# Real World Diesel MPG?



## corvairbob (Dec 17, 2012)

so now if that turns out to be true.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

spacedout said:


> Seems GMs claim of 46mpg hwy or 700miles to a tank might be easy to beat with the right driving. according to the article below 58mpg 900miles per tank was achieved.
> 
> 
> GM Engineer Drives 2013 Chevy Cruze Diesel 900 Miles On One Tank


I wouldn't doubt it. Diesel in general is incredibly efficient. This package makes it extremely difficult to rationalize any hybrid on the market. 

Sent from AutoGuide.com App


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

Corvairbob and I thought he was an illusion . X did you make him up just a thought , shawn has gotten under my skin and had to give him some research to do ! They refuse to do work on the easteran seaboard I guess . Even Boats showed up ! I know off topic . ? Will this new stout aisin transmission hold up to the stresses created by the turbo Diesel ? Not totally convinced .


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

Corvairbob cool , will the new aisin transmission hold up to the turbo Diesel ? Not Totally Convinced .


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## grs1961 (Oct 23, 2012)

Should be doable, I know the old diesel Astra, as (sort of) sold in Australia could do Melbourne-Adelaide-Melbourne without refuelling, which is ~1500km, so ~900 miles.

That was without spending time fighting traffic in the suburbs, pretty much "fill up on the Westgate (Todd Road), drive straight across, Adelaide is well laid out and the traffic flows well but the car was not used for day-to-day stuff, drive back and end up at GM in Port Melbourne."

That was with *two* GM engineers in it - one I have known since we were 13, he doesn't bullshit.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

brian v said:


> Corvairbob cool , will the new aisin transmission hold up to the turbo Diesel ? Not Totally Convinced .


Time will tell, but those transmissions have a reputation for being excellent.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

brian v said:


> Corvairbob cool , will the new aisin transmission hold up to the turbo Diesel ? Not Totally Convinced .


My Diesel with a 6T45 auto has given no problems and I believe the Aisin is stronger?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

XtremeRevolution said:


> I wouldn't doubt it. Diesel in general is incredibly efficient. This package makes it extremely difficult to rationalize any hybrid on the market.
> 
> Sent from AutoGuide.com App


Hybrids will still excel at in-town MPG because they have the electric motors to motivate the car in stop-and-go traffic. Battery capacities also continue to grow, but then again, prices on high-powered batteries are still too high to make the best ones readily available to consumers shopping for a $20,000-ish car.

During rush hour, there are an insane number of hybrids on the road here, and I can see why. They make sense when traffic is doing 5 to 15 mph and then stopping, then starting again. My Cruze manages about 26 MPG in this type of driving.

I would not expect a diesel to match the 40-50 MPG a Prius will get in that type of driving. The IC engine is still motivating 100% of the car's (heavy) weight. This is about the only time that a hybrid would make sense...for commuting in this type of traffic day after day. 

Comparing the cost between a LE Camry and the LE Camry Hybrid, it would take you 7-8 YEARS to make up the cost differential doing normal, every-day driving that most people do - some city driving as to run errands where the normal one would average 28 MPG and the hybrid may manage 35 MPG, with a mix of highway driving in there too where they both manage about 35-40 MPG. In stop-and-go traffic, I've seen 20-21 MPG from ours, while I'm sure the hybrid could do a lot better. With that math, the hybrid helps to pay for itself in 4-5 years.

That said, for pure highway driving, I'm sure a small diesel cannot be beat and this is where the diesel Cruze will excel even moreso than the Cruze Eco. Hybrid efficiency goes out the window for the most part once the car gets on the highway and those small little underpowered engines are forced to work hard to keep up with traffic @ 70 MPH. 

FWIW, I'd much rather buy a diesel than a hybrid. At least today's current hybrids. Blech.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Time will tell, but those transmissions have a reputation for being excellent.


Aisin transmissions = some of the best on the market. With proper fluid changes, many used in Toyotas, Volvos, Nissans, etc. go on well past 200,000 miles with no problems.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

jblackburn said:


> Aisin transmissions = some of the best on the market. With proper fluid changes, many used in Toyotas, Volvos, Nissans, etc. go on well past 200,000 miles with no problems.


I did not know what was using these transmissions previously. I can't wait to drive a cruze diesel! To bad I will have to wait a few years to actually consider buying one. 

According to the article they drove 5MPH under the limit. in Arkansas its 70MPH interstate so I will assume 65mph. I just did a 208mile drive at 65mph in my car a few days back and managed 43.3mpg with my 1.4T automatic, if my estimation of their speed is correct I could jump 15MPG on a similar drive with the diesel.


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## Suns_PSD (Feb 16, 2013)

Frankly, all vehicles get fantastic MPG at slow speeds like that. But it's just not the real world for most of us.

My sports car w/ 300 rwhp and huge wide tires averages about 23mpg for me in the real world but if I set the cruise control at 58 mph it will get 35++mpg all day long.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Given that I managed 715 miles on one tank in my ECO MT, I can believe 900 miles in the right conditions and driving patterns from the Cruze Diesel.


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## gulfcoastguy (Feb 21, 2013)

I can tell you that VW diesesl get far better than the EPA rating, more so for the manuals than the automatics due to the gearing choices that VW made. You can easily exceed the epa rating on the highway with a VW diesel manual by an easy 4 to 5 mpg(personal experience) or up to 7 if you do some mild hypermiling. It's not as big an advantage in town. It takes a certain distance to warm up. Due to the emissions system the mpg isn't great untill it does. Once it is warmed up you can again exceed the epa rating in town. If you live up north it is advised to have a plug in electric engine block warmer in order to minimize the time spent both at bad mpg and freezing your tuckus off. Frostheater is the model perferred by VW drivers but I don't know if they make one for the Cruze yet but it could be one of the first mods. There is no reason to think any of this would differ for a Chevy diesel car. This will be fun to follow any way.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Suns_PSD said:


> Frankly, all vehicles get fantastic MPG at slow speeds like that. But it's just not the real world for most of us.
> 
> My sports car w/ 300 rwhp and huge wide tires averages about 23mpg for me in the real world but if I set the cruise control at 58 mph it will get 35++mpg all day long.


True story. I got almost 40 MPG out of my gas hog Volvo once @ 60 MPH (where it JUST settles into 4th gear @ 1800 RPM @ 55-60 MPH). 

This car was rated at 25 highway and usually got 28-29.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

gulfcoastguy said:


> I can tell you that VW diesesl get far better than the EPA rating, more so for the manuals than the automatics due to the gearing choices that VW made. You can easily exceed the epa rating on the highway with a VW diesel manual by an easy 4 to 5 mpg(personal experience) or up to 7 if you do some mild hypermiling. It's not as big an advantage in town. It takes a certain distance to warm up. Due to the emissions system the mpg isn't great untill it does. Once it is warmed up you can again exceed the epa rating in town. If you live up north it is advised to have a plug in electric engine block warmer in order to minimize the time spent both at bad mpg and freezing your tuckus off. Frostheater is the model perferred by VW drivers but I don't know if they make one for the Cruze yet but it could be one of the first mods. There is no reason to think any of this would differ for a Chevy diesel car. This will be fun to follow any way.


The newer VW diesels have an electric cabin heater to supplement the poor heat generated by small diesels in the winter, don't they? Course that doesn't help with MPG running an electric heater and stressing the alternator...

I wonder if the Cruze diesel has this kind of system too?


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## WhiteAndBright (Mar 4, 2013)

I just drove from Tulsa, Ok to Kansas City for the Yankee game Saturday morning then around town after the game, ran around before the game on Sunday then back to Tulsa. We had an avg of 45mpg and never had to stop for fuel and still have a 1/4 of a tank, if we had a diesel we could have made the trip and had prob over 1/2 a tank left.. All in all when the diesel comes out I am for sure getting one.. With the long trips that I take and the long drive to and from work everyday it would pay for itself in the long run especially since I would plan on putting over 300k on it..


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## gulfcoastguy (Feb 21, 2013)

jblackburn said:


> The newer VW diesels have an electric cabin heater to supplement the poor heat generated by small diesels in the winter, don't they? Course that doesn't help with MPG running an electric heater and stressing the alternator...
> 
> I wonder if the Cruze diesel has this kind of system too?


Admittedly I live in a warmer climate but usually I just rely on the seat warmers till the engine temp gets up to spec. Like I said cold zone people usually use a block heater set on a timer to cut down on the waiting time.


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## Scott M. (Apr 23, 2013)

900 miles to a tank if you can drive 5 MPH below the speed limit. I cant

Cruze Diesel Driven 900 Miles At 57.7 Average MPG - HybridCars.com


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

Scott M. said:


> 900 miles to a tank if you can drive 5 MPH below the speed limit. I cant
> 
> Cruze Diesel Driven 900 Miles At 57.7 Average MPG - HybridCars.com


Try using cruise control?


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## Rabid_Canine (Jun 15, 2012)

Getting 29-32mpg city driving (that's Imperial gallons - 4.54 Litres) here in Adelaide, South Australia in my 1.8 Turbodiesel Cruze auto. That's over 18,000 kms (over 11,000 miles).


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

Rabid_Canine said:


> Getting 29-32mpg city driving (that's Imperial gallons - 4.54 Litres) here in Adelaide, South Australia in my 1.8 Turbodiesel Cruze auto. That's over 18,000 kms (over 11,000 miles).


What model Cruze do you have, I thought they were all 2 liters?


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## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

Aussie said:


> What model Cruze do you have, I thought they were all 2 liters?


Yes, I, too, thought the currently available Cruze engines were:

• 1.8L gasoline
• 1.4LT gasoline
• 1.6LT gasoline 
• 2.0LT diesel


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Scott M. said:


> 900 miles to a tank if you can drive 5 MPH below the speed limit. I cant
> 
> Cruze Diesel Driven 900 Miles At 57.7 Average MPG - HybridCars.com


The 57.7average speed indicates they were probably going 65mph(as I previously estimated). That might be 5mph under the limit in some places but 65mph is the speed limit on the interstate where I live and quite a few other places. 
Map of maximum posted speed limits on rural interstates

I do get away with going 65mph with my cruze on the interstate all the time without bothering other drivers, I just drive at night. I usually have to bump up to 68mph to pass all the even slower prius drivers. 

300 miles at 70mph is 4.3hrs
300 miles at 65mph is 4.6hrs... 17minutes difference. 

30miles at 70mph is 0.428hrs
30miles at 65mph is 0.461hrs... Just under 2minutes difference.

Speeding even 10mph over does not save significant time.


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## Scott M. (Apr 23, 2013)

When I put mine into service I will set the cruise control to 70 (like I do with all other vehicles I drive ) and see what kind of numbers it returns. I live in NJ and the drivers here move pretty quickly and aggressivly. I know on my Silverado if I go any faster than 70 The MPG seems to fall off at an alarming rate. I can get 17.1 avg. with that truck. I love the truck but need a diesel cruze to off set it.


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## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

spacedout said:


> The 57.7average speed indicates they were probably going 65mph(as I previously estimated). That might be 5mph under the limit in some places but 65mph is the speed limit on the interstate where I live and quite a few other places.
> Map of maximum posted speed limits on rural interstates
> 
> I do get away with going 65mph with my cruze on the interstate all the time without bothering other drivers, I just drive at night. I usually have to bump up to 68mph to pass all the even slower prius drivers.
> ...


Well you see, this is where your time vs. money concept comes in...

On your commute within a metro area, going fast isn't very profitable. However, if you take a 300 mile road trip, that 17 minutes can be significant. How significant? Well you calculated it at 0.3 hours. Multiply your hourly rate at work by 0.3 (many will argue their FREE time is more valuable), and see what the MPG difference in gas actually is (fuelly is excellent for this). You will be surprised.. in my opinion going faster on the road trips IS worth it. However, commutes are so short, so going slower consistently every day is worth it in those scenarios.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

ErikBEggs said:


> Well you see, this is where your time vs. money concept comes in...
> 
> On your commute within a metro area, going fast isn't very profitable. However, if you take a 300 mile road trip, that 17 minutes can be significant. How significant? Well you calculated it at 0.3 hours. Multiply your hourly rate at work by 0.3 (many will argue their FREE time is more valuable), and see what the MPG difference in gas actually is (fuelly is excellent for this). You will be surprised.. in my opinion going faster on the road trips IS worth it. However, commutes are so short, so going slower consistently every day is worth it in those scenarios.


I agree. We'll probably be doing 70-80 on the way to Florida. It's 13-14 hours as is; ain't nobody got time to go 65.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

jblackburn said:


> I agree. We'll probably be doing 70-80 on the way to Florida. It's 13-14 hours as is; ain't nobody got time to go 65.


When I drove to from Wisconsin to Texas and back I went slower on the way down. In the 65mph states I did 68mph. In the 70mph states I did 70mph. Once I got to the Texas boarder I did 82mph on the interstate and 62mph on the two lane roads. My average on the way down was 36.5mpg. On the way home I did 75-80mph the entire way & got 32mpg average. 

That month I put on 4073 miles and used 119 gallons of fuel at $3.63 average price(all Shell 93 octane 10% ethanol). Averaged 34.2MPG and spent $431 on fuel, cheap if you ask me.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

jblackburn said:


> The newer VW diesels have an electric cabin heater to supplement the poor heat generated by small diesels in the winter, don't they? Course that doesn't help with MPG running an electric heater and stressing the alternator...
> 
> I wonder if the Cruze diesel has this kind of system too?


Check out the video at 1:20:

900 Miles on One Tank - Cruze Turbo Diesel Road-trip: Tessa Baughman - Faces of GM - YouTube

Spoiler alert; it has an "auxiliary heater", so I assume that's an implementation similar to the VW TDI.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

To, Scott.M, I usually travel at 110kph (68) and on a trip with 4 adults plus luggage we averaged 35 US mpg in my Aussie Cruze diesel with only 3,000km on the clock.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

Found this on U Tube but the Cruze in this is nothing like the Aussie diesel to drive or build quality (tinny doors?).

Autocar Show: Battle Of Diesel Execs. Chevrolet Cruze Vs Renault Fluence E4 Vs Volkswagen Jetta - YouTube


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Lol, the NA ones definitely aren't like that. I used to think my Volvo had heavy doors (and they're known for reinforcing them like crazy for side-impact tests). The Cruze's are even HEAVIER, and definitely shut with a nice, solid thunk.

Crash standards in India vs the US may have something to do with that.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Blue Angel said:


> Check out the video at 1:20:
> 
> 900 Miles on One Tank - Cruze Turbo Diesel Road-trip: Tessa Baughman - Faces of GM - YouTube
> 
> Spoiler alert; it has an "auxiliary heater", so I assume that's an implementation similar to the VW TDI.


Ah HA! Cool.

My neighbors used to have a 84 VW Rabbit Diesel. Awesome car - loved it. But the heat was TERRIBLE!


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

jblackburn said:


> My neighbors used to have a 84 VW Rabbit Diesel. Awesome car - loved it. But the heat was TERRIBLE!


My Dad had a Rabbit Diesel when I was really young... I was born in '76, so I'm thinking it may have been a '79-'80. If so, it had the 1.5L 48hp engine, while your neighbor had the HO 1.6L 52hp engine 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Golf_Mk1

Dad loved that car, too; he could put his foot to the floor on the highway and leave it there, never having to worry about a speeding ticket. He eventually sold it to our neighbors with ~400,000 kms on it. VW parts were expensive back then, and spending big $ on parts for a 10 year old 48hp car just didn't make much sense anymore. It sure saved him a lot of money on fuel in the time he drove it.


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