Sorry for the long delay fellas, between starting a new job and everything else, it's been hard to find time to post. Turns out, after much logistical weirdness, at no ones fault in particular, everything worked out exactly the way I hoped it would. I want to give a big shout out to the guys at Jeff Wyler Chevy in Eastgate, Oh. They went the extra mile to make sure everything worked out perfectly. I would recommend them to anyone.
The Cruze is exactly what I was hoping it would be. It's a fun commuter thats pulling down better than 34 mpg combined. It's also a lot of fun to drive in general despite getting good fuel economy. The 6 speed gearbox is a little new to me...the gearing is short, the engine is too quiet to drive by sound/feel, and the brand new clutch feels kinda odd. But I think I will get it eventually. The fun part is that while it runs out of breath a 5.5k, and max HP is actually 4.5k (here's looking at you toyman...you can thank the teensy weensy lil turbo for wheezing with athsma), max torque is actually 10 foot pounds greater than max hp and a few hundred rpm later. What that means is that it kind of pulls and pulls and pulls...until it stops lol.
First impressions of the interior are equally as satisfying. It may just be that I haven't had a new car in five plus years, and this is my first new new car since I've been driving, but this thing has way nicer finishes than an entry level sedan should. The leather wrapped shift knob is perfectly sized and the lever throw is great, the manual seats adjust about eleventeen different ways, and the lack of sun roof and basic stereo really don't feel that basic at all. The seats are comfy and the buttons and other accessories don't have a cheap or flimsy feel to them. At the price I got this vehicle at, I'm feeling like I got a pretty solid deal... Time will tell if the mechanicals and such were the deal I'm hoping they were...
I have to say it's kind of odd to have a car that I'm not immediately thinking about what I need to upgrade. I want to try and leave the warranty intact, so that means hooning will be at a minimum, at least as far as turning wrenches is concerned. That said, GM Performance does have a performance exhaust system in their current catalog, that claims gains of 10 HP and 15 foot pounds, while retaining the factory warranty (provided their factory monkeys install the thing). Might make a few calls and see what that might run me.
I'm having a hard time nailing down any of the technical specs, but from looking under the hood, I'm pretty sure the intake charge flows through an intercooler (thought it was direct feed). Looking a little closer at the rest of the engine bay, I see that the cold side tubing between the intercooler and the throttle body is about 2 inches or so in diameter! Looks like there's probably a lot of room for improvement there. I'm not sure where else I would want to make many changes... We are talking about a 1.4 litre mill. I'm not sure I want to push too much harder on the little thing, but the comically small turbo probably is a huge opportunity for performance improvement as well.
All in all, I couldn't be happier. I would make this deal again in a heartbeat. I am sad to see my old g20 go, but it's the price that has to be paid in the long run I suppose. My hope is that she will go to a new owner who will treat her well for some time to come. I know I promised pics, but you'll have to be patient. I haven't had a lot of opportunity to take them, the weather has been crappy, and I'm kind of lazy lol. I promise once we have a decent day where I'm not working at the new gig, you will all get some good pics. But until then, here she is resting in her new bedroom.
Name still to come... But I'm liking Amana, that's pretty hilarious.
