The Chevrolet Cruze is
a good car, although at least part of its goodness comes from the fact that it
isn’t really that small. It’s well-positioned against the Civic and Corolla. I
believe that it beats both of those cars in significant, measurable ways. You
are looking at the Cruze’s not-so-secret weapon: an interior that represents a
Cloverfield-sized leap past the competition. It’s part Cadillac CTS, part Buick
LaCrosse, part Chevrolet Malibu, and unmistakably GM in the way the exterior
does not quite manage to be. Forget the Civic or Corolla. From the touchable
dash panels to the big, comfy seats, the Cruze is fitted-out to compare
directly with Accords and Maximas. The interior is spacious.
The interior Chevrolet
Cruze if we go into the Cruze, you won’t need keys. If they are in your pocket,
you just have to pull the door handle and voila, the doors get unlocked. GM has
introduced what they call ‘Passive Entry Passive Safety’ which takes care of
that. The Chevy sedan comes with sensors on the door; so, as long as you have
the keys in your pocket and within the range of the sensors the door will open
when you pull on the handle. This can also be programmed for only the driver
door, or all the 4 doors through a setting in the console. To unlock just get
out of the car, and gently pull the door handle that’s it – your Cruze is
locked and safe.
Once inside, you are
welcomed by the large round dials of the speedo, and the RPM meter which have a
dash of chrome on them. There are buttons all over, and at night due to the
backlight on all of these, one would easily feel like he is in the cockpit of an
aircraft.
The centre console of
the Chevrolet Cruze LTZ top-end variant that we drove has an in-dash 6 CD
changer and FM radio. Sound quality is very acceptable, and the CD player
offers a very user friendly setup option thanks to the MID display. The climate
control which works and easily got rid of the Mumbai heat.
The large steering
wheel has cruise control and stereo controls too. Buttons on the wheel are
chunky and have a solid feel to them.
Steering is
adequately-sized with settings available for height and reach. The AC vents can
be closed/shut individually when not needed. A MID LCD display with cool blue
backlight sits on the top of the centre console which reads out the Radio
station, CD Track, AC settings outside temperature etc.
There is no keyhole for
the ignition – instead you get a rather neat start/stop button towards the left
of the steering column on the dash. The last car with the push button start
feature that we drove was the Nissan Teana – a Rs 32 lakhs car. A gentle push
of this button, and if you have the clutch depressed, the 2.0 VCDi diesel
engine comes to life. It is easily one of the most silent and smooth diesel
engine that we have seen/heard. The in-cabin sound insulation is awesome and no
vibrations or road noise is enters the cabin.
After the Cruze is set
on its way, the tiny Spark will be introduced in Europe in early 2010, followed
by the next-generation Aveo to slot between the Spark and Cruze in mid-2010.
Soon after the global passenger car lineup is complete, then comes the Delta
2-based Orlando crossover with available seven-passenger seating, arriving in
North America at the start of 2011. Soon after that, the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia
and Chevy Impala will be combined into one world car.
For now, we like what
we see and hear and drive with the Chevrolet Cruze. We do hope, however, that a
Cruze SS with the 260-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-4 arrives without too
much delay. And maybe a Cruze Sport, with a turbocharged, 170-hp version of the
1.8-liter engine. There is a hatchback version in the plans for Europe as well,
not to mention some talk about an electric Cruze based on the Volt chassis.
Posted by , Published at Monday, January 23, 2012 and have
0
comment
No comments:
Post a Comment