2011 Chevrolet Cruze 1LT Review

The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. Sleek styling even in one-rung-up-from-base form.

You're looking at the #1 best-selling car in America. Well, one version of it, anyway. It's the Chevrolet Cruze, and it's available in several different trim levels. Back in April, we reviewed (and liked) the Cruze LTZ. But what if you want one for a bit less than $24,415 (the as-tested price of the LTZ we drove)?

Well, you head down the trim levels and hope you don't give up too much good stuff. To find out what is down there, we borrowed a 1LT (one model up from the bottom of the line) from Courtesy Chevrolet in Phoenix for a week.

The 2011 Chevy Cruze can be equipped with a sunroof. We wouldn't, but you can.

Simply put, we were impressed. The basics that make the Cruze appealing in LTZ trim are all there in the 1LT. It's tight, responsive, fresh, contemporary and gets good mileage.

The base MSRP for the Cruze 1LT is $18,425...$3800 less than the starting price for the LTZ. Standard stuff: The ECOTEC 1.4 liter turbo 4, putting out 138 horsepower and 148 pounds per foot of torque. It's the same engine that was in the LTZ. And the same six-speed automatic transmission is part of the deal.

Ours had the Connectivity Plus Cruise Package (Cruise control, Bluetooth, a USB port, steering wheel controls for the audio system, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob) for $525. And that was it. The one and only option, bringing the bottom line to $18,995 before delivery charges....more than five grand less than the bottom line for the LTZ.

That's a lot of room. You can either bank the difference or explore what's in between. Those are wheel covers you see on the 1LT. Move up to the 2LT and those get traded for alloy wheels, the leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob become standard, as do the steering wheel controls for the audio system, plus power-adjustable, heated, leather-appointed front seats and remote start.  But it's a $2,500 jump...to $20,925 And you still have to get the Bluetooth and USB as options on top of that.

The 2011 Chevy Cruze. New GM builds a small car with an interior old GM would never have thought of.

There is no bad choice here, but if it were our dime, we'd take the 1LT just the way Courtesy loaned it to us. The rest can go to insurance, or in the bank. It won't go in the gas tank. The EPA says 24 city/36 highway. We didn't do quite that well, spending virtually the entire week off freeways and on congested surface streets, so our average was only 22.

Still, there's no surprise the Cruze is selling so well, offering basic goodness and a lot of ways to step up. And then there's the Cruze ECO, which we've been promised from Chevy's press fleet next month. The EPA says it'll do 28 in the city and 42 in the highway. 

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2011 Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Review

It's been 35 years since the famous "Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet" ad campaign. But the basic principle is evident in the new Chevrolet Cruze.

If you've heard or read that the Cruze is a quantum leap beyond the car it replaces, the Cobalt, you've heard or read right. This is a thoroughly modern, no-apologies small sedan...ready for battle in an intensely competitive segment.

What's fascinating is how, in the same year, both Chevy and Ford get serious about building very good small cars, and yet, come up with very different solutions. The new Focus is Ford acknowledging that they've been building the good stuff for Europe all these years and finally letting us get some...it's essentially a German sedan.

The Cruze is, in its own way, every bit as good as the Focus...but it's all-American. More like a smaller, tigther, more responsive Malibu (click the link to see that we're not damning with faint praise...we like the Malibu a lot).

The Cruze we had for a week was the top of the line LTZ model, loaded at a base price of $21,975 (the Focus Titanium sedan starts at $22,270, so they're competitive) with a 1.4 liter turbo four-cylinder, six speed automatic transmission, sport tuned suspension, a full complement of airbags, Stabilitrak stability and traction control, four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes, power door locks, theft alarm, remote keyless entry, rear parking assist, six months of OnStar, and tire pressure monitoring.  There are also power adjustable heated outside mirrors, variable wipers, a rear defogger (not a given in small sedans) and 18 inch alloy wheels.

Inside, there's an AM/FM/CD 6 speaker audio system with Bluetooth, steering wheel controls, USB interface and auxilary jack, floor mats, a driver's 6-way power seat (8-way manual for the front passenger), acoustic insulation, automatic climate control, leather appointed seats and steering wheel, a driver information center, tilt and telescoping steering column, power windows, cruise control, and heated seats up front.

The Chevy PR folks loaded ours up further with a power sunroof ($850), a Pioneer premium audio system ($445), crystal red metallic tintcoat pain ($325) and a compact spare tire ($100). Add $720 for delivery and the bottom line comes to $24,415.

That's about $1300 more than the Focus we tested, and it was a five-door, which starts about $900 higher than the sedan. The Focus is more of a driver's car, manages better fuel economy despite a bigger engine (28 city/38 highway from a 2.0 liter to the Cruze's 24/36 from the 1.4 liter turbo), and seems a lot more like a driver's car...that European influence, no doubt.

So...a slam-dunk for the Focus? Not necessarily. On a lot of levels, the Cruze was more comfortable and easy to live with...and there's a huge segment of the intended audience that is not about performance...they're looking (especially at prices nudging $25K) for comfort and convenience they're used to from larger cars with small-car fuel economy.  It's really a matter of taste. And if it were me and my money I'd be wrestling with the decision a long time.





 

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