[99LeCouch]

It's meant to be a "small midsize" car rather than a "large compact". This car has a very solid feel to it. The doors close with a solid "thunk", the hood is weighty, and the ride over bumps is quite composed. It's also not thrown around by a mid-corner bump. Handling is fairly composed as a result. In terms of driving feel and passenger space, it feels akin to a mid-90's 3-series.

Driving this car is very different from driving a 2012 Elantra. The Elantra does not feel anywhere near as composed or as solid as a Cruze. The Elantra is noisier, bumpier, worse-handling over broken pavement, and just feels less substantial. Well, considering the heaviest Elantra is still 250 lbs lighter than my 3000 lb Cruze Eco, there's a reason for that. It's all in GM's marketing the Cruze as a more efficient alternative to a larger car instead of a cheaper Sonata like Hyundai is marketing the Elantra. GM wanted the Cruze to occupy a niche of it's own instead of playing second fiddle to a larger car like Hyundai is doing with the Elantra.