2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco: It’s OnlyCommon Sense

The concept is almost too easy. Remove, replace or outright lighten every piece the car doesn’t need, or which has a corresponding lighter alternative. Worse comes to worse, rebuild it using the lightest material you can find. Then manage wind drag, ensuring the air is where it should be, behind your ride, minimizing resistance.

Less resistance, less weight, greater fuel economy. Simple, no? It’s the same principle used in high velocity motorcycle or automotive racing, where nearly everything in the vehicle is made out of lightweight carbon fibre, or is altogether just deleted.

That’s right. The 2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco employs no life-changing invention to finally solve the global dependency on oil. No Nobel Peace prize awaits, nor are car enthusiasts lined up at the local GM dealer singing Kumbaya in honor of the genius of the engineering team that put together the Big C. Instead, what they came up with was the enhancement of common sense, and a whole lot of smart mechanical engineering to achieve what until now needed hybrid technology to approach.

The Cruze uses unleaded fuel, period. To lighten the load, they removed the spare tire and jack, and instead provided a 12-volt electric air pump. They used lighter alloy wheels and reduced the fuel tank size by 3 gallons, lightening it even more. And in some non mission-critical areas, they managed to deploy thinner sheet metal. At a little over 3,000 pounds, it tips the scales much more lightly than similarly equipped automobiles.

To the buyers’ chagrin, they also provide less leg room ensuring only smaller, less gravity challenged passengers will choose to join a Sunday drive.

Wind resistance is also addressed, and how. Compared to the standard Cruze, the Eco is 10 mm lower, and additional underbody panels cut wind drag. The “active” front fascia opens and closes to further enhance air flow. Low rolling resistance tires round out the air management duties, and the result is a car that maintains total harmony with its surroundings.

Call it the first internal combustion green car.

It’s also a very good looking one. Outside, the aerodynamic shape gives no inkling as to the true purpose of the Cruze. The sweeping lines, the rounded corners and a cohesive combination of elements create a strikingly simple yet unmistakably modern canvas for color, you’d think it was built for Friday nights on Sunset Boulevard. Inside, the cockpit is well appointed yet uncluttered by design. The bucket seats shriek race car ergonomics, and even the foot pedals are well positioned for heel and toe driving.

Now let’s get to the tough stuff.

Of course it makes all the sense in the world to buy an energy-efficient vehicle with as few moving parts as possible. Oil prices continue to hurt, and will do so for the foreseeable future. So what gives? Why wouldn’t you want the Cruze to sit in your driveway?

The requisite cons to the very tempting pros are the double edged sword of wise economy vs. over the top single-mindedness. Take the transmission options, for instance, of which there are none for the Eco. In the initial gearing on the mandatory 6-speed manual, from a full stop, the response is quick and reassuring, with second a respectable performer as well. But once you’re done building momentum, the gearbox will begin to disappoint, dropping out of the main meat of the rev range at the most critical moments. The effect is disturbing to the point the driver will find himself shifting differently, almost avoiding the 3 overdrive gears designed primarily to limit fuel consumption.

Within town, it’s a joy to follow the stop signs, but on the open road, the experience is, well, different. If you have a second or third car in your driveway, you’ll need time to reacquaint yourself every time.

It’s a bit unfair. The buyer is forced to take the manual tranny specifically to ensure responsible fuel consumption. No options here, and nothing comes free; to save fuel, they give the user a straw instead of a hose, when other competing models like the Ford Focus and the Hyundai Elantra provide automatics that achieve respectable mileage approaching that of the Chevy Cruze.

Would the Eco be one of the family cars to occupy your 2-story family residence garage? Hard to tell. Depends on which family, and who would be driving. If dad, junior and mom will be sharing each others’ vehicles and shift cars from time to time, don’t. For the most part it will take a change in paradigms to get used to the shifting style.

As primary or sole mode of transport, the Cruze will make any owner proud, and certainly spells less Geek than a Prius. There’s also much less to think about because there’s only one type of fuel to load up. The key function and its primary mission is savings, and this one trick pony does it so very well.

Really, you only need to get used to the gear shift.