# Upper grill opening size question



## LocoJason (Sep 17, 2014)

See attached pictures. I noticed this difference and searched the forum but did not find anything. Both of these pictures are of the grill opening on Cruze "ECO" cars. I'm wondering why my car (the dark blue one) is a 2012 and has a larger upper grill opening. I see the difference on a lot of the other Cruze's I see around, and was wondering what the distinction was.


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## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

The top photo looks like the opening on my 2014 Diesel. Dont know much about the other trins and which opening sizes go with which year and trim.


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

Likely due to a need for increased air flow in warm weather. Notice the bar holding the bowtie is narrower also.


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## LocoJason (Sep 17, 2014)

Jim Frye said:


> Likely due to a need for increased air flow in warm weather. Notice the bar holding the bowtie is narrower also.


So are you saying the larger grill opening was likely a design revision on later cars? That seems logical, but can we find some evidence?

(assuming the above were true) If the small opening was insufficient for cooling in hot weather I would have a hard time believing it would have passed validation in the first place.


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

LocoJason said:


> (assuming the above were true) If the small opening was insufficient for cooling in hot weather I would have a hard time believing it would have passed validation in the first place.


There have been a lot of things on the first MY Cruze that have been revised in following years. Heck the water pump has been revised at least twice. Not uncommon with cars by any manufacturer.


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## AutumnCruzeRS (Sep 10, 2012)

That's the difference between The eco and lt trims. Did u notice if the narrower one had lower grille shutters?


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## LocoJason (Sep 17, 2014)

LocoJason said:


> Both of these pictures are of the grill opening on Cruze "ECO" cars.





AutumnCruzeRS said:


> That's the difference between The eco and lt trims. Did u notice if the narrower one had lower grille shutters?


Both had badge, lower grill shutters, eco wheels... both auto trans.


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## AutumnCruzeRS (Sep 10, 2012)

Do you know the model year of both?


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I think the pictures are slightly deceiving. It appears to me the cross bar with the bowtie is the same size in both. If I'm reading OP correctly his car has a larger opening in the main grill than the newer car. This tells me Chevy figured out the ECOs at least didn't need as much air flow as originally thought. This may have been done as a fuel economy measure to counter act the very minimal drop in fuel economy from the engine shield hack job recall.


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## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

If I remember correctly (from when I was shopping for an Eco a few years ago before the Diesel came out), there was a fuel economy increase between the 11/12 (38mpg) and 13/14 (39mpg) model years of the Eco Auto. Perhaps narrowing the grill opening was one of the advancements in the cocktail used to gain that extra mile per gallon, and also why the narrower opening was later used on the Diesel as well in 2014.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

ECO manual and diesel have smaller openings. The eco gas auto appears to be all over the place on if it does or doesn't have the smaller openings. Is that blue the 2013 blue?


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## LocoJason (Sep 17, 2014)

Merc6 said:


> ECO manual and diesel have smaller openings. The eco gas auto appears to be all over the place on if it does or doesn't have the smaller openings. Is that blue the 2013 blue?


I agree. From what I am seeing the GAS ECO AUTO models appear to have BOTH the narrow and wide openings. That's why I put up the post. It's possible that the wide opening is for the auto and narrow for manual (as the auto will almost always need to reject more heat), and that they were simply either misbuilt or had a part change mid-year.

The dark blue is mine; it's a 2012.


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## Dvan5693 (Jul 8, 2014)

A friend of mine is an Aero engineer for GM and worked some on the Cruze. She told me that I could completely close up the entire front of my car 24/7 to get better mpg and never once have a cooling issue. 

Her words "the [email protected] things are designed to pull a trailer up a mountain in the dessert at 3pm in the middle of summer and not overheat" LOL. So yes most likely the newer one has a smaller opening. I have a 14 ECO and I know my opening is smaller like the thumbnail on the left.


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## S-Fitz (Jul 16, 2012)

My grill opening is the same as the blue car's. 2011 LT.


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## AutumnCruzeRS (Sep 10, 2012)

I recently was going to look for cold weather grille covers for our cruze. Having the little extra mpgs to cover the loss in winter blend gas would be nice.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

When the cruze first came out ALL eco models had the small lower upper grill opening. At some point this was changed and only the manual transmission ECO have them now(diesel too, they were late to the party). 

My guess the automatic cruze would need a bit more cooling than the manual, or the guy installing this part was confused as to which cars were suppose to get them.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

If you look at the Holden Cruze front you will notice we have a larger opening under the bumper as that is where the main engine cooling comes from. The upper grill does very little to cool the engine.
View attachment 125906


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## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

Dvan5693 said:


> A friend of mine is an Aero engineer for GM and worked some on the Cruze. She told me that I could completely close up the entire front of my car 24/7 to get better mpg and never once have a cooling issue.
> 
> Her words "the [email protected] things are designed to pull a trailer up a mountain in the dessert at 3pm in the middle of summer and not overheat" LOL. So yes most likely the newer one has a smaller opening. I have a 14 ECO and I know my opening is smaller like the thumbnail on the left.


Since I've been running with the smaller opening and my lower grill completely blocked for the last year or so, I'd take this challenge. Granted Trifecta tuned so it runs cooler, but I've been stuck in stop and go at 95 degrees and pulled a boat during the warmer months with mine and it hasn't come close to overheating. But, I definitely monitor coolant and trans temp closely.


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## Dvan5693 (Jul 8, 2014)

Sunline Fan said:


> Since I've been running with the smaller opening and my lower grill completely blocked for the last year or so, I'd take this challenge. Granted Trifecta tuned so it runs cooler, but I've been stuck in stop and go at 95 degrees and pulled a boat during the warmer months with mine and it hasn't come close to overheating. But, I definitely monitor coolant and trans temp closely.
> 
> 
> Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App


Ha my point exactly. Obviously you can't tow with the ECO like I have, but most of the other models you can tow with. So you've never had it go past the normal temp(like half way at the gauge) also how do you monitor the temps?


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

How close are the digital temp readings in the 11-12 DIC to Ultra and Scan Gauge?


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Dvan5693 said:


> Ha my point exactly. Obviously you can't tow with the ECO like I have, but most of the other models you can tow with. So you've never had it go past the normal temp(like half way at the gauge) also how do you monitor the temps?


In 0-40F outside temps I had a lower grill block on my car, in hills I would run about 5F higher than usual for a few seconds before the electronic thermostat would open up and cool the car right off. Still ran the normal 217-219F on flat roads, would get to 223F before it started to cool off. 

Not sure I would try with the lower grill block or adding an upper when 75F+ outside. Maybe with a tune so the car is running cooler all the time, but not stock.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Merc6 said:


> How close are the digital temp readings in the 11-12 DIC to Ultra and Scan Gauge?


Exact from what I have seen.


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## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

Dvan5693 said:


> Ha my point exactly. Obviously you can't tow with the ECO like I have, but most of the other models you can tow with. So you've never had it go past the normal temp(like half way at the gauge) also how do you monitor the temps?


Nope, never. Can't say I've had it hit half way either. IIRC, both fluids got into the 220s at the high point this summer while tuned, so that's about normal for not tuned.

Using a Scangauge to monitor. Allan, I haven't watched it lately, but I think it was around 0-3 degrees off from the DIC at a given time.


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## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

spacedout said:


> Not sure I would try with the lower grill block or adding an upper when 75F+ outside. Maybe with a tune so the car is running cooler all the time, but not stock.


Agreed, I would not run a grill block if stock. Or if one did, both coolant and trans temps should be monitored constantly. That's really a good rule to follow tuned or not.


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## BradSt (May 2, 2013)

I wouldn't restrict the lower grill in the summer, since you need increased airflow for cooling the A/C condenser and the intercooler.


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## cruzinred92 (Dec 4, 2013)

Not trying to revive an old thread just didn't want to start a new one of not needed. Had my bumper of tonight and decided to like at my grill(eco) and found that the grille blocks on both sides are removable... so I did  didn't really need to just hated the small opening and wanted it all open.
Pics:


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