Cruze eco how does it work

Ads can be annoying. But ads are also how we keep the garage doors open and the lights on here at Autoblog - and keep our stories free for you and for everyone. And free is good, right? If you'd be so kind as to allow our site, we promise to keep bringing you great content. Thanks for that. And thanks for reading Autoblog. Jeff Sabatini. View All Specs. On paper, it sounds like an enthusiast's dream. Start by trimming almost pounds from the curb weight of the base Chevrolet Cruze.

Then drop the optional turbocharged engine underhood, bolted to a six-speed manual transmission. Lower the suspension and mount some lightweight, forged alloy wheels. Finish it off by sticking a little spoiler on the decklid, along with a special badge. Where do we sign up? But the car we've described isn't the stuff of boy racer fantasies; it's not even a performance car at all. No, the Chevrolet Cruze Eco is not meant to run circles around the competition on an autocross course as much as it is designed to pirouette its way around the Environmental Protection Agency's fuel economy test.

It's the greenest machine to wear a Bowtie this side of the Volt , boasting a highway fuel economy of 42 miles per gallon. But that heady figure is accomplished without the benefit of any advanced hybrid powertrain technology. The Cruze Eco is an impressive package that proves GM's smarts and gives the company further green bragging rights. That said, we're not entirely sure it's the Cruze we'd park in our driveway.

General Motors rolled out the Eco for the model year, building on the fuel-sipper program it pioneered with the mpg Chevrolet Cobalt SFE. But with the Cruze, GM engineers went to greater lengths to improve fuel economy, and they've made some further changes for We'll get into an analysis of the tricks that makes the Cruze Eco special, but first let's emphasize what GM didn't do to punch up the Eco's mileage.

This is a car without any hybrid technology, not even a mild hybrid system like the eAssist system GM deployed on the Buick LaCrosse and has planned for the Chevrolet Malibu Eco. There's no start-stop system to aid Cruze Eco's 28 miles per gallon city fuel economy rating. In fact, the Cruze Eco's turbocharged 1.

So what did GM really do? Three smart things. First, those clever engineers put the Cruze on a good old fashioned diet. They trimmed an easy 21 pounds by virtue of an attractive set of polished alloy wheels and another 26 by replacing the spare tire and jack with a volt electric tire pump.

The fuel tank was shrunk by three gallons and the rear suspension design was simplified, eliminating even more weight. The icing on the cake is that GM says it was able to reduce the sheet metal gauge thickness in some areas of the body-in-white, while reducing the length of some of the weld flanges to pare even more mass.

This last change has now been deployed throughout the Cruze lineup, with the lighter body structure being adopted as a running change during the first model year. The second key to the Eco's thrifty nature are some aerodynamic improvements that start with lowering the vehicle by 10mm.

Even more importantly, the Cruze Eco gets some special kit, like underbody panels and an "active" front fascia, which can close up airflow passages to cut drag. Chevrolet has positioned the Cruze as a small car you'll want to drive because it's a good car, not because it's the only one you can afford. That same philosophy is true for the Eco, the Cruze's more fuel-efficient sibling, and it makes for a stylish, engaging car that just happens to be quite good on gas. For the Cruze Eco , Chevy cooked up a batch of aerodynamic trickery and weight reduction from recipes based on the Volt.

If designing the Volt was putting a man on the moon, the Cruze Eco is Tang and a pen that writes upside-down. For example, GM engineers designed a shutter that reduces drag by closing off the lower grille at high speeds.

Together with panels on the underbody, some closed-off vents at the top of the grille, a spoiler and a ride-lowering sport suspension, the changes reduce drag ten percent and improve looks immeasurably over the base Cruze. With a stick shift, it weighs in at 3, pounds, a savings of pounds over a standard Cruze without the Eco package. Sheet metal was reduced 1 mm in thickness in parts, while weld flanges were reduced between 1 and 2 mm in length. The wheel and tire choices saved an additional Sure, we'll take lightweight inch alloys — for the environment, of course.

Having suffered through every Chevy compact from the miserable Monza to the comatose Cobalt, I was less than optimistic while picking up the keys, especially since "weight savings" sounded suspiciously like "cost cutting. Even with a heavier foot than most, I managed You can expect even better mileage from the manual, which is rated at 28 city and 42 highway. Since the Cruze Eco requires the Connectivity Plus Cruise package, we added that to all three models.

The Cruze Eco includes low-rolling resistance tires, a rear spoiler, front grille shutters that close on the highway for better aerodynamics, and a slightly lower ride height. It gets an EPA-rated 28 mpg city, 42 mpg highway with the manual transmission, compared to 24 mpg city, 36 mpg highway for the Cruze 1LT.

The Cruze Eco has a 33 mpg overall rating, while the 1LT is rated at 28 mpg. Both cars use the same engine. The only sacrifice is automatic gear shifting. GM says that the Eco accounts for about 5 percent of all Cruzes sold. GM says the Cruze turbo with the automatic will see a 2-mpg increase for highway mileage, rising to 38 mpg, while the Eco model with the automatic bumps up to 39 mpg.

Pricing has not been announced. This scenario just reinforces the need for consumers to look beyond ad hyperbole and do their research before buying a car. Make sure you compare apples to apples, and decide if maximum mpg is more important than some conveniences like an automatic transmission.

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