2014 Cruze Diesel

This can now be updated with the official GM press release:

My first impressions? I'm pleased to see it has more power and torque with the same EPA hwy as the VW TDIs, however screw you GM for failing to put a manual trans in the car. I was interested in taking a look at this car, but the lack of a 3rd pedal axes my interest. Their conquest rate from VW Diesels will be a tough sell without a manual offering. Since this powertrain came from the EU, leaving the manual off the table is inexcusable.

 

Probably because the manual would have no end of trouble with distorted dual mass flywheels and clutch problems.Vauxhalls/Opel diesels from which the Cruze will be based are renowned for this.

 

Even if that were a valid excuse, it doesn't make it acceptable.

 

Question: is the diesel going into the Cruze been produced for years? I see GM produces half million diesels globally. I was wondering is this is the group of diesels going into the Cruze.

DBCassidy

 

They'll probably insist on making it in the US for the US market where you have no experience of making a modern 4 pot diesel engine. As such it will be terrible and give diesels a bad name for the next 30 years. Sounds familiar.

 

That's a quaint thinly veiled try, but this time around we'll have the Axis to blame. The Cruze Diesel engine is built in the same German engine factory no matter what continent the finished car ends up on.

As read on Chevy's website

 

It's not that they'll never sell an MT, it's that they need a US manual transmission that can handle the diesel. They don't really have one that's suitable.

The Delta II's expected to be merged with the Theta II into a new Delta 2X platform within the next couple of years. So I see this current release as a quick dip into the market to test diesel consideration before you see their real approach after the platform change.

 

The only thing I disliked about the US-spec Cruze Diesel is the need for the SCR. Also, maybe the other Diesel used in the Euro-spec Cruze, the 1.7L designed by Isuzu, could've been an option to overcome the need for SCR without a harm to the fuel savings, altough the performance wouldn't be so much better than with the gasser engines.

 

The SCR is what sets it apart from the Jetta TDI. As of now, SCR is the only way to clean up diesel emissions without a fuel economy hit. The Passat, a larger and heavier car, gets nearly the same fuel economy as the Jetta by using SCR. It is what allows the Cruze to whup the Jetta on highway economy with similar engines. It is officially 46mpg on the sticker. The city is only 27mpg do to the Cruze's heavier weight(might be 2 to 3 hundred pounds over the Jetta). So its combined is 1mpg less at 33.

It might not hurt it in the Jetta comparison, but the diesel cruze might lose a little trunk space compared to its gasoline brother for the urea tank. Hypermilers wanted the smaller diesel, but its performance would likely have been unacceptable to most of the public. The 2.0L also allows direct VW comparisons.

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