| Nine Ball |
12-19-2011 06:45 AM |
I just purchased a new 2012 Cruze Eco about a week ago. I have a 95 mile per day commute for work, and wanted something to put mileage on instead of my toys that I'd been driving. I test drove all of the competitors in the sub-$20K compact segment, did some thorough shopping on them. I thought I was set on the Ford Focus SE, until having driven them back to back. The Chevy feels/drives/looks nicer than the Ford inside, and felt more solid and stable. The Chevy also had a better trans and much less wind/road noise. Also drove the VW Passat and Jetta. Nice cars, but fairly boring with the auto trans and they still felt cheap inside. Their 5-cyl sounded overworked when accelerating.
Things I liked about the Eco? They did stuff that we enthusiasts can appreciate. They shaved off any excess pounds, put it on lowered suspension, covered the underside in aero panels, added a front air dam, rear spoiler, rotary forged wheels, low rolling resistance tires, and active shutters in the grille that close at highway speeds. All without the car feeling stripped or low buck. I picked the 6-spd manual, as it nets 44 mpg (mine is averaging this exactly). It is a 1.4L turbo, and still only requires 87 octane. Basically a turbo/manual gasser that competes with hybrid mpg.
Tony
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