Interactive Review:

2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco 6-Speed Manual

Well, I've been a bit remiss getting the next interactive review up after swapping out of the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro SS 45th Anniversary Edition last week, but I have a good excuse. I've been on the road since Wednesday for my day job, spending the last 4 days in New Haven CT. This week's Interactive Review will be, by necessity, a bit shorter. This week we swap into the opposite end of Chevy's performance spectrum, trading high performance for the high fuel efficiency of a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco with 6-speed manual. Fortunately, unlike some people, I have more than enough credit line on my man card to drive a car with an Eco badge. The trip from New Haven to Pittsburgh is about 465 miles via I-80. Over the entire trip I averaged 51.0 mpg at a fairly constant 65mph and used 9.1 gallons of gas in the process. Now one thing that brought the mileage down was the 250lbs of used networking equipment in the trunk while climbing over the Allegheny Mountains, effectively undoing Chevy's weigh saving measure of the Eco trim, but 51mpg is still a very impressive number made possible in part by the taller overdrive gear. So far, I am very impressed with the Cruze. The car is quiet at speed and it seems to be the easiest to drive manual I've ever been behind the wheel of. I am a little disappointed that steep mountain climbs require two or even three downshifts to maintain speed, but such is the price to pay for such a high efficiency vehicle that isn't a hybrid, especially since you don't take a performance hit over the non-Eco model.

So have at it folks, shoot me some questions about the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco.

Gallery

I am one of the few guys here who actually races in sanctioned competition on a regular basis. I have enough cred on my man card to drive the Eco Cruze. Thinking of buying one as a family car, actually.

VERY interested in what you have to come up with.

about the most impressed i have been with a GM in recent memory, overall a great offering for a real substantial and desirable car.

Good chance a blue or silver one shows up in the driveway. Would like more details about the handling, please.

performance with A/C on full blast....not just highway cruising, but hard stoplight to stoplight in town traffic. i have read some say the car is crippled in those type of situations.

Oh, nice. Thanks for the reference!

performance with A/C on full blast....not just highway cruising, but hard stoplight to stoplight in town traffic. i have read some say the car is crippled in those type of situations.

Will try it, but haven't noticed anything like that yet. The major bane seems to be steep hills on the highway which required a shift to 3rd in order to maintain speed.

However, if you're not in a hurry, you can do 1 - 2 - 4 - 6 shifts without difficulty and still accelerate at normal traffic speeds.

In the hard urban cycle I'm driving now, the DIC is displaying an average 32mpg.

but I've also unloaded the trunk too.

performance with A/C on full blast....not just highway cruising, but hard stoplight to stoplight in town traffic. i have read some say the car is crippled in those type of situations.

Will try it, but haven't noticed anything like that yet. The major bane seems to be steep hills on the highway which required a shift to 3rd in order to maintain speed.

However, if you're not in a hurry, you can do 1 - 2 - 4 - 6 shifts without difficulty and still accelerate at normal traffic speeds.

In the hard urban cycle I'm driving now, the DIC is displaying an average 32mpg.

but I've also unloaded the trunk too.

Never had to downshift in Ontario. We don't really have hills. I thought the hills I drove through in New Brunswick were steep when I had to downshift to 5th... can't imagine highways steep enough to necessitate 3rd! (Interstates or back highways??)

when i test drove the Eco, i remember it having some pull in 6th yet, fairly flat road, not much wind. Still, for 6th gear to have SOME grunt left was nice, and you have 5 other gears if need be.

My DIC is consistently optimistic. Is yours?

it goes both ways.

Well I did Reg's test. I notice no performance difference with the A/C on full blast. It appears that the Cruze (like many other cars) uncouples the A/C clutch under heavy acceleration. Holding your hand over the vents the blast of ice loses its edge a little but remains cold. All in all, no noticable change in pull.