The Cruze is one of the top contenders in the compact sedan segment. It remains a fierce top choice in the class with its competitive 30 city/40 highway mpg rating, along with a highly respectable 153 horsepower and 177 lb. ft. of torque. The Cruze I drove was powered by a 1.4 liter turbocharged 4 cylinder engine paired with a 6-speed automatic, but there is also a 1.6 liter turbocharged diesel engine available paired with a 9-speed automatic. While the Cruze has competitive numbers, my overall driving impressions were mixed.
The first thing I noticed immediately setting off in the Cruze was the lackadaisical throttle response. It’s one of those cars where you really need to jam on it to feel some acceleration. Some people may prefer that, however I personally prefer an accelerator with immediate response, and one that doesn’t require much effort. I think the ergonomics of the pedals could also be improved, because the accelerator pedal is far more recessed into the floorboard than the brake pedal, and it felt like there was simply too much distance between the two pedals to switch back and forth between them comfortably. After spending more time in the Cruze I slightly got used to the feel of it, but I know that it’s something that would still occasionally annoy me if I owned one. The brakes are nice and stiff with good bite to them, I just wish the pedal placement felt more natural and ergonomically friendly.
Another thing I noticed was the feel of the 6-speed automatic. It seems to lag a little and it feels slow to shift. If you baby the accelerator the shifts feel fine, but if you try to accelerate somewhat faster I noticed long pauses in the power curve as the transmission was preparing to shift into the next gear, which gives you somewhat of a sloppy and unrefined shift feel. I’d say about 3/4 of the time the shift quality is good, but that other 1/4 of the time, something feels off about the shifting. The 6-speed automatic also feels heavily tuned for fuel economy and is resistant to downshift, so it is not the most intuitively tuned or sport-like transmission in the class.
For having a turbocharged engine and competitive torque and horsepower figures in the segment, I felt that the Cruze lacked off-the-line grunt. You feel as though you aren’t going anywhere for the first few gears. The mid-range pull feels fine, in fact you don’t really need the transmission to drop a gear to feel adequate torque and passing power, but it does feel slow when accelerating from stop light to stop light. I also did not like the auto start-stop feature. Upon lifting your foot from the brake, it hesitates too long and it feels jerky when the engine comes back on. There is no way to shut the auto start-stop feature off, either. Possibly they were trying to get one or two extra MPG, or they were trying to satisfy certain emissions regulations, but it’s an annoying feature nonetheless.
The overall engine and transmission characteristics give the impression that the Cruze puts refinement over sportiness and engagement. The engine remains pretty quiet and it sounds decently refined for having such a small displacement. It feels and drives more natural and intuitive when you’re driving at a more relaxed pace, but if you try accelerating harder you really notice that the engine is slow to rev. It doesn’t have the zippiness that other 4 cylinder entries in the segment have. Once you’re up to speed, however, the Cruze glides down the road with solidity and maintains a constant speed with very little rolling resistance. For those of you who are more focused on MPG, the Cruze is going to feel right at home.
Despite the relaxed nature of the Cruze, the handling isn’t bad at all. The body feels notably stiff and rigid going around corners while maintaining a composed ride over bumps. It feels about right on par with the Ford Focus in terms of handling. It’s not going to give you Mazda 3 levels of engagement, nor is it going to feel scrappy and zippy like a Honda Civic, but the chassis feels planted nonetheless.
Nothing particularly noteworthy about the steering feel. It’s light, but not uncomfortably loose. It’s direct, but not Mazda direct. You don’t get much feedback or road feel, but it seems communicative enough to tell you where the front tires are pointing. It points straight and allows you to maintain good control over the vehicle around turns or in corners. When you drive a Cruze, you aren’t going to notice any weirdness or discomfort with the steering, contingent upon your expectations being low enough. For a compact sedan, it does its job and it is far from the worst steering feel in the segment.
The interior doesn’t totally hide the fact that the Cruze is a compact economy car, but in the Premier trim level interior feels like a nice place to spend time in. I appreciated the heated steering wheel feature as well as the 7 inch infotainment screen. Mostly everything seems to respond well and the infotainment feels easy to navigate, however the interior isn’t perfect or best in class. I thought that some of the materials used were a little cheap, particularly the leather seats. The seats themselves feel decently plush and comfortable to sit in, but the material used in the seating surfaces is not up to par with what you get in a Honda Civic or Mazda 3. The leather feels somewhat rubbery and fake, kind of like how you used to picture “leather” in an economy car before Mazda and Honda stole the game. Some of the main switchgear can also feel a bit chintzy, and there are some panel gaps in the interior. I tried to put my phone on the gauge cluster behind the steering wheel to look at my GPS, and my phone fell behind the steering wheel. I’ve lost things under the seat in some cars, but behind the steering wheel?! It’s not a bad interior in terms of aesthetics and feature content, and most of the main touch points feel good. It’s only when you look closely that you see some evidence of cost-cutting.
I wasn’t a fan of the outward visibility. I thought the side mirrors were too small and oddly shaped, and the rear windshield is pretty narrow with a higher rear deck. Even the view out of the front windshield seemed a little off to me. The dashboard feels elevated too much and it doesn’t provide that crystal clear view of the road that you would normally expect from a small car like the Cruze.
Overall, the Cruze isn’t a bad car. The only things that I really disliked was the pedal response and the auto start-stop feature. The transmission programming, material quality, and outward visibility weren’t my favorite, but those things are negligible for most compact sedan shoppers. The Cruze is somewhat of a mixed bag, but it is still a pretty competitive car. Good gas mileage, good ride and handling, good refinement, good technology, all at a good value. A Civic or a Mazda 3 will feel more engaging, but the Cruze does a good job at hitting that middle ground for shoppers looking for an A to B type of car.