Chevrolet Cruze Review & Specifications

Following the success of Chevrolet Optra, Travera, Aveo, Spark Captiva and Beat in India; the American car giant has shaken the other Indian car manufacturers by launching the all-new Chevrolet Cruze in 2012. This D-segment sedan built on GM’s refurbished Delta 2 platform competes with the likes Volkswagen Jetta, Honda Civic, Hyundai Verna and Skoda Laura as GM has set a highly competitive price tag to establish its rule in the Indian market. Not only does Chevrolet Cruze has bold and stylish exteriors, but also has comfortable, elegant and spacious interiors. To make it a competitive D-class sedan; the Americans have tagged this car between 14 – 16 lakhs.

Chevrolet Cruze has extremely sporty and dynamic exteriors when compared to the other cars in this segment. From the front, it gets an aggressive look with its dominant black colored hexagonal meshed upper front grille having chrome plated outline and split into two regions separated by a body colored horizontal strip endorsing the golden Chevrolet logo. The arrow-shaped peeled back headlamp cluster, sleek bonnet, black rectangular meshed lower front grille and body colored front bumpers with integrated rounded sharp fog lights also add up to the aggressive look of this car. The number plate sits right in between the upper and lower front grille.

From the side, Chevrolet Cruze is a blend of luxury sedan and a sports car look. Features like chrome finished door handles, 17 inch alloy wheels, arch shaped roof, turn indicators just above the front wheels, body colored ORVMs and sleek ridges at the side bumpers add up to the muscularity of this car. The short boot makes this car look like a coupe. From the rear, the stylish twin colored complexly shaped tail lights split by boot gate and rear bumper, integrated mini spoiler above the boot, horizontal chrome plating between the tail lights and over-sized body colored rear bumper add up to the overall aesthetics of this car. Shockingly, the rear fog lamps are missing in this machine. This car measures 4597 mm in length, 1788 mm in width and 14777 mm in height and has a ground clearance of 165 mm.

From the inside, Chevrolet Cruze is more like a symbol of luxury and comfort. The dual tone beige dashboards with leather covered upholstery; sleek and stylish multi-panel and multi-instrument dashboard; leather covered audio controls mounted steering wheel, leather covered gear knob and leather covered seats, all add up to the visuals of the interior. Such is the quality of material used on the inside that it’s extremely quiet in the cabin. Other features that add to the comfort include climate controlled AC, electro-chromatic rear view mirror, electrically operated front and rear windows, cruise control, automatic lighting control, tilt-able and adjustable telescopic power steering, sun visors on front passenger side vanity mirror, rain sensitive windscreen wipers, tinted windshield and advanced integrated RDS Radio/CD player with MP3 CD capability audio system with six integrated speakers. Altogether, Chevrolet Cruze offers a spacious and a comfortable ride which can easily accommodate 5 six feet passengers.

The Chevrolet Cruze is powered by only diesel engine option as of now. However the engine is highly capable enough to deliver high level of performance as well as acceleration. The car again has two variants in diesel itself both of which are powered by a 2.0L four cylinder inline engine with advanced VCDi (Variable Geometry Turbo Common Rail Direct Injection) Technology. These engines are capable of producing a maximum power of 166 PS @ 3800 rpm and a maximum torque of 380 Nm @ 2000 rpm. The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission and can produce enough acceleration to make the car reach from 0-100 km/hr in just 9.7 seconds while reaching a top speed of 14 km/hr.

The American auto manufacturer Chevrolet has taken special care to ensure that the Chevrolet Cruze is the safest car in its segment. Dual front SRS airbags, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD), electronic stability control and traction control, Mc Pherson strut front suspension with gas charged shock absorbers, large ventilated disc brakes are some active safety and handling features that are incorporated in this car. Passive safety features like keyless entry with keyless start/stop, cruise control, ISOFIX child seat restraint system, child locks and central locking, front seatbelt reminder, warning indicator for driver seatbelt, height adjustable front seatbelts with pretensioners, knee protector and height adjustable headrest have also been added to improve the safety and security of Chevrolet Cruze. Emergency exit behind the rear seat and quick thinking LAN bus with 500 kbps microprocessor chip-set which connects to the engine for faster and better performance are some of the state-of-the-art safety features that have been newly added to this car.