Chevrolet Cruze 2.0 Diesel Review

Buying fuel is surely the most painful experience known to man, partly because petrol stations are such unpleasant places, with their miserable staff and less than kosher pastry specials on offer, and mostly because the cost is just so enormous.

It costs nearly R500 to fill my car, and 400 kilometres later I have to spend another R500 to fill it up again. And for what? It’s not like spending R500 on dinner, which would be memorable and pleasant. We only use fuel to get us to work, which is boring, or to the shops at weekends, which is hateful.

Fuel is like toilet cleaner: something you must have in your daily life but that is extremely boring. And that’s why all of us want to go as far as possible between fill-ups. It therefore makes sense to make fuel economy a central pillar of our new car-buying decisions.

Allow me to offer you a fast fact: gaining extra mileage is all to do with how you brake and how you accelerate. It’s about finesse, reading the road ahead, anticipating, treating the pedals and the steering wheel as though they are made from glass. It’s about the shoes you wear, and turning the air-conditioning off.

Now, you may be tempted by all of this, but be warned, It is extremely boring and unbelievably tiring. Going into town for a litre of milk can become more exhausting than trying to hop there on one leg. And for what?

It’s probably better then, if you want to save money — and we do — to choose a car, and then see if another manufacturer can sell you something similar that ticks your boxes in looks and performance. Economical performance.


And that brings me, briefly, to the all new Chevrolet Cruze. A car that goes, stops and steers with a panache and a zest that is extremely rare among four-door vehicles. Lovely, and it costs under R 300 000.


So make no mistake: financially, in terms of value for money the Chevrolet smashes other cars in it’s segment, completely and utterly.

Part of the reason is its 2.0 litre, which develops an invigorating 110kw. The Chevrolet is stylish, sexy and surprisingly quick off the mark. The manual version I drove will hit 200km with absurd ease. And it accelerates with a pull that truly left me smiling. It also makes an utterly irresistible growl. Like a BMW but more refined. More muted.

And now you are expecting the “but”. But there isn’t one. Maybe the steering is a bit too light, but other than this it handles beautifully. Even more surprising is the interior. Trimmed with an aesthetic appeal, it is — and you won’t believe this — a nice place to be. The absolute kicker for me though, is without a doubt the fuel consumption or lack thereof. This Chevrolet literally gave me the impression that it ran on an oil rag.


Of course with all these impressive characteristics, you’d expect the illusion to be gone when you look at the exterior. It isn’t. No. I’m sorry but this Chevrolet Cruze is down right sexy and offers a fuel economy to performance ratio I have yet to experience.


I believe that ultimately there are other cars that would be more satisfying and a touch more crisp. But if you had one of many other vehicles you’d have to drive it carefully, to save fuel. With the Chevrolet, you can blast through fuel increases at 200km per hour, in style, knowing you made the savings when you bought it.