I have been after my dealer to call me for a TD for the Cruz as soon as it comes, so today I got a call and obviously did not waste any time in reaching the dealership. The car was there but the TD will have to wait as the prototype has not yet been approved/ registered with the RTO. Hopefully sometime mid next week.
In Jaipur the official press release is on the 4th and the official release of the car is on the 12th.
I was allowed to start the engine and move it within the dealership space (not much space available though!!)
Please note that the girl at the dealer still did not know how models of Cruz will be launched as yet so I have no idea whether this one is the top model, mid or the bottom.
I have never done a review before so I really dont know what I am going to write but whatever I do write hope that makes some sense to you guys.
There is key less entry with engine immobiliser. The door has a fingerprint sensor which opens the car ( no need to insert the key, just need to have it within 1mtr range) For starting the car also you just need to press the clutch and push a button.
On starting the engine was pretty silent with no noise coming in the cabin, I could not also feel any vibrations on the gear knob. This model had climate control and the a/c is a chiller. Did not take any time to cool the car.
There is also cruise control in this model with controls on the steering.
I could only move the car forward and backwards a few times so I have no idea how will be the actual performance of this car on the road. In those short movement the car was pretty smooth.
The gear shift appeared to be much smoother than my aveo, and the gear throws were short and crisp. There are reverse sensors attached for parking and the reverse gear is in the normal position i.e on the right and below ( unlike aveo, left and then lift and above)
The steering wheel was very civic type and apart from the cruise control controls it also has audio controls on it. It has both telescopic and height adjustment. As per the sales girl the steering is Hydrolic but it felt EPS to me, so that has to be confirmed.
There were a lot of things on the menu display and half of them either I could not understand ( sorry my first time in a car of this segment) and lots of them the sales rep could not explain it to me, as they have not had a proper training on the car as yet.
The 2-grey tone interior of the car looked great from outside. But once i sat inside i realized that the dark grey colour gets foot marks very fast and looks horrible after a while.
The sun roof has a meshing in front to trap debris flying in the car while the car is moving.
The front leg space was excellent and at my driving position the steering wheel was not touching my legs at any time. The audio knobs were easy to locate and not very difficult to reach. Surprisingly the audio did not have USB port with it.
The cooled glove box was very very small, even smaller than my aveo. But they have given some extra space on the doors
There is drivers arm rest also and it can be adjusted forward or backwards as per requirement. There is some space to keep things under that also. There is also keyless entry charger in that space.
In the rear 3 adults can sit comfortably and there are a/c vents under the front seats for the rear passengers, I think the leg room was pretty decent.
1/3rd of the rear seat can be opened for access to the boot, there is also an emergency exit from the boot. A lever kind of a thing that can be pulled by back passengers to open the boot from behind.
The boot itself has a push button under the chrome to open. The spare wheel is also an alloy wheel as compared to normal ones in Aveo.
The tyres are 205/60/R16
Now the exterior. As the say beauty lies in the eye of the beholder hence the views expressed are mine. The car with its straight lines looked impressive and bold. If you notice the Chevrolet logo is pretty prominent and a bit changed. The front grill is very prominent and gives it a very bold appearance
The engine looks like this and it has under body protection.
The things that were missing that I expected to be present are (maybe are present in a different model):-
1. lamp washers.
2. electronic seat settings
3. electronicly closed ORVM's (though they can be adjusted electronically but not closed)
Well I have shared whatever I could gather at the showroom. I know this is a hopeless review but still it might interest some of you guys.