[tusharsethi]

Originally Posted by Torquedo

All -

I am in the process of moving (thought wise ) from an Optra to Cruze, for the stated reason, the SE that I'm in touch with, just informed me that the prices here in Delhi have been increased by close to 10K for the LT.

Hey Torquedo,

I was in the same dilemma for the past 1 month as I too was driving a 2004 Optra 1.6 with 95k kms on it and loved every bit of it. I too wanted to go in for the Magnum because it has unmatched comfort and space. But, I finally gave in and sold my 6.5 Years old baby and booked a Sand Drift Grey Cruze LTZ today. I'll be taking delivery on this tuesday. I'd suggest to wait a couple of months and go in for a Cruze and not the Magnum as its almost about to be phased out.

P.S. The Joy of booking a new car cannot ever compensate the sadness of watching your 6.5 year companion being driven away by a stranger.

[Torquedo]

Originally Posted by tusharsethi

Hey Torquedo,

I was in the same dilemma for the past 1 month as I too was driving a 2004 Optra 1.6 with 95k kms on it and loved every bit of it. I too wanted to go in for the Magnum because it has unmatched comfort and space. But, I finally gave in and sold my 6.5 Years old baby and booked a Sand Drift Grey Cruze LTZ today. I'll be taking delivery on this tuesday. I'd suggest to wait a couple of months and go in for a Cruze and not the Magnum as its almost about to be phased out.

P.S. The Joy of booking a new car cannot ever compensate the sadness of watching your 6.5 year companion being driven away by a stranger.

Hey Tushar -

Many a congratulations for the booking !!
I wish you many a happy miles with the beast.

A small bit of advice - do follow the TBHP bible on PDI.

Sand Drift Grey looks amazing on the Cruze, saw one in the showroom while taking a TD for Optra.

I think i should start saving a few bucks and go for the Cruze and everyone is suggesting.

Yours would be the first SD Grey Cruze on TBHP !! Shall eagerly wait for the pics and initial report.

Thanks for the inputs and advice.

Happy Motoring !!

[Torquedo]

Originally Posted by bharatbs

1. A different, better and more powerful engine which if mildly put is "simply a beast" besides, there is absolutely no harshness to engine It's how they say " Butter Smooth"


Quick Question: Below is the Power to Weight statistics for some cars/muv. Cruze churns out only 99 bhp per tonne which is even below ANHC for Example. My question is considering the weight of Cruze (1,520 Kg Kerb Weight) don't you think that 150 Bhp will not make a huge difference? What is your opinion on that?

Bharatbs -

Pardon me but let me get the fundamentals straight, taking each comparo at a time:

1) Most if not all Diesels are Turbocharged, the cuts off's for each car is different, eg. Vento @ 1500, Cruze @ 2600, Old Verna @ 1950 and so on, before crossing this RPM count, the turbo spools and the moment it kicks in....it'll pin you back in your seat, the petrol cars are usually not turbocharged, a few exceptions being the T-Jet and Laura 1.8 TSI, so though the 0-100 on the petrols might be a wee bit quicker but in terms of the In-Gear acceleration the diesels would make the petrol bite the dust any given day.

See the fundamental is - in the driving conditions that we typically have, a dash to 100-150 is not what we aim at or that we run into everyday, the need is the In-Gear acceleration, wherever we get space for overtaking, down-shift and fly.

2) Innova cannot be compared to a Cruze, do this one is done and dusted.

3) Another pointer is, look at the RPM at which peak torque is delivered, do you think 6300 is achievable ?? In my past 12 years of driving, I must admit that I have never gone that far, so peak torque at such high RPM's makes no common sense to me, so good enough reason why Cruze would pull better than a Civic.

4) City - 1.5, flimsy build, wafer thin sheets, just cannot be compared to a Cruze. Another thing that I would want to explain from my limited knowledge, other might differ, see, the volume and BHP of a car determines the Top Speed attainability, this might not be a 100% true but in most cases it is, so if you are gunning to clock top speeds, Cruze be it.

5) @ 1520 imagine the build quality that you would get, the Lauras said to be built like a tank stand @ 1370, Merc C class starts @ 1600 odd.

I think I got into too much of a comparo here, shall leave the rest open for discussion.

All - These were my 2 cents, others might differ, no offenses here to all the owners.

As Mobike008 has put it across - nothing better than a Cruze for the price it is being offered at.

Happy Motoring !!

[tusharsethi]

Originally Posted by Torquedo

Hey Tushar -

Many a congratulations for the booking !!
I wish you many a happy miles with the beast.

A small bit of advice - do follow the TBHP bible on PDI.

Sand Drift Grey looks amazing on the Cruze, saw one in the showroom while taking a TD for Optra.

I think i should start saving a few bucks and go for the Cruze and everyone is suggesting.

Yours would be the first SD Grey Cruze on TBHP !! Shall eagerly wait for the pics and initial report.

Thanks for the inputs and advice.

Happy Motoring !!

Hello Torquedo,

Thanks for your wishes. I was at first inclined at an Olympic White Cruze but as we already have an olympic white cruze and a silver cruze in the family, I booked this. The colour looks amazing and brings out the lines of the car in a proper but subtle style. I already have a TeamBHP PDI list printout ready with me

They've told me that there's a new OEM Cruze bodykit that has arrived and I will be taking a look at that tomorrow. I will post pictures of the kit after then.

Wish you great luck for your Cruze.

Cheers

[sanstorm]

Congrats Tushar on the booking.

I am now a proud owner of Cruze LT 2011 model (Olympic White) in Pune. The car is delivered on Friday 6th (Akshay Tritiya). The wait was close to 5 weeks due to strike at GM plant coupled with me going for LT vesion. Will write down a detailed sales, delivery ownership review in due course.

The inputs from the gurus at Team-bhp are proved really valuable. Kudos to the great forum

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by sanstorm

Congrats Tushar on the booking.

I am now a proud owner of Cruze LT 2011 model (Olympic White) in Pune. The car is delivered on Friday 6th (Akshay Tritiya). The wait was close to 5 weeks due to strike at GM plant coupled with me going for LT vesion. Will write down a detailed sales, delivery ownership review in due course.

The inputs from the gurus at Team-bhp are proved really valuable. Kudos to the great forum

Congrats to you...

I brought home my 2011 LT Sand Drift Grey on the same day- 6th of May '11. My wait period was 8days (pulled some strings at GM end )
I have clocked close to 400kms in the past 7 days and my experience has been wonderful!!! Its a great car totally.

p.s: One question: what tyre pressure are you folks using (stock wheels and tyres)?? The manual says 32psi but at 32 psi my steering felt extremely sticky and the tyre noise became very very prominent. The car was delivered to me with 38psi in 3 tyres and 40 in one. The ride comfort, acceleration and braking felt great at those tyre pressures too. I have switched back to 38psi and car feels wonderful yet again

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by bharatbs

Quick Question: Below is the Power to Weight statistics for some cars/muv. Cruze churns out only 99 bhp per tonne which is even below ANHC for Example. My question is considering the weight of Cruze (1,520 Kg Kerb Weight) don't you think that 150 Bhp will not make a huge difference? What is your opinion on that?

First things first. Please never compare Diesel and Petrol cars on the basis of BHP. If you have to at all compare, do it on the basis of torque figures and you'll know in the given comparo, Cruze will come on tops. Further more diesel max torque comes at low end of teh rev range which is accessible all the time whereas in Petrol its much higher. So drivability is also much better in diesel.

Hope its clear to go.

Cheers

[tusharsethi]

Ahhh! I envy you people now. Imagine what the pain is looking at your own car, sitting inside it but not being able to drive it out the showroom till tuesday. All thanks to Mr. Pandit! Here's a pic of my soon to be car

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by bharatbs

1. A different, better and more powerful engine which if mildly put is "simply a beast" besides, there is absolutely no harshness to engine It's how they say " Butter Smooth"


Quick Question: Below is the Power to Weight statistics for some cars/muv. Cruze churns out only 99 bhp per tonne which is even below ANHC for Example. My question is considering the weight of Cruze (1,520 Kg Kerb Weight) don't you think that 150 Bhp will not make a huge difference? What is your opinion on that?

Hi Bharat, first of all may I know where did you procure the below comparo from? They seem to have misrepresented some info either deliberately or have bunked their math classes in school quite surely

Let me explain; first and fore most, the kerb weight of my Cruze LT (in current context) as stated in the manual is 1440kgs which makes the car 104bhp/ton. Secondly as someone already mentioned its the Torque/ton that needs to be taken into consideration in a diesel car than the bhp figures as thats what lugs the vehicle here due to low revv characteristics. Well the Torque/ton figures of a Cruze LT is 227Nm/ton!!! How about comparing these figures with that of Civic which is just about 136Nm/ton that too at twice the rpms?? Thats 40% lesser torque

Civic is a wonderful car with its own merits...the above is only an academic comparo!!!

P.S: The below data table to be of a LTZ AT...including the 0-100kmph figures coz the Manual version clocks a 0-100kmph in around 9secs!!!

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by bharatbs

Quick Question: Below is the Power to Weight statistics for some cars/muv. Cruze churns out only 99 bhp per tonne which is even below ANHC for Example. My question is considering the weight of Cruze (1,520 Kg Kerb Weight) don't you think that 150 Bhp will not make a huge difference? What is your opinion on that?

Bharath, Like everyone else mentioned. Comparing a diesel mill with a petrol one is not the right comparo. Since both have inherently different characteristics with primary being diesel engines provide way better torque that helps thrust the car forward than petrol engines which thrive on extracting performance only upon high revving.

For e.g : 118ps comes in at 6600rpm wherein 150ps of Cruze comes in at 4000rpm not to mention the insane torque (327NM) delivered at just 2600rpm.

So if power to weight ratio of ANHC is higher means it should translate to it being quicker than Cruze? So why does it lack in 0-100 figures? Also, why isnt then an ANHC advertised as a "Petrol Rocket"

Petrol engines are fraction of a second quicker than a diesel of the block due to some turbo lag associated with diesel engines but, as soon the turbo spools in then a car like Cruze will just pin you back on your seat and show its true characteristics.

In a straight line, Cruze is as fast as a petrol engined Skoda vRS so you can imagine an AHNC does not stand even a wee bit of chance to beat a Cruze in a straight line even though its got better power/weight figures.

Summary is that higher power to weight ratio is not the only factor for a car to be quicker. Some other characteristics like below also are important for a car to be quicker :-

1. Higher torque @ lower rpm
2. In-gear accelaration (depends on gear ratios)
3. Finally, higher bhp

Anyways, you should drive an ANHC and a Cruze back to back to know that :-

Cruze is leagues ahead in terms of performance, super build quality, handling and not to mention the most important aspect " Masking High Speeds". In a Cruze, even at 200kmph, you and the engine feel so relaxed that it's simply an unexplainable feeling.

Does any other car give that feeling at those speeds? Only experiencing that feeling can justify my above comment.

[shivasuma]

@mobike008,
I am planning on buying a LT version. I have been offered the following discounts - 10K Corp + 10K Cash. I will also transfer my NCB from my fiesta and wil be saving close to 27K on Insurance (quoted 48K, dealer quote after NCB is 21K, without NCB 29K). He will also throw in rear sensors, sunfilm and the usual mats and stuff. Is this a good deal? The total OTR cost as quoted by the dealer is 15.06L. After the discounts, it comes to about 14.6L. Also is it worth going for the 3 year/45000 Kms maintenance package @ 40K? Whats the usual service costs of a cruze?

[tusharsethi]

Originally Posted by shivasuma

@mobike008,
I am planning on buying a LT version. I have been offered the following discounts - 10K Corp + 10K Cash. I will also transfer my NCB from my fiesta and wil be saving close to 27K on Insurance (quoted 48K, dealer quote after NCB is 21K, without NCB 29K). He will also throw in rear sensors, sunfilm and the usual mats and stuff. Is this a good deal? The total OTR cost as quoted by the dealer is 15.06L. After the discounts, it comes to about 14.6L. Also is it worth going for the 3 year/45000 Kms maintenance package @ 40K? Whats the usual service costs of a cruze?

Hey Shiva,
I booked a LTZ 2 days back and this is what I'm getting the car at :

Ex Showroom : 13,91,127
Registration and etc : 163873
Insurance(Quoted) : 52000
Total 16,07,000

Discounts : 0% Depreciation Insurance for 28k
Discount of another 35k

Total Cost on road : 15,45,000 (with all minor free accessories like mats and all)

Try to bargain more as there's no major booking period. If you have two dealers in your city. Try to play them against each other with a lesser quote and 1 of them will surely give in if they have an LT in stock.

I also thought about the 3yr/45000km maintenance pack, but it doesn't seem practical as 45,000 kms means 3 services and an average service cost is about 6-7k for the cruze. And my yearly run will be about 45,000 kms it wasnt worth to me at all.
Good luck with your booking experience.

Cheers

[shivasuma]

@Tusharsethi,
Thanks a lot. My running would probably be about 15K per year, not more than that. Let me think about the maintenance package a bit. I tried playing 3 dealers against each other. Sundaram motors saleswoman had a take it or leave it attitude(only 10K corp discount + Insurance at 30% off). Trident salesman said he could get me 10K Corp + 10K dealer discount but he insisted that I take the insurance from them (at no discount). So of all the 3 dealers Kropex seems to be a good bargain. Let me ask them for more accessories like fog lamps etc and see how it works out. I am in no hurry to buy the car. The LT has some new features that were not present in earlier versions. ACC, steering audio controls, USB are some of the features added onto LT version. Seems like good value but the tax in Bangalore is killing us.

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by shivasuma

@Tusharsethi,
Thanks a lot. My running would probably be about 15K per year, not more than that. Let me think about the maintenance package a bit. I tried playing 3 dealers against each other. Sundaram motors saleswoman had a take it or leave it attitude(only 10K corp discount + Insurance at 30% off). Trident salesman said he could get me 10K Corp + 10K dealer discount but he insisted that I take the insurance from them (at no discount). So of all the 3 dealers Kropex seems to be a good bargain. Let me ask them for more accessories like fog lamps etc and see how it works out. I am in no hurry to buy the car. The LT has some new features that were not present in earlier versions. ACC, steering audio controls, USB are some of the features added onto LT version. Seems like good value but the tax in Bangalore is killing us.

Hi Shiv, I bought my LT- Sand Drift Grey 8 days back from Sundaram. I got them to give me the Insurance price down from 47K to 32k. They did not offer any cash discount so I got them to give me good quality sunfilm and parking sensors instead. Mats, Idol, car perfume, mud guards and a toy was given without me even speaking about it. Well, the most important thing is that my experience with them was wonderful. They give you update of your car engine/chassis via sms when the vehicle is at the manufacturing plant itself. The shipping/delivery time was bang on, preliminary check of the vehicle at their yard near Nelamangla etc was offered in addition which is a feel good factor you see. The executive- one Mr. Manoj Lobo was very courteous and friendly...who in fact squeezed out my booking amount purely through his good attitude. You should speak to this guy when you go there. PM me if you need his number. You can also give my reference as we seem to share a rapport a little more than just business centric by now.

I would rate very highly of Sundaram's attitude and Service capabilities. Go for it, you will not regret your decision.

Lastly, I have just about completed 600+kms and the car has impressed me mightily. I am a very happy customer at this time

[bharatbs]

Thanks The Wolf , Torquedo and mobike008

Yeah the following arguments makes sense while evaluating performance stats between diesel and petrol engines:

1. Higher torque @ lower rpm
2. In-gear accelaration
3. BHP at what rpm?

Will keep that in mind.

The Cruze's Kerb Weight is from Auto Car India as Chevrolet has not provided it on their own site. Also try the following search string on google (chevrolet cruze india kerb weight arai) all answers point to 1,520.
I will however verify this at the showroom, maybe the 2011 edition is lighter.

0-100 kph figures for Cruze is for manual gear box and provided by Auto Car India: Chevrolet Cruze Diesel Review

Will drive the Vento, Cruze and ANHV and decide

Here are the revised stats