SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


This is a launch report. In other words, it's simply a new model announcement. The driving experience was limited to a short drive over a prepared course chosen to make the product look good. We can therefore not tell you what it will be like to live with over an extended period, how economical it is, or how reliable it will be. A very brief introduction is all we can give you until such time as we get an actual test unit for trial. Thank you for your patience.


Chevrolet Cruze range improved and realigned for 2015

Mild facelift
No diesel option
MyLink on LS models
Six-speed automatic option for 1.4T
Posted: 27 April 2015

The numbers
Pricing: See text
Engines:
1) 1598 cc, 16-valve DOHC four-cylinder producing 86 kW at 6200 rpm and 155 Nm at 4000 rpm
2) 1364 cc, 16-valve DOHC four-cylinder turbopetrol producing 103 kW between 4900 and 6000 rpm and 200 Nm between 1850 and 4900 rpm
Performance:
1600 cc: Zero to 100 km/h in 12.8 seconds and 185 km/h (hatch), 190 km/h (sedan) maximum
Claimed fuel economy: 6.7 l/100 km
1400 cc turbo: Zero to 100 km/h in 9.3 seconds (man) or 10.4 seconds (auto)
Claimed fuel economy: 5.8 l/100 km (man), 6.8 l/100 km (auto)
Tank: 60 litres
Luggage volume: 413 litres (hatch), 469 litres (sedan)
Warranty: 5 years/120 000 km; with roadside assistance
Service plan: 3 years/60 000 km; at annual or 15 000 km intervals
   

What’s new: Front fascia and grille, inspired by the Chevrolet Malibu, is more vertical, slightly reshaped and features a smaller, neater bowtie emblem. Projector type fog lamps and LED daytime running lights have been added. Sedans get a revised boot lid and tail lamp design. Inside, everything’s much the same except that LS models (most of the range) now have six-speaker MyLink touch-screen infotainment. That's instead of the plain vanilla car’s four-speaker radio-CD-MP3 setup with auxiliary plug.

The version of MyLink fitted to Cruze (and Orlando) features Colour (screen) Connected Radio that includes icon-based menus similar to those on iPads, built-in voice recognition via smart phone and a CD playback function.

The 2.0-litre diesel LS and LT sedans have been dropped and the LS 1.4 turbopetrol sedan is now available with a six-speed automatic gearbox, so the new line-up looks like this:
1.6 LS Hatch – R245 300
1.4T LS Hatch – R265 200
1.6 Sedan – R230 400
1.6 LS Sedan – R247 200
1.4T LS Sedan – R262 500
1.4T LS Sedan automatic – R272 400

The GM HydraMatic 6T40 automatic transmission uses three planetary gearsets, three stationary clutches and two rotating clutches, needing less space than conventional designs. Gear changes from second to sixth are accomplished via electronically controlled clutch-to-clutch action, whereby the clutch is engaged into one gear at exactly the same time it is released from another. The first-to-second upshift, however, is a freewheeling action whereby second gear’s clutch engages while the first gear one-way clutch spins freely. This allows greater smoothness at lower vehicle speeds.

Its on-axis design means it doesn’t fold back on itself as was the case with earlier GM ‘boxes built for transverse mounting. It’s all in a straight line with the crankshaft; just like conventional fore-and-aft setups. What that means to you is a lighter and narrower gearbox permitting more of the car’s length to be devoted to people space or to longer crumple zones.

What isn’t new: The 1600 cc naturally-aspirated, and 1400 cc turbocharged, petrol engines continue unchanged, as does the five-speed manual gearbox used across most of the range. Body shells are still extremely strong and rigid and designed to deflect impact forces away from the passenger cell. Five-star EuroNCAP and NHTSA (US) safety ratings apply.

ABS brakes (discs front and rear) with EBD and brake assist, ESP and traction control, ISOFix anchorages and a minimum of four airbags are included. It goes without saying that air conditioning, powered windows and mirrors, central locking, cruise control, remote buttons on the steering wheel, alloy wheels on all models and on-board computer are still part of the deal.

What the entry-level 1.6 sedan (without letters) gives away to its LS sisters are: Reach-adjustable steering, express up-and-down for the driver’s window, chrome mouldings on the window sills, leather steering wheel, and height adjustment for the front passenger seat. MyLink infotainment and two of the speakers are excluded, as are LED running lamps and the front fog lights. Seatbelt pre-tensioners and the passenger seatbelt reminder, curtain airbags and the passenger airbag de-activator fall away too.

Certain options aren’t available on the plain car either. These include full climate control, 17” alloy wheels to replace the standard 16-inchers, rear park assist, electric sunroof and leather upholstery.

Still General Motors’ second-best selling brand worldwide, the Chevrolet Cruze remains a solid and well-made family- or business car offering high specification with good build quality at competitive prices.

Information gathered at a manufacturer-sponsored launch event.



What We Do

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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