Cruze joins the frisky turbo world

Other than the nippier response, GMSA has not tinkered too much with their popular family-hauler.

This is the first turbo to be installed in the local range of Chevrolet models and it is identical to the 1.4 engine you will find under the hood of a few local Opel Astra models. Hopefully smaller force-fed engines will also find homes in some of the other local Chevvies.

Performance figures don't change dramatically from the previous 1.8 engine (104kW/176Nm) to the replacement 1.4 (103/kW/200Nm) with the turbo engine (9.3 seconds) knocking less than a second off the bigger engine's 0-100km/h sprint time of 10.00 seconds. However, the grunt of the smaller engine kicks in from as low 1,850rpm compared to the 1.8's maxim power only kicking in at 3,600rpm.

Nippier response

Out on the road the new turbo job feels a lot more powerful than the figures suggest and it handles undulating bits and overtaking without strain or having to hook a gear one or two notches lower.

Performance figures don’t change dramatically from the previous 1.8 engine.

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Other than the nippier response, GMSA have not tinkered too much with their popular family-hauler, adding a few minor extras such as indicator lights on the side mirrors and two new colour options.

Other than replacing the 1.8 with the new 1.4 model, the rest of the range remain unchanged with a choice between two 2-litre diesels and three 1.6-litre models from which to choose.

Tough opposition

I recently spent a few days in the company of the new 1.4 turbo model and enjoyed the drive and handling which was fairly close to the driving experience provided by the Opel Astra.

Locally the Cruze goes up against some tough opposition such as the Honda Civic, Volkswagen Jetta, Hyundai Elantra and Toyota Corolla, yet it has carved out a fairly substantial slice of this market segment considering it has only been around for a few years compared to hardened veterans such as the Jetta.

Its fairly good looks and comfort levels certainly make it worth considering for anybody interested in a medium-sized family car.

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The Cruze varies in price from R213,300 to R293,200 and considering its good equipment levels, reliability, fairly good looks and comfort levels it is certainly worth considering for anybody sniffing around for a medium-sized family transporter.

The turbo-charged 1.4-litre is available as a hatch (R242,100) or sedan (R244,700) which includes a three-year/60,000km Service Plan.

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