There we were, skipping church last Sunday morning to drive east on U.S. 34 in the 2014 Chevy Cruze Turbo Diesel. Would it really achieve fuel mileage in the mid-40s, as is claimed? We were going to find out.
The Cruze, a strong-selling compact built in Lordstown, Ohio, was introduced three years ago as a regular gas-engine product for Chevrolet. An attraction for the coming year is the new clean-diesel option. It’s a torquey 2-liter German-built job mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission.
I was impressed a couple of months ago with the performance of the Cruze diesel during a 50-mile drive over the uneven rolling hills of Colo. 105 north of Palmer Lake. After a noticeable lag on startup, the turbo comes on strong, particularly in 3rd and 4th gears, with the transmission in manual mode. The diesel boasts 264 lbs.-ft. of torque to go along with its 151 horsepower.
I kind of wondered then of its EPA estimate of 27 miles per gallon in town driving and 46 on the highway. That’s quite a stretch, to say the least.
So, I jumped at the opportunity last week to drive it again. After filling the clean-diesel tank at $3.68 a gallon (30 cents higher than regular-grade gas), we drove to Fort Morgan, up and down Main a couple of times, then followed paved county roads back to Wiggins, where we accessed I-76 to Hudson and lunch at the Pepper Pod. Colo. 52 took us to Fort Lupton and on west to Colorado Boulevard, where we turned north to Johnstown, then over to Loveland and east across U.S. 34 to Greeley.
On that run, the Cruze Turbo Diesel erased any doubt about its capability for high fuel mileage. For the 167-mile drive, it averaged 43.7 mpg. It seemed most efficient at 60 to 65 miles per hour. For the entire week of 525 miles, including lots of slowdown and stop-and-go town maneuvering, it posted an overall
35.8 mark.
In its diesel form, the Cruze is a direct competitor to the popular Volkswagen Jetta TDI. As a gas-engine compact, it goes against the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Ford Focus and Dodge Dart.
Base price of the Chevy’s turbodiesel of $25,795 is $2,000 to $3,000 above the comparable Cruze gas model.
It is well-equipped for that price, with leather seats (heated in front), air conditioning, power windows, cruise control, trip computer, AM/FM/CD/MP3/XM satellite radio, four-wheel antilock disc brakes and rear-window defogger.
A slight rear spoiler adds attraction to the short rear deck of the sedan, along with bright, wide LED taillights.
The Cruze’s overall length of 181 inches, a bit longer than Corolla, Civic and Focus, is considerably shorter than the Dart and Nissan Altima. Inside, it’s fairly comfortable, with well-bolstered seats. Woven fabric trim looks good on the dashboard and doors. Rear seating is somewhat tight on legroom.
Handling is very responsive and predictable with an improved Z-link rear suspension. Tires are 215/55R17 Goodyear Assurance. Steering is tight and accurate from its electric power setup.
On the safety side, the Cruze is equipped with 10 airbags, including front knee bags.
While the regular-gas Cruze has a roomy 15-cubic-foot trunk, the Turbo Diesel model’s is decreased to 13.3 by the presence of a 14.5-gallon DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) tank, necessary for cleaning the diesel emissions.
The diesel engine is built by GM’s European brand, Opel, in a factory in Kaiserslautern, Germany.
More than 183,000 Cruzes have been sold through the end of August this year. Regarding sales of 2014 versions of the Cruze, General Motors’ officials expect 10 percent to be the turbodiesel models.
This is the first diesel offered in a Chevrolet car since the 1986 Chevette.
U.S. trucks lead 8-month boom
Full-sized pickup trucks continued their strong resurgence in U.S. auto sales for the month of August.
Ford F-Series sold 71,115 trucks last month, compared with 58,201 the same month a year ago; Chevrolet Silverado increased to 43,603 from 38,295, Ram to 33,009 from 25,215 and GMC Sierra to 18,017 from 14,495. Toyota Tundra showed a slight decrease, to 11,365 from 11,387 and the Nissan Titan dropped to 1,261 from 1,907.
For eight-month sales this year, Ford has sold 499,050 F-series, an increase of 22 percent; Silverado has totaled 328,269, 14 percent gain; Ram has sold 234,642, up 25 percent; Sierra has 122,232, up 24 percent; Tundra has 72,750, up 11 percent, and Titan has 11,281, a drop of 34 percent.
With the coming fall months traditionally the biggest sales push for pickups, the auto industry is counting on the truck segment to lead it to near the 16-million sales mark for the year.
Saturday Drive can also be viewed online at DenverPost.com/budwells. Bud Wells can be reached via e-mail at bwells@denverpost.com.
