Excerpt from the New York Daily News, by Nick Kurczewski…..
“You won’t be making many pit-stops in the Cruze Diesel. The driving range is estimated to be more than 700 miles.
In Europe, diesel engines have long outsold their gasoline counterparts, thanks mostly to the superior fuel economy and driving range they provide. Diesels are more expensive to build – and to buy – but the money saved out the pump is often enough to balance out the higher initial purchase price.
Chevrolet has now decided to enter the market for affordable diesel sedans which, until recently, has been dominated by Volkswagen. The VW Jetta TDI sedan has been one of the only players in the segment and, at least on paper, the Chevy sedan looks to have the upper-hand.
The Cruze Diesel has better highway economy (46-mpg versus the VW’s 42-mpg), better range (712 miles vs. 609), and more horsepower than the VW. The Cruze Diesel’s 2.0-liter turbo 4-cylinder musters 151-horsepower and 264 lb.-ft. of torque at 2,600 rpm.
So the Chevrolet is the clear winner here, right?
The styling inside and out is anonymous but, to be fair, you can levy the same critique against almost every car in this segment – from the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, to the Nissan Sentra and VW Jetta.
Buyers of compact sedans aren’t usually looking to make an artistic statement with their vehicle purchase.
What they’re more interested in is safety (the Cruze has 10 airbags) and maintenance (Chevy offers a longer 5-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty on the Cruze Diesel). An optional safety package includes side blind-spot alert, rear cross-traffic alert and rear park assist.
Leather seating, 17-inch alloy wheels and GM’s MyLink infotainment system are all fitted as standard equipment at the Cruze Diesel’s base price of $25,695 (including $810 for destination).
That’s almost equal to the $25,115 you’d pay for a VW Jetta TDI equipped with its optional 6-speed automatic. Unlike the Chevrolet, however, the Jetta diesel is also offered with a manual transmission.”
