SA Roadtests
South Africa
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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you can get at home.
*To read one of our archived road tests, just select from the alphabetical menu of manufacturers' names on the left. Hover your cursor over the manufacturer's name, then choose from the drop-down menu that appears.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.
Posted 15 May 2014
Back in January 2010, after driving a couple of Chevrolet Cruzes over a two-week period, I had this to say: “Speaking of performance, I found that for practical everyday use, the 1 600 cc model was hardly different from the 1 800. Given the choice, I would keep the R18 000 price difference and splurge it elsewhere.”
Things have moved on since then. Specifically, the 1600 picked up a further 11 kilowatts in October 2012 to make it even more of a threat to the bigger-engined car. Then, last November, GM fired the 1800’s sorry ass to replace it with the new 1400cc turbomotor. Power is nominally down by one kilowatt, but torque is much stronger, so it’s a whole new car.
Along the way, Cruze added a sixth ratio to the manual gearbox, gave both front windows the single-touch up and down function, included automatic stop-and-start, put LED side indicators on the wing mirrors and gave the hatchback a chromed belt line. One item the designers forgot to transfer over from the LS sedan is the second makeup mirror on the driver’s-side visor.
Unfortunately, the back seat cushion is still thin and hard and the design makes you sit with your knees up ‘way too high. The front seats, optional leather on the test unit, support well but I have reservations about their reserves of comfort on long trips. Both adjust mechanically for height. What is great is that the turbomotor transforms this Cruze from a pleasant but boring “company car” into something worth-while.
Pulling like a carthorse perked up on carrots and sugar lumps, it surges up to 100 km/h a full 1,7 seconds quicker than the 1800 did and joins the “stick it in top and drive all the way to Jo’burg” brigade. It’s geared at about 2400 rpm for 120 km/h in sixth, which is good but not brilliant; suited more to flat road economy than for roll-on ability.
Virtually unstoppable, you'll keep going up some fairly daunting hills but speed does drop off slightly. How do I put this? It’s not as over-geared as sixth in a 1300 Corolla, but a bit shorter would be nicer. Nicer, too, would be a trip computer that provides consumption information in litres-per-hundred rather than km/l, the default setting. My local GM press fleet manager assured me that this can be fixed by your local dealer; it’s simply a case of plugging his laptop into the service socket and ticking the right box in a menu.
Practicalities include a generous boot that opens to just above knee level. It has a shallow lip, is square without intrusions and is fitted with four lashing rings and four bag hooks. Three open trays, for personal stuff, are packed around the full-size steel spare wheel under the floorboard. Seat backs split 40:60, fold almost flat and a single, right-handed, pull down is provided.
In the back, taller passengers should have no complaints about headroom although knee- and foot space is a bit cramped. Two cup holders are provided in the fold down armrest and there are two seat back pockets but the door bins are small. Other storages, in front, include a narrow CD box with USB and auxiliary plugs, a further pair of cup holders, a generous cubby, a lidded dash top tray and a small drop down box by the driver’s right knee.
Interior trim is hard plastic which is becoming less of an issue as we get used to it, because it looks good and fits well. Colouring consists of a grey hood lining over a black dash with silver trim, so it isn’t overwhelmingly dark like some others.
The shift lever for the six-speed manual box is short, easy to reach and slots into gears smoothly, while the parking brake is sited for left hand drive but easily reached. Pedals are well spaced and there is enough room to get your left foot down onto the floor comfortably. There is an ECO button on the console next to the ESP on and off control, but I found it made almost no difference to throttle response.
While I felt that equipment levels, fit and finish and general value for money are about average for this price band, the 1400 turbo Cruze’s biggest plus is in its newly found vigour. Economy is miles better than on the 1800 too.
Test car from GMSA press fleet
To read our First Drive report click here
The numbers
Price: R242 100
Engine: 1364 cc, DOHC with vvt, turbocharged
Power: 103 kW between 4900 and 6000 rpm
Torque: 200 Nm between 1850 and 4900 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 9,3 seconds
Maximum speed: 195 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7,3 l/100 km
Tank: 60 litres
Boot: 419 litres
Warranty: 5 years/120 000 km; with roadside assistance
Service plan: 3 years/60 000 km; at yearly or 15 000 km intervals
This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.
Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8