2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco 6MT - First Impressions

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: odie
Sorry to pry . I presume going to Buffalo area saved you more money than at nearby dealers ? If so , how much discount did you get ? Thanks



They sold me the car right around invoice, so I saved about $1300 off the sticker price. Total price after $500 down payment (my deposit applied as down payment) and my trade was a few hundred under $20k out the door, TTL and dealer fees included.

The local dealers were more than happy to sell me the car at sticker. Frankly, most of the dealers didn't want to move much except these folks. They told me they were after the sales volume with this sale, so that's why they moved on the price.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
I'll get a 0-60 time in mine once my ScanGauge II comes back with its performance indicators. Or have a neighbor ride shotgun with a stopwatch.

Car and Driver reported a 0-60 time of 7.8 seconds for the Eco manual. They reported 8.0 seconds for the LT automatic. I'd believe C&D, this car is quick off the line. Their quarter mile was a 16.1 at 87 mph, while the LT's was a 16.4. So the Eco manual is just a touch faster on the track.

Nick, not trying to bash auto Cruzes, just trying to bring some numbers into play.

That's the times I would've guessed with a fat small turbo torque curve and a 6 spd auto, but what I saw on Nick's video and the mpgomatic youtube clips look more like 10 seconds to 60 if not more for the automatic.
I'm sure some small tweaks to the engine mapping and transmission controller could knock alot of time off 0-60 for the magazine mules.

 

[addyguy]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
So, what'd you do with the Buick? Traded it in, junked it, or...?


+1...what happened to it?

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Originally Posted By: exranger06
So, what'd you do with the Buick? Traded it in, junked it, or...?


+1...what happened to it?


Traded it since it was that or junk it. It was too rusty for me to sell in good conscience. And it wouldn't have sold for a lot.

 

[sciphi]

First tank was 40 mpg. The "fuel used" display was bang-on with the amount of gas actually used at 7.4 gallons for 296 miles. That was giving the car brief periods of sustained high-speed driving, and longer periods of 6th gear cruising. After filling up, I drove a slightly downhill highway route and ended up with 63 mpg over 13 miles. That again was with getting on it to bounce it up to speed, and then letting it sip.

 

[mechanicx]

You are getting impressive fuel milage especially for a car that is far from being a light, noisy and flimsy econobox. It makes you wonder what some of these people are doing that are reporting "disappointing" fuel milage?

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
You are getting impressive fuel milage especially for a car that is far from being a light, noisy and flimsy econobox. It makes you wonder what some of these people are doing that are reporting "disappointing" fuel milage?


I know. Then again, I do practice the basic hypermiling techniques of going at a reasonable speed, and maintaining my speed by monitoring road conditions ahead of me.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
You are getting impressive fuel milage especially for a car that is far from being a light, noisy and flimsy econobox. It makes you wonder what some of these people are doing that are reporting "disappointing" fuel milage?


You'd be surprised at how clueless some people can be when it comes to why they are getting poor fuel economy. For instance, one guy on one of the Civic forums was whining because he was only getting 20MPG out of his Civic, but then once we dug a little deeper we found out he only drove a 2 mile trip to school, and that he idled his engine for 5 minutes every morning before he made that trip!!

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: Patman
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
You are getting impressive fuel milage especially for a car that is far from being a light, noisy and flimsy econobox. It makes you wonder what some of these people are doing that are reporting "disappointing" fuel milage?


You'd be surprised at how clueless some people can be when it comes to why they are getting poor fuel economy. For instance, one guy on one of the Civic forums was whining because he was only getting 20MPG out of his Civic, but then once we dug a little deeper we found out he only drove a 2 mile trip to school, and that he idled his engine for 5 minutes every morning before he made that trip!!



+1

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
You are getting impressive fuel milage especially for a car that is far from being a light, noisy and flimsy econobox. It makes you wonder what some of these people are doing that are reporting "disappointing" fuel milage?


+1

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: Patman
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
You are getting impressive fuel milage especially for a car that is far from being a light, noisy and flimsy econobox. It makes you wonder what some of these people are doing that are reporting "disappointing" fuel milage?


You'd be surprised at how clueless some people can be when it comes to why they are getting poor fuel economy. For instance, one guy on one of the Civic forums was whining because he was only getting 20MPG out of his Civic, but then once we dug a little deeper we found out he only drove a 2 mile trip to school, and that he idled his engine for 5 minutes every morning before he made that trip!!


he drove four miles day, he gets gas every two weeks. he needed to be pimp slapped.

 

[sciphi]

Considering my Buick would get about 14 mpg being short-tripped like that, 20 mpg is a huge improvement!

And a 2 mile trip to school? Why not bike/walk when the weather's nice?

 

[odie]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
Originally Posted By: Patman
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
You are getting impressive fuel milage especially for a car that is far from being a light, noisy and flimsy econobox. It makes you wonder what some of these people are doing that are reporting "disappointing" fuel milage?


You'd be surprised at how clueless some people can be when it comes to why they are getting poor fuel economy. For instance, one guy on one of the Civic forums was whining because he was only getting 20MPG out of his Civic, but then once we dug a little deeper we found out he only drove a 2 mile trip to school, and that he idled his engine for 5 minutes every morning before he made that trip!!


he drove four miles day, he gets gas every two weeks. he needed to be pimp slapped.

. Lots of them about . There's a co-worker of the other 1/2 that lets a company PRIUS run for 30minutes or more on many days of the work week . Then on breaks other co-workers sit in their vehicles with the A/C running while having a cig or just shooting the breeze . They've also let their car run and then go into another vehicle that's on to shoot the _ _ _ _ . Such waste .

 

[odie]

Seen a silver CRUZE in a parking lot . Very sharp looking . Startin' to get the itch

.

 

[Nick R]

So any new news you got going on there sciphi?

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
So any new news you got going on there sciphi?

Not much, Nick! It's not getting driven a whole lot since school (I'm an itinerant teacher) hasn't started up yet. I'm liking the fuel economy so far. Also the power! Rowing the gears on this is a ton of fun since the torque is so accessible. The manual surprisingly doesn't have much turbo lag at all if it's kept up above 2500 RPM.

As you can see, I'm debating which snow tires to get since I like the fuel economy. I'm also doing what I can to winterize this car so it lasts longer than my old Buick did.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: sciphi


I'm also doing what I can to winterize this car so it lasts longer than my old Buick did.


Even if you do nothing at all it will still last longer than the Buick due to the advances in corrosion technology on newer cars.

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: Patman
Originally Posted By: sciphi


I'm also doing what I can to winterize this car so it lasts longer than my old Buick did.


Even if you do nothing at all it will still last longer than the Buick due to the advances in corrosion technology on newer cars.


True. I'd love for this car to be pristine on the underside for years. Things are so much easier to work on when they're not rusted/corroded together.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
Originally Posted By: Patman
Originally Posted By: sciphi


I'm also doing what I can to winterize this car so it lasts longer than my old Buick did.


Even if you do nothing at all it will still last longer than the Buick due to the advances in corrosion technology on newer cars.


True. I'd love for this car to be pristine on the underside for years. Things are so much easier to work on when they're not rusted/corroded together.

You just need a moderate oil leak for a while...

My Neon had a cam seal leak for quite a while before I got it and its less rusty than the Tracker under there.
Getting the car sprayed with a Crown type undercoating is probably a better idea though.

 

[sciphi]

Indy, I'm Fluid Filming the underside later this week. I've 7 cans left, that should be enough for a nice thick coat!

The fairings and full wheel well liners on the underside will also go a long way to protecting the body. Glad to see that GM put so many underbody panels on this car, as that makes my job much easier!