Volts ICE brother: Chevy Cruze

[Dr Mordrid]

Chevy Cruze (working name) will be a 40 mpg 1.4l turbocharged vehicle built on the Volt's Delta II chassis for worldwide distribution. It will replace the Cobalt in the model lineup. The engine is likely to be one of the inline 4 cyl DOHC GM "Family 0" engines made in Europe by Opel. About 15 feet/4.6 meters long and 5 passengers.

Other cars slated for the Delta II platform are the Opel Astra and FlexTreme (European Volt cousin), SAAB 9-1X and Daewoo Lacetti.

It'll be shown first at this Octobers Paris Auto Show and is due for production spring 2009 as a 2010 model ("official" 2010 model year starts in August/September 2009).

Somewhat camo'ed test vehicle image below

[Evildead666]

VW does a 1.4L Turbo+Supercharged engine that puts out 200bhp, so I think they are going in the right direction with this one.
The Fuel consumtion is lowered, and lots of good power there...

[az]

Yeah, it's kind of a shame that a hybrid still uses that relatively much fuel - though of course consumption is measured differently (more realistically = higher) in the US.

A small modern VW diesel with a good hybrid system in a lightweight (!) car could probably run on less than 3 l / 100 km. Sadly though, car companies seem to either make good engines OR put efforts into hybrid systems, and those that build light, low air friction cars only build sports cars with uselessly thirsty motors in them.

[Dr Mordrid]

Update: un-camo'ed images of the Cruze have been published

[rylan]

Too bad its a Chevy... since while it'll get good mileage the rest of the features and quality will likely be crap.

[Dr Mordrid]

You really should judge that based on their latest design, the Chevy Malibu. It won JD Power's mid-size quality award over all comers including the Camry, Galant, Passat, Altima and Fusion.

(JD Power's measures consumer satisfaction with vehicles and is used industry wide)

Group page...

Malibu page...

[rylan]

Haven't looked at the Malibu so yeah I should do that.

I was just going on what I've seen and driven of their other cars and suvs from rentals through work and on vacation. Maybe they've changed, but I wasn't impressed at all with any of the other chevy vehicles.

[Dr Mordrid]

The new series of GM cars just started with the Malibu and those that will flow from it, and reviews of them have been very good. There are "normal", power and hybrid models.

The other new series will be those based on the much improved Delta II international platform, which will include the Cruze and the Volt, Opels, Saturns and Saabs. GM is looking to use their European "Family 0" engines in these vehicles. That pup was engineered by Opel and has a good history.

Also notable is that GM just made official that the Volt's charging motor will be a 1.4L Family 0 engine tuned to run at 3 power bands (rpm's) for different charging modes.

[rylan]

Well I'll definitely be keeping a watch on them in the next few years since I'll probably be looking for a car by then.

[Tjalfe]

so is there a minivan version on the way too?.. I'm afraid I may need the extra space by then

[Dr Mordrid]

The focus on new minivans & trucks is reduced for now as they're concentrating on bringing out new car models.

I would imagine their current minivan will be unchanged but perhaps a new version will come out with a Family 0 engine or a 2-mode hybrid (electric motors in the tranny with advanced gearing). The latter can be done by just swapping in the 2-mode tranny, changing the computer and adding a small battery.

The 2-mode hybrid system is how GM took their Tahoe SUV Hybrid from 12 mpg to 21 mpg city.