# Some comparisons between my Jetta TDI and Cruze TD



## DieselMan33 (Oct 13, 2013)

Very nice comparison. I am hopeful for the GM diesels in cars, the Duramax has been awesome and consistently reliable. Sad to say I just sold mine last week. I am sure I will get into another one in a couple years.


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## titanman2789 (Oct 27, 2013)

Good comparison. It takes a few visits to get some confidence in the service department for the Cruze. First time I showed up they learned about dexos 2 oil... And didn't even have a filter for the car so I had to come back later. Last couple of visits have been OK, aside from someone not tightening the oil drain plug all the way. Small very very slow leak from that, so no big deal. It is scary though because when people see a Cruze they automatically think 4 cylinder gas. 

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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Tdi'r said:


> What I like better about the Jetta:
> The serviceability, i.e....location of fuel filter.
> Confidence in dealer maintenance & service. VW did the oil changes etc... During the first 30K miles. I generally do my own service but had no hesitancy surrendering this to Vdub service during the free period (service dept. has solid product knowledge, for example they know what oil is spec'd for each gen.TDI.) When I think about our local GM dealer service techs doing routine maintenance on a Diesel Cruze, my head begins to twitch slightly. Not sure what my plan is with this yet.


What is the service interval for the fuel filter? this is not something you will not be even changing annually I suspect, so that’s really a non-issue. If you are concerned about the local chevy dealers service department, why not go in and talk to them to make sure they are up to the task of servicing the diesel and know what oil (Dexos2) it should be using. My dealer service department is great, but that’s partially because of the great parts department.


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## KpaxFAQ (Sep 1, 2013)

Excellent comparison!


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## ParisTNDude (Oct 7, 2013)

I can't remember how many VWs I've had and each was a great car. When I decided we needed a diesel, it came down to the Cruze and the TDI Passat. I considered the Jetta, but it seemed small and I actually wanted the Passat Sport Wagon since we had a gas version and loved it, at least until my wife totaled it in a collision with a deer. After weeks of pondering, I guess I'm just a Chevy guy, but the better fuel mileage, HP and torque, standard features, genuine leather vs synthetic, aesthetics, price, local service vs driving a hundred miles to the VW shop, everything pointed to the Cruze. I have no doubt, I would have been equally pleased with the VW, but I would always have wondered if the Cruze wouldn't have been the better choice. Now with over 6k miles on my Cruze, I'm believing this car will be with me for a long, long time.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Thanks for posting the comparison. I can say with 38K on the clock, my CTD still feels and sounds new, no rattles and everything is still tight. I especially like your story because you stumbled onto the CTD while planning on another VW yet the CTD won out on its own merits. That's cool  Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against VW and even owned a Touareg TDI for a while in the past couple years but I will say the Cruze is much more reliable and functions better.


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## PanJet (Jun 18, 2013)

Thank you for this very well written comparison. It is very refreshing to see this.

All I have to contribute is regarding your comment on hoping the Cruze is still "Solid tight feel with plus 50K on the clock, no rattles or sounds of age." I know every car can be different, but before I got my Cruze diesel, I had an '11 Cruze 2LT. I traded it right at 50,000 miles for the CTD, and I can tell you it drove as "tight" as the day it was new with nary an issue. No rattles or squeaks to speak of. Hopefully the CTD will be the same for me as you as well.

To be honest, my '09 Subaru Outback, which at the time I traded the '11 Cruze had only 1,000 more miles on the clock than the Cruze, felt like a much older car. Don't get me wrong. I've had no issues with it either, and it runs like a Swiss watch, but every once in a while I had to remind myself the Cruze had nearly the same miles on the clock (had I kept it another two weeks it would have passed the Subaru in mileage), but I kept feeling like I was driving the newer, quieter, smoother car when I got in the Cruze.


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## Scott M. (Apr 23, 2013)

My old man had an Olds diesel too. Even had a diesel chevette. Boy are we dating ourselves. LOL. Chevy has come a long way since then. I am done with the German cars. I wasn't impressed with my 2007 Mercedes ML320CDI. It was a good car but I paid for a great car. Maybe I should't take out my revenge on all German cars but I don't think there is any such thing as a German car anymore. Mercedes are assembled in Alabama, BMW's in South Carolina and VW's in Tennessee. My 1998 diesel Mercedes was made in Stuttgart and it was a great car. Its not the same anymore.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Funny, but back in the day I considered a Toureg TDI V10 but was scared off by the VW dealership horror stories posted all over Edmunds. 


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Completly off topic but my question to Tomko regarding your 96SS,

Your location is not in your sig......are you involved in any Impala owners clubs...ie The Herd, ISSCA, anything like that?
I ask because I have two.....a 95 grey green, a 96 black....both also garage queens (I'm a Herd member)

On topic....glad you dig the diesel!

Rob


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## KOBALT (Nov 19, 2013)

Lol. I hate my '14 Cruze seats. No support whatsoever. Maybe i have a weird back and butt. 

Sent from my Note 3


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Give the foam a chance to settle in......I'm 6 ft. even at 190 lbs. and they seem to have better support for me than most.
However, when I first got it they were like sitting on milk crates.

Rob.............BTW....2012 eco.


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## Camcruse (Oct 4, 2011)

Coming from a 2009 Jetta TDI, you forget one big con...Implosion of HPFP causing $8000-$10,000 worth of damage. And yes VW is covering the cost after warranty, but it's only a matter of time before they say you're SOL.

That alone caused me to trade in my TDI.


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## KpaxFAQ (Sep 1, 2013)

Camcruse said:


> Coming from a 2009 Jetta TDI, you forget one big con...Implosion of HPFP causing $8000-$10,000 worth of damage. And yes VW is covering the cost after warranty, but it's only a matter of time before they say you're SOL.
> 
> That alone caused me to trade in my TDI.


Or the common frozen intercooler issues that brand new cars experience hard or no starts in climates like mine, a problem Vw continues to ignore....a tsb partially addresses the problem if you have problems but they are kind enough to wait for you to have problems before applying it. Oh forgot to mention if enough water builds up your engine can take a big slug and hydrolock bending a rod....

yeah it's easy to disconnect the hose from the intercooler periodically to drain any water build up but thats not what I want to do on a new car...


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## Scott M. (Apr 23, 2013)

I hated my seats at first also but people on this forum told be to wait before doing anything rash and they were right. I don't know if the seats got softer or my butt got use to it. Probably both. I like the seats now.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Robby said:


> Completly off topic but my question to Tomko regarding your 96SS,
> 
> Your location is not in your sig......are you involved in any Impala owners clubs...ie The Herd, ISSCA, anything like that?
> I ask because I have two.....a 95 grey green, a 96 black....both also garage queens (I'm a Herd member)
> ...


I was an early member of NAISSO (member #318) back in the day. My '96 is the 33,333rd in the 1996 production sequence (I have a mainframe print out that the now retired Jann Jones gave me proving its provenance.) I only take mine out once every two years to burn the old gas off and display it at the annual Merrickville Car Show. Like my Cruze Diesel, I ordered my WX3 without ever driving one. Gotta love that torque!


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

KOBALT said:


> Lol. I hate my '14 Cruze seats. No support whatsoever. Maybe i have a weird back and butt.
> 
> Sent from my Note 3


Yeah, I've got a pretty sore rumpus myself. Doctor can't seem to figure it out. I use Herman Miller Embody chairs at home and at work, and sleep in a Hastens Excelsior bed. 

As it relates to the Cruze Diesel seats - they're very 'European'. But I can last two hours in them without pain. But I can go three hours in my Cadillac. Now those are some nice seats.


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## Garandman (Dec 31, 2013)

Scott M. said:


> Maybe I should't take out my revenge on all German cars but I don't think there is any such thing as a German car anymore. Mercedes are assembled in Alabama, BMW's in South Carolina and VW's in Tennessee. My 1998 diesel Mercedes was made in Stuttgart and it was a great car. Its not the same anymore.


The Passat is assembled in TN but I believe the Jetta is still imported?


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## gulfcoastguy (Feb 21, 2013)

Garandman said:


> The Passat is assembled in TN but I believe the Jetta is still imported?


With the exception of the Passat almost all of the 2014 VWs imported to the US will be manufactured in Mexico. All of the robots still speak German though. There is talk of a second vehicle being manufactured in Tennessee in the future. Actually the fit and finish of Jetta Sportwagens manufactured in Mexico is higher than that of Passats manufactured in Tennessee.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Scott M. said:


> I hated my seats at first also but people on this forum told be to wait before doing anything rash and they were right. I don't know if the seats got softer or my butt got use to it. Probably both. I like the seats now.


Same here, at first I didn't like the seats in my CTD but now they are all day comfortable.


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

I'm somewhat in the same boat as the OP, I have always driven VW diesels or TDI's and I explained all that in my introduction in the Noob section. What drives me crazy about VW is the following:

1. Electrical issues. The newer the VW, the worse they get. I drove a diesel Rabbit for 7 years with no electrical issues other than a blown fuse and corroded grounds on the battery cable and engine ground strap. Clean grounds and go. Wish I could say that about the later VW's I've owned, have two Jetta TDI's now, a 99.5 and an 01. Constant string of electrical issues with that generation that like to strand me and my family and they are very common with the later cars. My little brother had a Touareg and the recalls came 2 and 3 to an envelope, VW had that car more than he did. 
2. Dumb mechanical issues. The Passat I had was incredibly bad, 3 sets of cam seals in a year, a rear main went at 60k and the incredibly expensive cast aluminum front end control arms wore out by 70k. I've installed two wiper motors and one linkage on my 99.5 Jetta in 25k miles. I got crank windows on both of mine because VW used plastic clips to hold the power windows to the doors and motor and window routinely fell down into the door. A friend on our VW site has a new GTI and when the window came unglued somehow VW charged him $170 to reglue it at 20k miles. They recommended that he not use the window when it's too hot or too cold else it might come unglued again and it would be another $170 to fix it And that brings me to....
3. VW and the dealer network. The attitude of VW and the dealer service people towards the people that purchase their cars is unbelievable. Notice that I didn't say "customers" and that is because VW has no idea that they exist so there is no concept of customer service. There are just people out there somewhere who buy their cars and obviously mistreat them because they should never break due to superior engineering. I waited 8 months for my 03 TDI wagon to arrive and sold it 14 months later because the dealership screwed up everything they touched. Another example is the recommendation not to use the windows and charging a guy $170 every time the glued in window comes loose. As mentioned in my noob post, VW told me my brother and I were not related when I purchased his Passat and the dealer told me the family transfer 10/100 drive train warranty would stay in force. Well, when VW was faced with paying for a leaking rear main at 60k, my brother and I were suddenly no longer related. Between my brother and I, we had 50 years of combined VW loyalty but that meant nothing. He hasn't bought a new VW product since and neither have I, I have a favorite cousin who is a new car salesman at the local VW place but there is no chance I'm taking advantage of that, I'll never spend a dollar in a VW dealership. 

And before you cross me off as a VW hater, I'm an admin on a good sized VW site, I have owned dozens of VW's over the years, including the two TDI's above as well as a 72 bus and a 67 beetle I have right now. I LOVE VW's and have for years but they've just been too much trouble. They've gotten too complex for their own good and the company would rather tell brothers they aren't related than deal with standing behind what they make and sell. 

I won't drive anything but diesels so I've had no choice but to accept whatever VW wanted to throw into the market. Till now. 

So....I'm here because my wife has a 2011 Malibu we bought new and it has been completely painless in 3.5 years and 37k miles, the dealer has been all over anything we need. The OEM struts really suck but that can be fixed. I'm just waiting for the cloth seat/6 speed MT diesel Cruze to arrive, bonus points if it arrives in wagon format. Meanwhile I'll be watching what happens here with the Cruze diesels on the road and seeing how the Malibu holds together. If all that falls into place, I'm done with VW's newer than 1972 and my TDI's will be history. It's a shame, because I have been driving them for most of the last 35 years, they can really good cars occasionally, the ride and feel of a VW is usually better than an American car, and I'll miss them but the negatives outweigh the positives.


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## DieselMan33 (Oct 13, 2013)

A year or so ago when I was throwing around the idea of buying a new car I really wanted a Passat TDI. Went to the dealer and drove one, really liked it but at that time it was a little out of my price range. I did not like the way I was treated and the way the sales people acted. First I knew more about the car then they did. Second, they seemed to think they were better then me or that I was not good enough for the car. It was not a friendly feeling. The Chevy dealer I bought my CTD from was 1000 times better. One of the reasons why I did not even shop around for a better price was because the salesman was so nice, informative and the best trait a car salesman can have, he was not pushy. 

When I decided on the Cruze my Dad asked if I wanted to go back to the VW dealer and drive the Jetta and there was no way I was walking back into that place.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

About two years ago my wife was mini-van curious so I wanted to test drive a Routan.

I went three times to the dealer - Myers Volkswagen - and they would only let me drive it if I gave them a $2K deposit. We walked.

Worst treatment I've ever had at a dealership in over 25 years of new car ownership.

My wife now drives a Cruze Diesel.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

You know it's funny. I have owned a lot of cars in my life and test driven even more. I have found that the higher end the dealership is, the better I am treated. I've more than once walked into Porsche/Audi/BMW/Mercedes etc dealerships without two nickels to rub together and was treated like royalty. When the Porsche Cayenne first came out, they tossed me and my friend the keys to a brand new $100K turbo and told us to "have fun". We sure did!! 

The best story, though, was about 6 months after I had bought my 2009 Mercedes S550 brand new, I drove said car to a Cadillac dealership because I wanted to drive a CTS-V. Parked right in front. When I told the salesman what I was interested in, he asked me "Do you know what that car is?" I was caught a bit off guard but played along and said "Cadillac's answer to the M3 or C63?" He said "That's a $70,000 car!" The ignorance and condescention immediately pissed me off. Mind you I was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. I pointed at my Mercedes and said "That's a $95000 car!" He tried to backpeddle at that point but it was too late. I later called the GM of the dealership and gave him a piece of my mind. He already knew who I was talking about even before I tried remembering the guy's name. OK, then why not fire the guy?


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## Scott M. (Apr 23, 2013)

I would agree that the Higher end car dealers treat you better in the showroom but back in the service area my experience has been horrible. They act like its a privilege to pay too much for them to not fix your car right.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

diesel said:


> You know it's funny. I have owned a lot of cars in my life and test driven even more. I have found that the higher end the dealership is, the better I am treated. I've more than once walked into Porsche/Audi/BMW/Mercedes etc dealerships without two nickels to rub together and was treated like royalty. When the Porsche Cayenne first came out, they tossed me and my friend the keys to a brand new $100K turbo and told us to "have fun". We sure did!!
> 
> The best story, though, was about 6 months after I had bought my 2009 Mercedes S550 brand new, I drove said car to a Cadillac dealership because I wanted to drive a CTS-V. Parked right in front. When I told the salesman what I was interested in, he asked me "Do you know what that car is?" I was caught a bit off guard but played along and said "Cadillac's answer to the M3 or C63?" He said "That's a $70,000 car!" The ignorance and condescention immediately pissed me off. Mind you I was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. I pointed at my Mercedes and said "That's a $95000 car!" He tried to backpeddle at that point but it was too late. I later called the GM of the dealership and gave him a piece of my mind. He already knew who I was talking about even before I tried remembering the guy's name. OK, then why not fire the guy?


The GM of that dealership may have been building a file on the guy so he could fire with cause and avoid legal/financial issues with the firing.


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## blk88verde (Apr 30, 2011)

> I am done with the German cars. I wasn't impressed with my 2007 Mercedes ML320CDI.


 - I have owned a few German cars. 1979 German Ford Fiesta (rusted really bad). 1984 Porsche 944 w/sport suspension- best handling car I have driven. A 2002 Mercedes C230K - good car not great - it is as if the fun was engineered out of this car - should have been fun with a Supercharged engine and 6 speed manual trans - but was not. My son has a 2010 BMW 328i 6M and has that check engine light come on numerous times, this time some issue with gas tank pressure(not fuel pressure), the car does drive nice, reminds me of my GTO, just not quite as powerful. Oh and for the dealer to change a set of BMW spark plugs $500. - I will say the Mercedes dealer experience was great. Any time I brought the car in for service, the service consultant tossed me the keys to a new SUV or all wheel drive C or E class.


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

Tomko said:


> About two years ago my wife was mini-van curious so I wanted to test drive a Routan.
> 
> I went three times to the dealer - Myers Volkswagen - and they would only let me drive it if I gave them a $2K deposit. We walked.
> 
> ...


Was this Myers in Columbus Ohio?


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

obermd said:


> The GM of that dealership may have been building a file on the guy so he could fire with cause and avoid legal/financial issues with the firing.


Yeah, there was an idiot that worked where I worked a few years back. Was stealing memory out of computers among other things, and they were afraid to fire him for the longest time. It was a great day when they finally escorted him out the door.


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## Tdi'r (Jan 5, 2014)

Tomko said:


> About two years ago my wife was mini-van curious so I wanted to test drive a Routan.
> 
> I went three times to the dealer - Myers Volkswagen - and they would only let me drive it if I gave them a $2K deposit. We walked.
> 
> ...


That's crazy! Fortunately, the salesman at our local dealership remembers me (30 years of buying cars and trucks from them) and just gives me the keys and says "see ya when you get back." I have test driven at other brands where the salesman starts to crawl into the back seat... to which I generally say something assuring him we can handle the test drive without him. But a deposit before a test drive... If it costs that to test drive... I clearly can't afford to own it


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

888 said:


> Was this Myers in Columbus Ohio?


Myers in Bells Corners. 


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## RedHot14Diesel (Jan 17, 2014)

Great comparison. I test drove the '14 Jetta TDI manual and didn't test the Cruze. It's hard to compare with a different tranny but the torque is noticeable.... 


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

RedHot14Diesel said:


> Great comparison. I test drove the '14 Jetta TDI manual and didn't test the Cruze. It's hard to compare with a different tranny but the torque is noticeable....
> 
> 
> Sent from AutoGuide.com App


The first time I drove a TDI manual (Golf), I nailed it at just 2000 RPM coming out of a corner, and was completely blown away how quickly it responded and surged forward with torque (I'd never driven a turbodiesel - but I owned a gasser turbo with 240 lb/ft on tap). I came away surprised...and remember being even more impressed with what the Cruze Diesel did switching lanes in slow-moving traffic


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## Farmerboy (Sep 2, 2012)

I'm a man trans fan also, especially on diesels. That's why I drove 350 mi. to pick up my current 6mt Cruze. So if Chevy never puts a 6mt in CTD I probly won't own one. My first experience with diesel was a 12 valve cummins Dodge. Its powerband was down low rpm and that's what I like about all diesels. But it don't seem like OEM's like that, any auto trans I have driven as soon as you put your foot in it, it downshifts way down and don't let you use the torque anyways.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Farmerboy said:


> I'm a man trans fan also, especially on diesels. That's why I drove 350 mi. to pick up my current 6mt Cruze. So if Chevy never puts a 6mt in CTD I probly won't own one. My first experience with diesel was a 12 valve cummins Dodge. Its powerband was down low rpm and that's what I like about all diesels. But it don't seem like OEM's like that, any auto trans I have driven as soon as you put your foot in it, it downshifts way down and don't let you use the torque anyways.


The CTD also downshifts prematurely IMO, however I have found that after it's in second gear and then you goose it a little, it will hold second gear without downshifting into first. My GLK250 Bluetec was much better at utilizing the torque of the diesel. It was hard to get it to downshift, which I liked.


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## VtTD (Nov 5, 2013)

I agree with the downshifting prematurely. It's a little annoying. I'll have to try what said, diesel.


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## RedHot14Diesel (Jan 17, 2014)

Now I'm starting to notice the downshifts too but it doesn't bother me. Feels like driving with a manual 


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## hulkss (Jan 30, 2014)

Tomko said:


> I was an early member of NAISSO (member #318) back in the day....<snip>.........Gotta love that torque!


I was a NAISSO member also. It's interesting to note that the torque/weight ratio of the '96 Impala SS with 5.7 liter LT1 V8 is the same as the Cruze 2.0 Turbo Diesel (factory over boost).

Impala SS advertised weight 4036 + 11.5 gal (half tank) = 4106 lbs, 330 ft-lbs torque 330/4106 = .080
Cruze Diesel weight 3475 + 7.8 gal (half tank) = 3529 lbs, 280 ft-lbs torque 280/3529 = .079

Now I know why I like driving my CTD.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

hulkss said:


> I was a NAISSO member also. It's interesting to note that the torque/weight ratio of the '96 Impala SS with 5.7 liter LT1 V8 is the same as the Cruze 2.0 Turbo Diesel (factory over boost).
> 
> Impala SS advertised weight 4036 + 11.5 gal (half tank) = 4106 lbs, 330 ft-lbs torque 330/4106 = .080
> Cruze Diesel weight 3475 + 7.8 gal (half tank) = 3529 lbs, 280 ft-lbs torque 280/3529 = .079
> ...


Great comparison. I've often said that the Cruze Diesel felt like driving one of my V8 machines from days past. 

My wife is the sort to exploit the full benefits of an engine's power curve and she's never complained about driving the Cruze Diesel - plus I'm really enjoying the savings at the fuel pump AND its range between fill ups. 


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