Equinox Gas Mileage Should Encourage Cruze Faithful
The Chevy Equinox offers a strong hint at what is come for the 2011 Chevy Cruze, especially concerning gas mileage.
Last August, when General Motors first began to really push the Chevrolet Cruze by having media specialists show up at a gathering in Lordstown, Ohio, the plant where the car will be assembled, GM indicated that highway gas mileage for the car would be quite high, with numbers as high as 45 mpg mentioned. Though I was invited to attend the event, I had a prior commitment, but I was still able to closely follow everything that was being said about the Cruze.
Ultra High Fuel Economy?
At the time, I wondered if GM was stretching the Cruze numbers, given that even the diminutive Smart Fortwo gets only 41 mpg on the highway. True, a generation ago it wasn’t too hard for the smallest cars on the road to get north of 40 mpg, but that was before emissions testing got real tough and when cars didn’t come with airbags and other heavy equipment items. I just wasn’t confident that GM was accurately portraying how well the Cruze would perform fuel economy wise.
All that began to change for me when the fuel economy numbers for the Chevy Equinox were recently released. Powered by a 2.4L I4 engine that is paired to a six-speed automatic transmission, the 2010 Equinox delivers 22 mpg city and 32 mpg highway. That latter number puts it at the top of the scale for compact SUVS, besting the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V even the Ford Escape Hybrid which delivers 31 mpg on the highway (34 mpg city).
Taking A Look At The Equinox
When I learned that the Equinox scored so well, I began to think that the Chevrolet Cruze with a base 1.4L I4 engine paired to a six-speed automatic transmission, could easily get much higher fuel economy numbers than the heavier, taller and longer Equinox. Though I don’t yet have the specifications for the American Cruze, my thinking is that the engineering for this baby combined with lower curb weight will deliver good numbers. And, given that GM thought that the Equinox would deliver 21 mpg city and 30 mpg highway, I now believe that highway mileage north of 40 mpg with the Cruze is attainable.
We’re at least a year away from seeing the Chevrolet Cruze hit local showrooms, with GM’s restructuring playing an important part in how that timeline unfolds. However, when the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze does make it to the market, I think that it’ll offer surprising fuel economy, perhaps the best of any five passenger sedan on the market.
Photo Credit: GM Corp.
See also — GM Releases First Chevy Cruze Photographs
The lady presenting the Cruze at the New York Auto show said the base engine would be a 1.8 and not the turbo 1.4. I don’t know much about that engine, but assume it will return slightly lower MPG than the 1.4 It should still have the 6-speed auto.
Mike, that information is different from what GM has shared previously. I am not sure what engine will actually get placed in the car, because the Volt will get the 1.4L I4 engine as planned.
Time will tell — GM is going through a major restructuring, so anything is possible.
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