[rangakishen]

Originally Posted by drchernish

Talk about proactive GM dealers they are sending me the demo cruze to use while my car is in transit.Yipee

That is very nice of them. Hope this kind of treatment continues throughout your ownership. It really makes light work of owning a car. This is clearly shown in the ownership of Avinash's (Mobike008) Cruze.

This will give you a chance to get used to the clutch and gearing of the Cruze. Your Cruze will now have a smooth run-in! Enjoy!!

Edit: Umm, I know you don't buy a 16L car to go without AC, BUT!! When the conditions seem right, just give it a try!! It's a completely different car with AC off!! Trust me.

[drchernish]

Originally Posted by rangakishen

That is very nice of them. Hope this kind of treatment continues throughout your ownership. It really makes light work of owning a car. This is clearly shown in the ownership of Avinash's (Mobike008) Cruze.

This will give you a chance to get used to the clutch and gearing of the Cruze. Your Cruze will now have a smooth run-in! Enjoy!!

Edit: Umm, I know you don't buy a 16L car to go without AC, BUT!! When the conditions seem right, just give it a try!! It's a completely different car with AC off!! Trust me.

Please can you elaborate what happens without ac-I know in Alto if you need to overtake you have to switch off the ac but in a car like cruze what is the need which itself has a powerful motor.

[rangakishen]

Originally Posted by drchernish

Please can you elaborate what happens without ac-I know in Alto if you need to overtake you have to switch off the ac but in a car like cruze what is the need which itself has a powerful motor.

Why don't you try it?

With the AC on turbo-lag will be more prominent. Of course when in the powerband you wouldn't find much of a difference. But when in the 1000-1600 or so range, there is an appreciable difference in the power delivery. I've always found that I use a gear lower if the AC is on. (note: I NEVER clutch drive)

[drchernish]

Recieved my cruze demo car today , will post some pictures Tomorrow. It's white and it looks heavenly in my driveway- I know my black pearl is going to look better. The car is brand new LTZ run over 140 kms. Took a short drive and was surprised at how easily it was manageable in crowded traffic . Wife commented on its refinement. Looking forward to having a smashing time with the white beauty and then marrying the black one in about ten days time. Consider myself lucky that will be able to enjoy both of the best colours in which Cruze is available.

[drchernish]

Couple of photos- In my driveway after the friendly washer guy gave it a wash ...

[drchernish]

Yesterday went on a 100 km round trip on the cruze and it's a BEAST on the highway. Chevrolet has improved on its earlier faults with the cruze and it's the car to be driven on our highways. My black pearl has been billed by the factory and should be home soon. The only negative part was its tyres- too much noise at high speeds. The lights when adjusted are more than sufficient.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by rangakishen

Edit: Umm, I know you don't buy a 16L car to go without AC, BUT!! When the conditions seem right, just give it a try!! It's a completely different car with AC off!! Trust me.

This is wierd. I beg to differ. With AC switched ON or OFF there is absolutely no difference to power in any gear and it does not suffer with situations like we see in smaller engined cars like an Alto ( I cannot beileve i am comparing Cruze with an Alto to clarify such a preposterous point)

Originally Posted by drchernish

The only negative part was its tyres- too much noise at high speeds. The lights when adjusted are more than sufficient.

I am glad to know your experiencing similar high attention from the Chevy Dealership. Hope you will continue to receive similar service in future

JK tyres are really awful. Get rid of them as soon as you get delivery and then see the "real" magic of the car

[AlokSuman]

Originally Posted by mobike008

This is wierd. I beg to differ. With AC switched ON or OFF there is absolutely no difference to power in any gear and it does not suffer with situations like we see in smaller engined cars like an Alto ( I cannot beileve i am comparing Cruze with an Alto to clarify such a preposterous point)

I am glad to know your experiencing similar high attention from the Chevy Dealership. Hope you will continue to receive similar service in future

JK tyres are really awful. Get rid of them as soon as you get delivery and then see the "real" magic of the car

Totally agree. There is no power difference at all AC ON or OFF does not make any difference. I used to note that with Baleno but not with Cruze.

The difference which i feel is when you put normal Diesel(i tried 3-4 fuel pumps) compared to using Shell Diesel. Yes there is a difference of Rs 16.5/lt in Bangalore but i feel much happier with Shell. I am sure the Car would also be feeling the same. With normal Diesel the noise of engine if little more at idle and lower gears also the performance seems to take a hit. This may be just my feel as no instruments used for any measurements.

Yups. I changed the tyres straight after coming out of the showroom. Thanks to Mr Ashwin of Sai Iyengar and Sons we got a very good deal for the 5 tyres. JK Tyres changed to Yokohama DNA db501 225/55/16 91V
Just the difference in look of the car after changing the tyres will tell you that money was well spent. The comfort and performance difference is extremely good.

The other part which i got changed is lights. I was fine with the lights till the day i went for a trip and drove the car at night on highway. For the power of the car lights are extremely poor. Its like lights become an invisible brake for you. Car will tell i can go faster road is empty and lights will scream beyond this speed with these lights not at all safe.

Not to sure why Chevy is selling Cruze with such poor tyres and lights when these upgrades does not actually cost much and increase the WOW and safety factor for the customer immensely.

[rangakishen]

Originally Posted by mobike008

This is wierd. I beg to differ. With AC switched ON or OFF there is absolutely no difference to power in any gear and it does not suffer with situations like we see in smaller engined cars like an Alto ( I cannot beileve i am comparing Cruze with an Alto to clarify such a preposterous point)

Sorry Avinash, but I just don't agree with you on this one. There is a difference. Not a small one, a SIGNIFICANT difference in torque in the lag region with AC on. I live in an area with quite a few inclines and I can confidently tell you that AC affects power delivery low down in the rev range even in the Cruze. Forget inclines, even when normally driving in city (idle - 1600 rpm), there is a huge difference. So many times in third gear and low speed with AC the car feels like it'll stall. With AC off the car reacts very cleanly and smoothly. The same in second gear as well. With AC off the car pulls after humps and on inclines in second (not in turbo region). But with AC on, the car does not pull in second. It struggles and does not accelerate through the incline at all. I'm sorry I'm repeating myself again but the difference is significant.

I am only talking about the lag region where I spend most of my time in city. When turbo is in full swing, we cant really feel any difference. And I now realize that drchernish's Demo Cruze is also 163bhp Cruze, so my point may not apply to that Cruze.

EDIT: May be this has to do with driving habit? I NEVER slip the clutch while accelerating. NEVER. But if you do, you wouldn't find any difference in acceleration with AC on or off.

[AlokSuman]

Originally Posted by rangakishen

Sorry Avinash, but I just don't agree with you on this one. There is a difference. Not a small one, a SIGNIFICANT difference in torque in the lag region with AC on.

There is no difference because of AC in the new 166 PS model. I have not felt anything in any driving condition in any gear for last 3000Kms. Yes i do feel a real struggle from the car when i put it in 6th gear at 40kmph but this may not have anything to do with AC.

Long over due reply to your question.
I visited the Race Dynamics office and fitted the DieselTronic to the car.
Asked them if the new upcoming box can be fitted to the old engine. They said it would not help much on the old VM Motori SOHC engine. Also they did not give any date when the new box would be released.

Now about the box on the new model. I have not been able to visit RD again to get the exact numbers with the Power and Torque curve. On that day i got very late, Karthik had to rush for something and i was already quite late to my desired destination.

I can only tell that the car feels even more linear with the box in P1 mode. You might mistake it for a petrol car. If there was any doubt left in the stock mode.
The in gear acceleration improves 2rd gear onwards but by how much is the question. In P2 mode the car starts feeling so to say very loose for want of better word. Yes it does go more faster. I drive only in P1 and very rarely go to P2 to form any opinion about it.

Will try to visit RD soon to get some actual numbers.

[kch82]

I agree with AlokSuman above. When you are spending 18L plus on a luxury car (AT - Delhi), the minimum the company should offer are decent tyres and lights. If I have to spend another 30k minimum on replacement tyres, this in effect closes the gap with the Jetta, which as per all standards and road tests is the leader in this segment.

I also feel that the extra money spent on the Jetta, will be better recovered during resale, because as per most second hand car dealers in Delhi NCR, the Cruze (GM cars) have a terrible resale value.

[drchernish]

When people are buying from this segment everybody understands after taking a test drive that the Jetta is the best car available but not all buy it - why? Food for thought. Because each person thinks on his own way. For some brand is important for some power ,some need gadgets some need looks and some look for vfm. Cruze is the answer to this problem. For me even if Jetta was priced equal I would still choose cruze because of its looks vfm gadgets service backup and low cost of ownership. Just the fact that I got a week long demo of the new cruze and even after 2 months Volkswagen dealer could not arrange a test drive for me sealed the deal in favour of cruze.

[kch82]

Originally Posted by drchernish

When people are buying from this segment everybody understands after taking a test drive that the Jetta is the best car available but not all buy it - why? Food for thought. Because each person thinks on his own way. For some brand is important for some power ,some need gadgets some need looks and some look for vfm. Cruze is the answer to this problem. For me even if Jetta was priced equal I would still choose cruze because of its looks vfm gadgets service backup and low cost of ownership. Just the fact that I got a week long demo of the new cruze and even after 2 months Volkswagen dealer could not arrange a test drive for me sealed the deal in favour of cruze.

I am very certain that you are the one in thousands of Cruze customers who got a great dealership experience from Chevrolet However for the majoirty, Chevrolet after sales and dealership experiences are quite a nightmare Another reason why buyers are apprehensive of investing so much money on a car from GM's stable. As for VFM, it would hold true earlier, but now with the price hike and not much real "upgrade", I doubt whether Cruze still holds that much VFM. In fact if you study the 'August 2012 car sales and analysis' on Team Bhp you will learn about the significant drop in the Cruze's sale due to unjustified price hike and competitors offering more car for around similar price. Even the Jetta has now picked up it's numbers.

I completely agree and respect that for some it's all about the looks. And where looks is concerned nothing comes close to the Cruze in this segment. I too am in awe of it's beauty. up However on a realistic note, cars like Elantra are offering much more VFM in terms of gadgets and comforts, though no where near that power (which also now feels low on the new Cruze despite the 'linear power distribution' reasoning).

But as stated by many on this forum, it's about heart vs head. And I too might let my heart rule my grey matter

Enjoy the drive.

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[AlokSuman]

It's very true everyone will have there own reasons to buy a specific car. And non of them can be labelled wrong as for that specific person that's right. It might be wrong for someone else but that someone else is not buying the car.
So it's good to listen to all the views and reviews but buy a car for your own reasons and what you feel is important to you.

From a owner's perspective i will try to tell in few points why i bought Cruze LTZ MT 166PS and not the VW Jetta Highline TDI.
Just for note my first choice before was Skoda Laura Ambition 1.8 TSI. I will not dwell on that.

1. First and very important point mentioned by many "Looks". Dont need to write anything for this point.
2. In Bangalore the Cruze comes to 18.5 lakhs on road Jetta about 22.5 lakhs and when the car is approaching towards you 95 out of 100 people can not tell if it's a 10 lakh Vento or a 22.5 lakh Jetta.
3. Drive quality of the engine was an issue with the older model with new Z series engine model that's no more a deciding factor. Please note not a factor for me.
4. No Auto Climatic control AC in Jetta definitely a factor for me. My 7.5 lakh Baleno VXi has that from ages.
5. Other tit bit missing features in Jetta though not a very big consideration as it can be both ways. Some things you will like in Cruze some in Jetta.
6. Every review says interior quality in not good in Cruze. This was not a deciding factor for me with the 4 lakhs difference in price and also taking all the points in totality. It is not as bad as it is made out to be look at it your self don't get too influenced by the reviews. The leather seats look fabulous with that stitching.
7. Sales service was very good from dealer (Trident Chevrolet). First RAC service was not so good i gave a rating of 5/10 was assured it will be good next time lets wait and see.

I do hope Chevy spends 50k more on the car increase the price by that much more and take that one interior quality point out of the way once and for all.

Originally Posted by kch82

I am very certain that you are the one in thousands of Cruze customers who got a great dealership experience from Chevrolet However for the majoirty, Chevrolet after sales and dealership experiences are quite a nightmare Another reason why buyers are apprehensive of investing so much money on a car from GM's stable. As for VFM, it would hold true earlier, but now with the price hike and not much real "upgrade", I doubt whether Cruze still holds that much VFM. In fact if you study the 'August 2012 car sales and analysis' on Team Bhp you will learn about the significant drop in the Cruze's sale due to unjustified price hike and competitors offering more car for around similar price. Even the Jetta has now picked up it's numbers.

I completely agree and respect that for some it's all about the looks. And where looks is concerned nothing comes close to the Cruze in this segment. I too am in awe of it's beauty. up However on a realistic note, cars like Elantra are offering much more VFM in terms of gadgets and comforts, though no where near that power (which also now feels low on the new Cruze despite the 'linear power distribution' reasoning).

But as stated by many on this forum, it's about heart vs head. And I too might let my heart rule my grey matter

Enjoy the drive.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team: Post Edited. Smilie usage is restricted to two per post on Team-BHP. Please refrain from using excessive smilies.

We advise you to read the Announcements and Board Rules section before proceeding any further.

One clarification on the linear acceleration part of new Cruze.
It is linear not slower or lesser than the older model. You press the pedal and all that 164 horses and 380 Nm torque pulls the car like hell. You will feel the 2 ton car moving like a raging bull. In practical and real sense i never do that unless i see a good open stretch on the highway.

If numbers come out i guess the new Manual will be faster by a second to older Manual.

In Autocar review they tested the Automatic model and said it's slower than the older model by some .5-1 sec. Don't go by that. Don't even remember they said slower compared to Manual or Automatic.

[anb]

Originally Posted by AlokSuman

If numbers come out i guess the new Manual will be faster by a second to older Manual.

In Autocar review they tested the Automatic model and said it's slower than the older model by some .5-1 sec. Don't go by that. Don't even remember they said slower compared to Manual or Automatic.

I wonder which ACI review you saw. Old cruze manual is half a second faster to 100 than new manual and old one is 2 seconds faster to 160 Kmph . Old Cruze AT is faster than new MT&AT as well.