Chevrolet will be holding official drives of the 2016 Cruze in less than two weeks, but some are taking it upon themselves to try out the all-new compact sedan.
The 2016 Chevrolet Cruze should already be at local dealer lots across the country, and Consumer Reports went ahead and purchased their own, a black LT model with the convenience package. We pulled a similar move in heading to our local dealer to take the 2016 Cruze LT for a quick spin.
But, this is the first in-depth look the 2016 Cruze has received, and it echoes much of what we found in our short time driving it. We won’t speak for CR, so we encourage you to hit the play button above to see how the new Cruze is stacking up.
Comments
I would like to see a head to head comparison between the Cruze 1.4T manual and a Civic 1.5T manual when it arrives. Will the Cruze be outmatched in driving experience and interior quality? I think the early favorite is the Civic.
Dale,
I doubt it would be close just from a content point of view. Chevy has locked out a lot of features should you opt for the manual gearbox.
Cheers,
-Sean
I’ll take the 2-door Cruze SS, a.k.a. Camaro 2.0T, awesome what they did there.
The Cruze will lose just because of the Honda bias alone.
I have not been in the new Cruze yet but it should do well. It should gain some respect here but they still will have to keep working to top the bias of most reviewers.
Chevy did an excellent job styling this car. If I was in the market, I would put it on my shopping list. I think the car looks better than the Civic.
This car should give competitors a good run for its money. Sales of the Malibu have been on fire as of late. And the excellent commercials and marketing proves the results.
Scary driver look at his eyes. He spends a lot of time looking at the camera. When he should be looking outside to see where the hell he’s going.
Styling is fantastic with the car resembling a Chrysler 200 more than Honda Civic or Focus.
I don’t see how Buick Verano could look more premium if it is anything like the current China variant.
My only worry is that Chevy had held back on driving dynamics so that Buick had an advantage which is dumb because the Tri-shield shouldn’t be competing with Honda and Ford.
It sounded as if by the tone of things that they seemed to like it.
The Cruze looks more like the Gen 2 Volt, such that if both are side to side at a dealer, you have to find the differences (apart from the silver grill covers on the Volt which can be painted black). That can reduce manufacturng costs as they share suppliers.
I went to my local Chevy dealer to try the car out this weekend. Much better than the last generation in every way, but I feel like the dash took a step back in fit, finish and overall quality. The last one felt like a higher quality dash when it came out, whereas this one seems to look/feel on the cheaper side. I think a big part is the stereo in the lower end trims and the sea of black in the specific one I tried.
On a more positive note, the engine is significantly improved and includes a very unobtrusive start/stop system, the backseat has useable room now, the trunk is still large, the car was much more agile than the last generation, steering has improved and the seats are now soft enough to be in longer than 15 minutes.