New eco project - a new Cruze Eco?
 

Since our 2012 Mazda 5 was unceremoniously sent to the great scrapheap in the sky, thanks to an entirely undamaged H3, we've been surviving on public transportation and my '99 Prerunner Tacoma. We were very close to just taking the insurance money and not buying another car (i.e., the ultimate way to save money on cars), but our responsibilities have changed, and we will be driving three kids around for a while. Thus - the Taco won't fit the bill.

If the 2015 Volt had 5 seats, it would already be in the garage. But it doesn't, and if I want to take advantage of the insurance company paying TT&L on a new purchase, it has to be this week.

Scrounging the new & used lots for something we agree on, I found a new, never titled, non-demo 2014 Eco for about $16k. It has the PDC eco driver convenience package but not much else, option wise. It is an auto, but since the wife will be driving too, it has to be. I've seen positive feedback on the Cruze on this forum and elsewhere from actual owners, although not much lately here.

I'm thinking 16k for a starting point for a new Eco auto is a pretty good place to be. Any long term Cruze drivers here with updates?

I'm loving my Cruze. Zero mechanical issues so far. 16k would be a bit less than what I paid for the base model a year ago, but check how many other charges they will tack on. Delivery fees, etc. I don't think you would be disappointed.

Do NOT get the automatic Cruze if you want economy, only the manual Eco seems to achieve its EPA numbers.

We HAD (past-tense) a 2011 Cruze LTZ.

I like the Cruze manual, but I have never driven one. I just like the simplicity... high FE without a lot of complexity. If a 2015 Volt is an option, how about a new hybrid, like maybe the C-Max hybrid? It apparently sells well for Ford, IIRC.

I'd say go for it! I own a 2012 Cruze 1LT auto rated at 38mpg highway (wish it was manual...teach the wife how to drive stick...the 6M Eco does amazing on mpg). It consistently returns better than EPA estimated mpg. I just took a 610 mile trip on a time constraint through the mountains (meaning my average speed came out to 71.8mph - usually had cruise set at 78-80) and returned 40.4 MPG. It could easily hit 45 if i drove slower. The most i've gotten out of it was 43.8mpg from a 700 mile trip with an average speed of 61.7 (there was some in town driving and sitting in parking garage traffic for 30 minutes).

Check out CruzeTalk forum. We have lots of good info over there. There is one owner of a 2012 6M eco that has kept meticulous mpg logs for 318,000 miles and i think he has a lifetime average around 44mpg or so.

2016 Volt has 5 seats.

Well we ended up with a 1LT Cruze auto too. All the options except heated leather, and a couple other items exclusive to 2LT/LTZ.

http://i59.tinypic.com/b4udsx.jpg

Not the best one for the best possible mpg, but we'll see what we can do. I haven't updated the site "garage" yet, but I will get to that asap.

So the day after picking it up, I had an urgent drive to make, 400+ miles with plenty of bad traffic (construction and ****ing Lollapalooza). Anyway, due to difficult time constraints and 90+ degree heat, I was driving with little regard for FE. 75-85mph when I could, a/c blasting (window tint first mod on the list), with plenty of bumper-to-bumper BS and "every man for himself" Chicago rush hour stuff. Horribly anti-hypermiler, I know. Definitely not my preferred style of driving but situation dictated.

In spite of all that, the DIC guess-o-meter said 29.8, but my first fill up hand calculation showed 33.1mpg :thumbup: for mostly maniacal highway miles with a fair amount of Cole Trickle style city miles. I'll assume that the dealer filled up the first tank with 87, although I've seen mixed responses about the 1.4L turbo returning better mpg on higher octane. I put in Shell 89 on my first fill up, although that was maybe only 1/3 of a tank. Yes I know the octane blends, and I should have run the tank closer to empty, but I was anxious to see some numbers.

I look forward to reporting back the results from some more sane, efficiency-oriented driving. At least we finally have a gas-sipper in the garage!

http://i60.tinypic.com/6p9kb6.jpg

Tires already at 40+ psi. I like how I can check that now from my phone. :D

Congrats! Do I see an RS badge though? That's gonna be fun but it won't help mpg :/

I thought the courier who has 300k+ miles has a lifetime average that's more like 49mpg.

Edit: nvm, I thought the RS was the performance package like it is on the Sonic. Apparently it's just appearance on the Cruze.

Yes it does have the RS package, but I don't think that should affect FE. It looks to be mostly cosmetic, except for the rear suspension.

From Chevy:

• Unique front and rear fascias Lower body moldings
• Rear spoiler
• Fog lamps
• On LT models, also includes rear compound crank suspension with Z*link (standard on 2LT and LTZ) and uplevel instrument cluster with chrome trim rings (standard on LTZ)

Does the RS edition have a different sized tire/wheel combo?