New 2017 Cruze 1.4L - WHERE TO START?

[JSH]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

JSH I think you need to schedule a ride along with someone that knows how to drive to demonstrate the fuel economy differences and potential of an auto and manual XMSN version of the same car.

There are many master hypermilers who can demo.

I have driven both an auto eco trim Cruze and a manual 1.8 base.

Over the same route same day I was able to coax 62mpg out of the manual xmsn Cruze using very basic techniques but even driven with extreme methods the eco auto xmsn Cruze just wouldn't do better, I couldn't get the instantaneous MPGs within 10mpg of the manual in any gear at any speed, trip ended at 44mpg.

My old Cobalt all summer returns mid 50's on each tank when I'm driving, it is far less efficient than any of the Cruze variants but yet does just fine.

Autos are getting better but comparing an auto to a manual is apples to oranges, just no comparison.

Also for those of us in climates with 5 months of cool to cold weather the autos extra fluid and warmup time massively reduces economy, My MT cars can many times maintain fuel economy down to about 10F the autos I've had usually loose starting around 50f and get cut in half around 10f, the new dual clutch cars seem to still have this behavior

I would be interested to see the difference between a manual and DCT version of the same car. Automated manuals have taken over the Class 8 heavy duty market due the the fuel savings.

The comment about autos taking longer to warm up makes sense as they do have more fluid. However, the most recent DCTs use dry clutches instead of wet clutches so it would be interesting to see the fluid volume vs a traditional manual.

As to master hypermiling, no thanks. Most of the techniques I've seen in videos or described in forums simply aren't applicable for driving in traffic.

[roosterk0031]

Biggest problems with DCT is my bother is on his third and still under 100,000 miles. I'd take an old fashion slush box if looking for $/miles.

[RedDevil]

DCT is the reason you cannot buy a new Fit Hybrid (which has it). Honda tried it in Japan first and decided not to export, despite very good economy ratings...

[rmay635703]

The op says hypermiling is incompatible with traffic, for me I view heavy traffic as a great opportunity, 15mph start stop on HYW 41 netted mid 60's in my Cobalt.
I suppose that's the difference between a hypermiler and a non hypermiler.


As for DCT having ridden in DCT OTR. Vehicles, they drive like old crash boxes, unless car manufacturers want to beef things up and loose "smoothness"

I'm not sure DCT is as good in traffic as he says.

[straight5]

A few thoughts.
Concerning the value of a diesel Cruze - most diesel cars seem to hold their value a little better than the gas model - especially at higher mileage, and when the price of gas goes up.
A friend commented that he thought the GM diesel has been around for a few years in Europe - If that is true then you might want to look into that.
EOC in a turbo car is generally not a good idea. It can be ok, but you need to know when not to do it and why. I drive a Saab turbo 5sp and eoc, but not as often as I could with a NA.
I agree with the comment that DCTs seem to have a fairly high failure rate.
I also agree with the comments about the standard shift transmissions having the potential to get better mileage that the EPA rating suggest.
If a cruze has a trifecta tune, wouldn't it still get the same mileage as before if driven easy? Just because it has more horsepower, doesn't mean you always have to use it.
.....

Originally Posted by JSH

Like I said above, I've driven plenty of Cruze rental cars with the 1.4L turbo and automatic. I've had no problem getting 40 - 42 mpg in mixed driving.

I've rented a few cruzes also, and had basically the same experience.


I wish that I had noticed the age of this thread before I commented

[Swoltacular]

I came across this thread googling mods for a 2017 Cruze. I also recently (4 days ago) bought a Cruze hatchback LT and this thread looked recent enough to throw an opinion in.

I am new to hypermiling... I read a lot of how to articles. I attempted to follow the techniques using the built in MPG estimator with my Cruze on a 600 mile round trip from Atlanta to the mountains in NC. I drove a lot on the interstate. Some in stop and go style traffic, and a lot in hilly or uneven terrain; and a couple of hours in heavy rain. With absolutely no mods and little experience trying to push my car to the limits for MPG I was able to push the Cruze to decent numbers. The in dash display showed 49.4 MPG and the fuel stop to fuel stop math put it at 47.2 MPG. I had stretches where the last 25 MPG average (according to the built in gauge) approached 60 mpg. I made a game of it.

That game did bring me here though... Only to see that a scan gauge was recommended because there aren't many mods for new cars here. That's disappointing because it seems the only thing I can do is inflate the tires a bit more and continue to work on my own techniques. One question though, how superior is a SG to the built in MPG tools in some of the newer cars like mine??

[Swoltacular]

Here's the trip meter

[JRMichler]

Originally Posted by Swoltacular

One question though, how superior is a SG to the built in MPG tools in some of the newer cars like mine??

I was going to write a detailed reply to this question, then I checked back and realized that I already did. Page 1 of this thread, post #8.

My primary use of my SG is the short trip display as discussed above. My secondary use is the instantaneous MPG display in conjunction with the analog vacuum gauge: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post508414 (post #37). I also display coolant temperature because I have a grille block, but that is not important because my truck came with a real temperature gauge.

Accuracy of MPG gauges is not important because they are only used for comparisons. Actual MPG is always calculated from fuel used and miles driven.

[JockoT]

DSG gearboxes (dual clutch), are big here in Europe what with VW and Audi being advocates, however their reliability appears to leave a lot to be desired.

[ellenor2000]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Cold air intakes improve power but decrease fuel economy. Performance tunes increase power but decrease fuel economy. In fact, most things that increase power will decrease economy, because you're going to have your throttle plate less open, creating more vacuum and thus higher losses.

You want - warm air intake, lean tune that will reduce power out of boost but improve economy

EDIT: You might look for some light weight rims, that can help with both acceleration and (city) economy. Low rolling resistance tires also help with both acceleration and economy, though often at the expense of either grip on dry roads (where you need it least anyway), or tire life.

How about an engine kill switch? Other proven under-the-hood modifications include power steering, A/C and alternator deletes.

WARNING: Incoherent swearword deleted incoming.

Why wouldn't you want a performance tune that could be detuned right out at the click of a button? Entirely hypothetical, but if I perf tuned a car I'd want to be able to have a button that ramped out the tune once I was actually up to speed.