Here’s the quick take on Chevy’s new diesel-powered compact sedan: If you spend a lot of time driving on the highway and want to really stretch your fuel dollars, you might consider putting it on your short list. But if you mostly do around-town driving, it’s much less compelling.
In our testing, the Turbo Diesel delivered an excellent 49 mpg on the highway, which is among the best we’ve seen in any vehicle. With its 15.6-gallon fuel tank, you could drive this Cruze about 760 highway miles before needing to fill up. And while cruising it provides a pleasant, civilized driving environment, with a compliant ride, smooth power delivery, and impressive isolation from road noise. Overall, that combination helps the miles ease on by.
We measured 33 mpg overall in the Turbo Diesel, which is good but only a little better than some less-expensive gas-powered cars. Also, at slower, urban speeds, you’ll notice a fair amount of diesel clatter that gets masked at highway speed and an uneven power delivery that tends to be unresponsive or abrupt, making it difficult to drive smoothly.
Inside, front occupants have ample space in the Cruze, although rear-seat room is very tight. Controls are mostly simple to use. And though the Turbo Diesel is competent in routine handling, it’s less agile than other Cruze models when pushed to its handling limits; it tended to run wide in our track’s corners, with a lot more understeer.
The Turbo Diesel comes well equipped, with heated, leather seats; a six-way power adjustable driver’s seat; a sunroof; and a backup camera. Our car cost $27,300, which is about $2,300 more than an equivalent gas-powered Cruze.
The full article is available to
ConsumerReports.org subscribers.
Sign in
or
subscribe to read this article.
Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright © 2007-2013 Consumers Union of U.S.
