The Eco is also about 200 pounds lighter than its Cruze brethren. Chevrolet achieved this by filing down lots of weld flanges, going to a lighter gauge of sheet metal on select components, and deleting the Cruze’s Z-link rear suspension in favour of a lighter one.
To help you on your Eco mission, there is green arrow in the instrument cluster that prompts you to shift to a higher gear. If you can religiously follow the green arrow program, you have more patience than I. After a few clicks, I basically said, “to hell with it”. It feels like you’re shifting way too early. And making things more difficult is the smoothness of that 1.4-litre four, which actually enjoys revving its little head off. But the engine will happily lug away whenever you do shift on those prompts — so the point is, you can do it, and if you do, you will achieve all the fuel efficiency that can be had in the Chevrolet Cruze Eco.
So on to the gist of this discussion — fuel efficiency.
Natural Resources Canada ran the numbers and gave the 6-speed manual Cruze Eco a highway rating of 4.6 L/100 km, and a city rating of 7.2. Better than most, including Ford Fiesta, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Mazda3.
On our sojourn to Port Perry, we had no trouble seeing those numbers on the trip computer.
With lighter weight, different rear suspension, specific wheels, and those low resistance tires, there is bound to be some difference in the handling. In a leisurely ride, like ours, it is hard to spot the change — other than a bit more understeer. I’m sure a thorough thrashing, however, would uncover even more understeer, but we didn’t go there.
The Eco’s position within Cruze’s trim-level hierarchy is not exactly straightforward. The Cruze lineup starts at $14,995 for the LS, the only model with the naturally aspirated 1.8-litre four. Then there are LT ($19,495), and LTZ ($24,780), both with the turbo 1.4-litre four.
The Eco starts at $19,495, which means it’s somewhat on par with the LT, but note that the LT comes standard with automatic transmission. But the LT doesn’t give you goodies like those great 17-inch alloy wheels, and those fuel efficiency upgrades. It’s a trade-off.
Equipping the Eco with an automatic transmission will set you back another $1,450. And note that the automatic Eco still has the Z-link rear suspension, and slightly different grille treatment (to accommodate the transmission cooler). NR Canada ratings for the automatic model are 5.1 L/100 km highway, and 7.8 city.
To help you on your Eco mission, there is green arrow in the instrument cluster that prompts you to shift to a higher gear. If you can religiously follow the green arrow program, you have more patience than I. After a few clicks, I basically said, “to hell with it”. It feels like you’re shifting way too early. And making things more difficult is the smoothness of that 1.4-litre four, which actually enjoys revving its little head off. But the engine will happily lug away whenever you do shift on those prompts — so the point is, you can do it, and if you do, you will achieve all the fuel efficiency that can be had in the Chevrolet Cruze Eco.
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| Natural Resources Canada ran the numbers and gave the 6-speed manual Cruze Eco a highway rating of 4.6 L/100 km, and a city rating of 7.2. (Photo: Mike Goetz/Auto123.com) |
So on to the gist of this discussion — fuel efficiency.
Natural Resources Canada ran the numbers and gave the 6-speed manual Cruze Eco a highway rating of 4.6 L/100 km, and a city rating of 7.2. Better than most, including Ford Fiesta, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Mazda3.
On our sojourn to Port Perry, we had no trouble seeing those numbers on the trip computer.
With lighter weight, different rear suspension, specific wheels, and those low resistance tires, there is bound to be some difference in the handling. In a leisurely ride, like ours, it is hard to spot the change — other than a bit more understeer. I’m sure a thorough thrashing, however, would uncover even more understeer, but we didn’t go there.
The Eco’s position within Cruze’s trim-level hierarchy is not exactly straightforward. The Cruze lineup starts at $14,995 for the LS, the only model with the naturally aspirated 1.8-litre four. Then there are LT ($19,495), and LTZ ($24,780), both with the turbo 1.4-litre four.
The Eco starts at $19,495, which means it’s somewhat on par with the LT, but note that the LT comes standard with automatic transmission. But the LT doesn’t give you goodies like those great 17-inch alloy wheels, and those fuel efficiency upgrades. It’s a trade-off.
Equipping the Eco with an automatic transmission will set you back another $1,450. And note that the automatic Eco still has the Z-link rear suspension, and slightly different grille treatment (to accommodate the transmission cooler). NR Canada ratings for the automatic model are 5.1 L/100 km highway, and 7.8 city.
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| The 1.4-litre turbocharged motor is fitted to a manual transmission that has been optimized for fuel efficiency. (Photo: Mike Goetz/Auto123.com) |