Holden's latest home-grown hero has arrived.
Talk about timing being everything. On the very day petrol prices in New Zealand reached their highest-ever level, Holden New Zealand introduced its most fuel-efficient car.
The vehicle is the facelifted Cruze sedan, which is now built at GM-Holden's assembly plant at Elizabeth on the outskirts of Adelaide, rather than being imported fully built-up from South Korea.
That's big news in itself - and very important for the future of General Motors assembly operations Down Under - but from the New Zealand perspective perhaps the bigger news is the facelifted Cruze is now available with a new-age 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine that offers a combination of sound performance and very good fuel consumption.
Cruze also continues to be available with a 1.8-litre normally aspirated petrol engine, and it can also be purchased with a new- generation 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel.
But it's the brand-new small capacity petrol engine that is the star, as was underlined at the Australasian media launch of the vehicle last week, an event that included a big drive along Victoria's serpentine Great Ocean Road then inland in a loop back to Melbourne.
Quite a few New Zealanders are already used to the qualities of small turbocharged engines, thanks to the efforts of the likes of Volkswagen with the TSI engines aboard product such as Polo and Golf.
Now it's the turn of Holden, which has introduced the 1.4 iTi (intelligent turbo induction) as the only engine in new SRi and SRi-V versions of the Cruze, and as an option in the base model CD.
This engine is a member of Holden's Ecoline family; and despite its compact size, it uses its turbocharging to develop peak power of 103 kilowatts, and more importantly, peak torque of a healthy 200 Newton metres from 1850rpm right through to 4900 rpm.
When mated to a six-speed manual transmission, the average fuel consumption is a petrol- sipping 6.4 litres per 100 kilometres. The six-speed automatic version has an average fuel use of a slightly higher 6.9 L/100 km.
It's interesting to note that, during last week's media event, the word went round that GM- Holden's parent company back in USA wasn't too happy about the company putting a 1.4 badge on the Cruze - the attitude apparently a throwback to the good old big- engined days of old.
But the Aussies insisted, arguing that the future is all about extracting the best performance and the best fuel consumption out of engines, and that new- generation turbocharged small- capacity engines are very good at doing that.
Research shows that turbo boosting can deliver engine torque comparable to a non-boosted engine 60 per cent larger in displacement. This has real relevance to small vehicles such as Cruze, because they can have a superior torque-to-kerb-weight ratio.
The results of this research quickly manifested itself during last week's drive, particularly with the manual versions of the 1.4 iTi which proved to be agile and with excellent performance characteristics - to the extent that one journo got a speeding ticket.
Helping with the agility was the fact that all the 1.4-litre Cruzes have a different rear suspension.
While the models with the other engines continue to have the basic compound crank rear setup, the 1.4 versions are also fitted with Watts linkages to do a better job at supporting lateral forces while cornering, therefore improving the handling.
It never was explained why the Watts link hasn't been introduced through the entire model range. Maybe it's an attempt to keep the price of the other Cruzes down, or maybe it's an attempt to ensure the 1.4 iTi models are seen as the more sporting of the fleet - even though at the media briefing chief designer Richard Ferlazzo described the SRi and SRi-V models as "sports versions that don't over-promise".
Whatever the reason, those Cruzes with the Watts link rear suspension certainly do ride and handle better than the others. And that's real praise, because the other models also feel a good deal better sorted than before.
Development of this Australian- built Cruze is GM-Holden's biggest development project since the VE Commodore several years ago. More than 150 engineers have been on the job since 2009, and 350,000 test kilometres have been driven, with much of this in suburban Sydney where there are a high proportion of existing Cruze owners. It's all been part of the development team's basic brief which was to give the Series II Cruze a "Holden feel".
Quite obviously the Cruze doesn't feel like a Commodore, but I've got to say it feels good all the same. Even the base 1.8-litre CD petrol version feels good, thanks to a quality interior that features a lovely dash area with cloth-like inserts.
Standard specification includes six-speaker audio, remote audio and cruise controls on the steering wheel, air conditioning, an information display, and a full suite of safety items including stability control, traction control, and ABS with brake-force distribution.
Next up the list is the CDX, which has 17-inch wheels instead of 16-inch versions, fog lamps, leather seats, rear park assist, and chrome exterior highlights.
SRi looks sportier than the CD and CDX models thanks to various exterior add-ons, while the SRi-V gets leather, remote entry and start, and satellite navigation. It also features a premium audio system with 'pause' live radio function which operates exactly like television's MySky system.
The 1.8-litre petrol engine is a straight carry-over from the pre- facelift Cruze, and as such it continues to offer reasonably modest performance via 104 kW of power and 176 Nm of torque. Fuel consumption is published at 7.0 L/100 with the manual (which is a five-speeder), and 7.4 L/100 km with the six-speed auto.
However the diesel is considerably different. It's a 2.0-litre version of the 2.2-litre VM Motori-licensed turbo diesel that recently made its debut in the new-generation Holden Captiva SUV, and in this iteration it offers 120 kW of power and a very good 360 Nm of torque. I found it to be a very good engine that combined well with the six-speed automatic transmission that was aboard the model I drove - it can also be purchased with a six-speed manual.
The manual version boasts an average fuel consumption of 5.6 L/100km, while the auto's consumption figure is 6.7 L/100 km.
Last year, in its first full year in New Zealand, the Cruze became Holden's second-best selling vehicle and was the top-selling small-medium sedan on the market.
That was quite a good performance, considering that there was not a five-door hatch version for sale. The top seller was Toyota Corolla with 4886 sales, 3000 of them hatchbacks, while the second most popular was the Mazda3 with 2230 sales, 1940 of them hatchbacks. Meanwhile the sedan-only Cruze achieved 1550 sales.
But right now GM-Holden is gearing up to begin production of a five-door Cruze hatch, and it is expected to be launched here before the end of the year.
Last week, the company released some photographs of this car, and it looks smart. When that car arrives, and it combines with the excellence of the sedan in the Series II Cruze selection, the model's total sales should experience a substantial jump.
HOLDEN CRUZE SERIES II
POWER PLANT: 1.4-litre DOHC 16-valve four cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, 103 kW at 4900 rpm, 200 Nm at 1850-4900 rpm. 1.8-litre DOHC 16-valve four cylinder petrol engine, 104 kW at 6200 rpm, 176 Nm at 3800 rpm. 2.0-litre SOHC 16-valve four cylinder common rail turbocharged diesel engine, 120 kW at 3800 rpm, 360 Nm at 1750 rpm.
RUNNING GEAR: Front-wheel drive. 1.8 petrol has choice of five-speed manual transmission, 1.4 petrol and 2.0 diesel have choice of six-speed manual, 1.8 petrol, 1.4 petrol and 2.0 diesel have choice of six speed auto with Active Select. All models have MacPherson strut front suspension, 1.8 and 2.0 models have compound crank rear suspension, 1.4 models have Watts link rear setup. 1.8 and 2.0 models have hydraulic power steer, 1.4 models have electric power steer.
HOW BIG: Length 4597mm (CD, CDX), 4629mm (SRi, SRi-V). Width 1799mm. Height 1499mm. Wheelbase 2685mm.
HOW MUCH: Eleven cars in the range, prices range from $29,990 for 1.8 petrol manual to $39,990 for the SRi-V auto.
WHAT'S GOOD: Inclusion of 1.4-litre engine an inspired decision, facelift looks good, ride and handling feel much better than before.
WHAT'S NOT: The 1.8 petrol remains a modest performer.
OUR VERDICT: A very good facelift that will do no end of the good for the future of Holden's assembly industry. And wait until the hatch arrives.
- Taranaki Daily News
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