairly thick ring. Finally these companies are getting it right! This is a big time score in my book. As a driver and enthusiast, if I’m holding on to the helm of my automobile with dainty, thin, cheap rubber, I’m far from confident in the rest of the car. Though somewhat confusing at first, the Cruze’s multitude of steering column stalks took a minute to get used to but very easy to operate when understood. Most of it was tied into the center positioned info screen in the gauge cluster. The trip meter has come a long way! Push button start is also a great trend, but Chevrolet’s execution is a bit off the mark compared to the competition here. The button in the Cruze blends well into the dash and doesn’t seem to flow with the niceties of the rest of the dash. Most owners prefer a designated button that is fairly obvious while not being obnoxious but festooned as to mesh with the other dash bits. On the other hand, every push button, even the gear selector in the center stack was positioned very well and ergonomically for both myself and my wife. Who, by the way, actually won the Music Passes for us to SXSW. My only true gripe, which applies to many car manufacturers, is how tall the dashes are getting to be. Neither I, nor my wife are tall and so lower dash heights mean better visibility for us. This is a trend in most manufacturers currently though. Overall, we were both very impressed with the interior and overall visibility. As a premium car owner, I’m fairly staunch on how I rate interiors but the Cruze did just about everything very well. I just nitpick.
Let’s move on the fun stuff. Performance. With our model packing the 1.4L Ecotec Turbo 4 cylinder, it should be no slouch. Well, there is a lot to this story. The engine alone is a well designed and durable power plant that is very capable if a little bit low on power for a turbo powered engine. The transmission is what may be the weakest link here. While really experiencing good torque delivery and limited turbo lag, the gearing and shift timing are what keep this engine at bay. Now more and more automobiles are forced to be better at fuel economy and for this, the gearing is right and the car moves quite well. But Chevrolet should be offering a Sport mode at least, with quicker shifts and higher rev limiting. It only takes a quick programming to do such things. Chevrolet’s turbo engines have proved highly potent in the past so I would little worry about the engine. But at this point, even Hyundai is offering a sport shift mode. This would really perk up the car, especially in our Rally Sport trim, bigger wheels garnished with high performance Michelin All Season tires. My quick suggestion, keep the RS package, with the super low compression in the Turbo, allow for just a bit more boost and kick up the power. Allow quicker shift timing and more range in holding the rpm limits, even the 3.94 axle ratio could be an option. With 138Hp/148ft-lb of torque, it’s not far off of the baseline 4 cylinder. Now, this isn’t negative as this is good power for such a fuel efficient vehicle with great room. As far as steering feel goes, it is certainly adjusted for the non performance enthusiast and more for the comfort. Which is over 90% of the buying public so I have no qualm other than it would be good to implement a bit more road feel. Steering action was spot on though. If we wanted to go, it went. Nothing to complain about and easy operation thanks to an electronic power assist unit.
Comfort is not forgotten. Now I might have already mentioned the view from the driver’s seat, but what about your friends and family? I was very surprised with the amount of room we had in the Cruze. Though seemingly short, the leg room and ceiling height was great for all, even our tall passenger in the rear. Trunk room and opening was spacious and easy to access. Everything you’d ask for in a traveling car. Not boring you with dimensions, we were able to get all of our gear for the week for 3 people, easily in the trunk with room to spare and an empty cabin for whatever else we wanted! Realistically, the Cruze came with more upscale features than I would have ever thought a mid range model would offer. Touch sensitive entry with key sense, leather and aluminum surfaces with soft touch areas where necessary, XM radio with iPod connectivity available. Dual zone climate control, remote start and hands free communication. If I say any more I’m going to run out of letters! It does come with many available options when makes the Cruze versatile and economical. Chevrolet has certainly put mid level cars back on the map with the Cruze.
Road trips are a great way to get well aquainted with you automobile and I advise everyone do it whenever they can. We were fortunate enough to have an great venue to land at for ours. Chevrolet was big in influence with multiple venues, laser light shows, catch a Chevy (basically a free Cruze cab…if you can catch one) and test drives. I was lucky enough to catch a Sonic coupe for a test drive while we were down there. A sweet little car that I’m excited to see Chevy bring to the market. Why? Because small cars need to be enjoyable as well. Easily fuel sipping, financially smart, small cars need to make a comeback as great competition to those who have run the market for the last 20 years. My wife on the other hand, enjoyed a top down Camaro SS, in perfect orange and white. Sounds backwards right? Well I’m an obscure enthusiast and I have to check out what’s a little different. On the other hand, I missed the Corvette test drive by 10 minutes.
Of course SXSW was great and we never got to see as many acts as we would have wanted to. It was a great time and now have plenty of memories. More road trips in the future? I hope so. I hope everyone does. If you are in the market for a small to midsized vehicle, I would recommend you take a look into the Cruze. I never would have if not given the opportunity but now that I have, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed with all that has become, the Cruze. Certainly worth putting into the list of your current competition. Let the games begin!
