Question to those who have driven the Cruze.

drpullockaran · 2nd March 2010, 19:25

This question is more specifically to those own the Cruze or have driven the Chevy Cruze for some length of time.

What I am about to state is either a problem in my car or a boon.

I bought myself a Cruze recently. I had been forewarned about the turbo lag till 1700-1900rpm. In my car I am absolutely certain that the turbo kicks in at 1400rpm which was confirmed by the service engineer at GM Ernakulam during my first service. I did lodge a complaint about excessive smoke in the service chart. Moreover I do not need to press the accelerator pedal in any of the gears, 5 forward and 1 reverse for starting motion or keeping the car in motion. The car does not stall or bog down in any gear even when there is a moderate incline. The sad part to this is that there definitely is more smoke from the tailpipe on hard acceleration relative to all the cars that have been delivered from GM Ernakulam according to the service engineer.

I get a fuel efficiency of 12-13 km in moderate highway traffic whilst my colleague regularly gets 13-15 in a similar Cruze of different color driven on the same stretch of road and time of day. The service manager is of the opinion that I have got the engine that has been tuned for the Captiva and he showed me the smoke levels in the Captiva which is similar to my Cruze though split between twin tailpipes in the captiva. He too is surprised with the torque output and suggested I drive with these ECM settings till he can confirm if the higher torque would affect the drive shafts in the Cruze.

Now to the question to members here.

1)Can anyone of you confirm whether the tuning parameters for the engine of the Captiva and Cruze are different as they share the same engine and also whether the drive shafts are different. I know the gearbox and engine are the same but the service engineer is not sure about the capability of the drive shaft.

2)Is anyone here having the Cruze able to lift off the accelerator pedal in all gears without stalling the engine by which I mean does the engine keep running in 5th gear even after lifting your foot off the accelerator pedal with the engine management maintaining rpm's at 850 on mild to moderate inclines. My colleagues engine can do it in 1st gear only. The good part is that in traffic I need to use only gear lever, clutch and brake with no need for the accelerator pedal.

Thanks for your time in answering.

AbhiJ · 2nd March 2010, 19:43

Dont know about the Cruze, but in my i20 CRDi, I can lift my feet off and drive in 3rd, 4th and 5th gear easily.

5th gear maintains 45 kmph moreorless....

dustom_99 · 2nd March 2010, 21:48

HaHa! you should shoot that service engineer! ASAP! how on earth would u get a cap tuned engine in cruze. Sir these engines leave engine shop with entirely different Barcodes(Yes both versions have different barcode sticker).Then they are mated to a chassis and finally the chassis and engine is married off in Final Vehicle assembly( married means both chassis and engine barcode are scanned one after another,and a union of chassis number and engine number is formed that lasts for eternity.
Also all engines leave assembly shop prechecked for all running parameters.
with different barcodes it isnt possible to marry a cap engine to a cruze! system simply does not make an entry and shows improper coding format error. without marriage nuttin ever leaves the plant.
i would suggest You invest few bucks and buy rat poison( you know for whome )FUN INTENDED!!
Almost all mordern diesel cars pulls the tricks you have talked about,except the lethargic MJd

Jaggu · 2nd March 2010, 21:56

Even MJD pulls from idle if you need it to

I think your SA is taking it to a very unrealistic levels of explanations. Have you tried a different fuel source for the smoke issue? Also are both the cars that you have compared done has run the same?

dustom_99 · 2nd March 2010, 22:12

I meant others pull better!! haha!! same old debate!!

Jaggu · 2nd March 2010, 22:30

OT: No debate, i was not being serious

tsk1979 · 2nd March 2010, 22:36

When I reviewed the cruze, she puttered along in idle at 50kmph in 5th gear. I have also explained the nature of turbo lag in the review

drpullockaran · 2nd March 2010, 23:52

Thanks for the replies. By my long post you can gather how paranoid I am getting about the issue. I am happy my car is not abnormal after all. Why I was paranoid is because my diesel Indica DLE bought on 30th May 2000 before it became the Junkindica it is now; was the most powerful, completely silent and with stupendous fuel efficiency to boot; car in the entire country. By power I mean it would touch 130kmph with ease till I ran out of road, by silent I mean it was far more silent than the Cruze I have now, in fact you could not hear the engine in the drivers seat once warmed up even if we strained to hear it. By fuel efficiency I mean the variation was within 16.8 to 17.4 km/liter however we drove it, whether it was with AC or not, loaded or not, driven with pedal to the metal or driven with an extremely light foot. The magic was the minimal variation in fuel efficiency.

This came into the knowledge of the higher ups at TATA. The rest is history in that they sent down 4 engineers from Pune to Ernakulam when I gave my car for the 2nd or 3rd service I think. They opened up the head assembly and fuel pump to note down valve shim, valve clearance, injection timings and countless other parameters which made my car the magic it was. This was done without my permission. I came to know of it only after the deed was done through a patient of mine who worked there at that time. They put back the car but it never was the same again and behaved like any other ordinary Indica. They had 9 other attempts at dismembering the car engine and spent close to Rs 68000 in parts and labor for which I did not pay but the car transformed from Indica to Junkindica. I won the consumer court case recently on 11th January and am waiting for the hard copy for further action.

By then I was so paranoid that I did not take my next new car the Palio GTX of June 2003 even for a single service. I sold the GTX last year for a princely sum and the new owner was very happy when he realized that the service engineers had not touched the car as I had all the free service coupons to show for it. I did all the fluid changes myself with help from my better half including power steering and brake fluid changes. That car served me without hiccups for six years and all I spent on was accelerator cable(company fault) and fuel pump motor( totally my fault) One set wiper blades and 2 new tires and 1 battery.

I was fearing that my Cruze would go the Indica way. Thanks for the reassuring words that its normal behavior. About the smoke I am sure its not a fuel quality issue as both Cruze's fill up fuel from the same pump and though mine is older they have run the same distance as I use my Junkindica for city commutes and he has only one car for both city and highway. His car is very,very silent though compared to my Cruze but not as silent as my Junkindica was till it was dismembered by the engineers from Pune.

Thanks once again for clearing my doubts and I shall tell my colleague that he should complain during the first service next week about the engine stalling in all gears other than 1st gear and reverse.

drpullockaran · 3rd March 2010, 00:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by dustom_99

Ha Ha! you should shoot that service engineer! ASAP!
i would suggest You invest few bucks and buy rat poison( you know for whom)FUN INTENDED!!

If I was given a free hand at heeding to your advice the TATA NANO may not have seen the light of day.

drpullockaran · 20th April 2010, 22:12

In the ignition off condition and with the key out of its receptacle; if I pull the light stalk towards me like we do when flashing all the lights in the cars externals come on and do not go off even after 3 minutes. This is a sure fire way of draining the battery. Is it so in other Cruze/Captiva cars. There is no warning chime either that the lights are on. This warning chime is there however if the lights are switched on the normal way by using the rotary knob. Cruze or Captiva owners please do clarify before I approach the service center.

akshay_b · 20th April 2010, 22:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by drpullockaran

In the ignition off condition and with the key out of its receptacle; if I pull the light stalk towards me like we do when flashing all the lights in the cars externals come on and do not go off even after 3 minutes. This is a sure fire way of draining the battery. Is it so in other Cruze/Captiva cars. There is no warning chime either that the lights are on. This warning chime is there however if the lights are switched on the normal way by using the rotary knob. Cruze or Captiva owners please do clarify before I approach the service center.

May be the "follow me home" headlamps are in function. Which can be programmed to suite your need.

And 3 minutes of all the lights glowing will not drain your battery.

drpullockaran · 20th April 2010, 23:12

I will switch off the follow me feature tomorrow and see whether it corrects the issue. I do know 3 minutes is not going to drain the battery but I waited for 3 minutes and then got

panicky and tapped the lever once again to flash it and shut the lights off. Thanks for the info.

2nd March 2010, 19:25	#1
drpullockaran BHPian Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: ERNAKULAM Posts: 962 Thanked: 388 Times	Question to those who have driven the Cruze. This question is more specifically to those own the Cruze or have driven the Chevy Cruze for some length of time. What I am about to state is either a problem in my car or a boon. I bought myself a Cruze recently. I had been forewarned about the turbo lag till 1700-1900rpm. In my car I am absolutely certain that the turbo kicks in at 1400rpm which was confirmed by the service engineer at GM Ernakulam during my first service. I did lodge a complaint about excessive smoke in the service chart. Moreover I do not need to press the accelerator pedal in any of the gears, 5 forward and 1 reverse for starting motion or keeping the car in motion. The car does not stall or bog down in any gear even when there is a moderate incline. The sad part to this is that there definitely is more smoke from the tailpipe on hard acceleration relative to all the cars that have been delivered from GM Ernakulam according to the service engineer. I get a fuel efficiency of 12-13 km in moderate highway traffic whilst my colleague regularly gets 13-15 in a similar Cruze of different color driven on the same stretch of road and time of day. The service manager is of the opinion that I have got the engine that has been tuned for the Captiva and he showed me the smoke levels in the Captiva which is similar to my Cruze though split between twin tailpipes in the captiva. He too is surprised with the torque output and suggested I drive with these ECM settings till he can confirm if the higher torque would affect the drive shafts in the Cruze. Now to the question to members here. 1)Can anyone of you confirm whether the tuning parameters for the engine of the Captiva and Cruze are different as they share the same engine and also whether the drive shafts are different. I know the gearbox and engine are the same but the service engineer is not sure about the capability of the drive shaft. 2)Is anyone here having the Cruze able to lift off the accelerator pedal in all gears without stalling the engine by which I mean does the engine keep running in 5th gear even after lifting your foot off the accelerator pedal with the engine management maintaining rpm's at 850 on mild to moderate inclines. My colleagues engine can do it in 1st gear only. The good part is that in traffic I need to use only gear lever, clutch and brake with no need for the accelerator pedal. Thanks for your time in answering.
	() Thanks

2nd March 2010, 19:43	#2
AbhiJ Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Kolkata Posts: 1,497 Thanked: 1,259 Times	Dont know about the Cruze, but in my i20 CRDi, I can lift my feet off and drive in 3rd, 4th and 5th gear easily. 5th gear maintains 45 kmph moreorless....
	() Thanks

2nd March 2010, 21:48	#3
dustom_99 BANNED Join Date: May 2009 Location: haridwar Posts: 588 Thanked: 450 Times View My Garage	HaHa! you should shoot that service engineer! ASAP! how on earth would u get a cap tuned engine in cruze. Sir these engines leave engine shop with entirely different Barcodes(Yes both versions have different barcode sticker).Then they are mated to a chassis and finally the chassis and engine is married off in Final Vehicle assembly( married means both chassis and engine barcode are scanned one after another,and a union of chassis number and engine number is formed that lasts for eternity. Also all engines leave assembly shop prechecked for all running parameters. with different barcodes it isnt possible to marry a cap engine to a cruze! system simply does not make an entry and shows improper coding format error. without marriage nuttin ever leaves the plant. i would suggest You invest few bucks and buy rat poison( you know for whome )FUN INTENDED!! Almost all mordern diesel cars pulls the tricks you have talked about,except the lethargic MJd
	() Thanks

2nd March 2010, 21:56	#4
Jaggu Team-BHP Support Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 20,380 Thanked: 17,323 Times	Even MJD pulls from idle if you need it to I think your SA is taking it to a very unrealistic levels of explanations. Have you tried a different fuel source for the smoke issue? Also are both the cars that you have compared done has run the same?
	() Thanks

2nd March 2010, 22:12	#5
dustom_99 BANNED Join Date: May 2009 Location: haridwar Posts: 588 Thanked: 450 Times View My Garage	I meant others pull better!! haha!! same old debate!!
	() Thanks

2nd March 2010, 22:30	#6
Jaggu Team-BHP Support Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 20,380 Thanked: 17,323 Times	OT: No debate, i was not being serious
	() Thanks

2nd March 2010, 22:36	#7
tsk1979 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23,689 Thanked: 23,495 Times View My Garage	When I reviewed the cruze, she puttered along in idle at 50kmph in 5th gear. I have also explained the nature of turbo lag in the review
	() Thanks

2nd March 2010, 23:52	#8
drpullockaran BHPian Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: ERNAKULAM Posts: 962 Thanked: 388 Times	Thanks for the replies. Thanks for the replies. By my long post you can gather how paranoid I am getting about the issue. I am happy my car is not abnormal after all. Why I was paranoid is because my diesel Indica DLE bought on 30th May 2000 before it became the Junkindica it is now; was the most powerful, completely silent and with stupendous fuel efficiency to boot; car in the entire country. By power I mean it would touch 130kmph with ease till I ran out of road, by silent I mean it was far more silent than the Cruze I have now, in fact you could not hear the engine in the drivers seat once warmed up even if we strained to hear it. By fuel efficiency I mean the variation was within 16.8 to 17.4 km/liter however we drove it, whether it was with AC or not, loaded or not, driven with pedal to the metal or driven with an extremely light foot. The magic was the minimal variation in fuel efficiency. This came into the knowledge of the higher ups at TATA. The rest is history in that they sent down 4 engineers from Pune to Ernakulam when I gave my car for the 2nd or 3rd service I think. They opened up the head assembly and fuel pump to note down valve shim, valve clearance, injection timings and countless other parameters which made my car the magic it was. *This was done without my permission*. I came to know of it only after the deed was done through a patient of mine who worked there at that time. They put back the car but it never was the same again and behaved like any other ordinary Indica. They had 9 other attempts at dismembering the car engine and spent close to Rs 68000 in parts and labor for which I did not pay but the car transformed from Indica to Junkindica. I won the consumer court case recently on 11th January and am waiting for the hard copy for further action. By then I was so paranoid that I did not take my next new car the Palio GTX of June 2003 even for a single service. I sold the GTX last year for a princely sum and the new owner was very happy when he realized that the service engineers had not touched the car as I had all the free service coupons to show for it. I did all the fluid changes myself with help from my better half including power steering and brake fluid changes. That car served me without hiccups for six years and all I spent on was accelerator cable(company fault) and fuel pump motor( totally my fault) One set wiper blades and 2 new tires and 1 battery. I was fearing that my Cruze would go the Indica way. Thanks for the reassuring words that its normal behavior. About the smoke I am sure its not a fuel quality issue as both Cruze's fill up fuel from the same pump and though mine is older they have run the same distance as I use my Junkindica for city commutes and he has only one car for both city and highway. His car is very,very silent though compared to my Cruze but not as silent as my Junkindica was till it was dismembered by the engineers from Pune. Thanks once again for clearing my doubts and I shall tell my colleague that he should complain during the first service next week about the engine stalling in all gears other than 1st gear and reverse.
	() Thanks

20th April 2010, 22:12	#10
drpullockaran BHPian Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: ERNAKULAM Posts: 962 Thanked: 388 Times	A new question to Cruze/Captiva owners In the ignition off condition and with the key out of its receptacle; if I pull the light stalk towards me like we do when flashing all the lights in the cars externals come on and do not go off even after 3 minutes. This is a sure fire way of draining the battery. Is it so in other Cruze/Captiva cars. There is no warning chime either that the lights are on. This warning chime is there however if the lights are switched on the normal way by using the rotary knob. Cruze or Captiva owners please do clarify before I approach the service center.
	() Thanks

20th April 2010, 23:12	#12
drpullockaran BHPian Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: ERNAKULAM Posts: 962 Thanked: 388 Times	I will switch off the follow me. I will switch off the follow me feature tomorrow and see whether it corrects the issue. I do know 3 minutes is not going to drain the battery but I waited for 3 minutes and then got panicky and tapped the lever once again to flash it and shut the lights off. Thanks for the info.
	() Thanks