# Well, I bit the bullet and bought a Cruze, but it wasn't a CTD.



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Hey, you bought my car!

Welcome to the 1LT MT club...they seem to be few in number...and mine was pretty hard to find 



> Peak torque is available at 1,850 rpm which is good and turbo lag seems minimal to the point of invisible, but I don't beat on cars so I may not feel it like someone else.


2500 on the manual (auto is 1850). You feel the engine really wake up around 2000 RPM, and start to pull hard by 2200. They're spunky little fellas, but keeping the RPMs below that magic 2000-2200 number will keep your MPGs up.

If you have seen the threads here on the copper spark plugs or checking/resetting your gap to at least .028"-.030", that will make low-RPM drivability on the 1.4 much, much better.

For the record...you wouldn't be the first I've seen to be fed up with an older VW, TDI or not.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Welcome to the forum and nice car! Let me know if you did not get floormats with it(I did not see floormats in the pic). I have a set that I replaced with Husky floor liners and the old mats are just taking up space in the garage.


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## blk88verde (Apr 30, 2011)

Congrats on the new ILT - nice to see you got an MT car.


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## ParisTNDude (Oct 7, 2013)

You're going to like this car. I get compliments all the time on ours...black granite. The cost of fuel will probably be a wash as you said and you got the manual that you wanted. Good luck.


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## Su8pack1 (Apr 17, 2014)

ccasion14:


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

jblackburn said:


> Hey, you bought my car!
> 
> Welcome to the 1LT MT club...they seem to be few in number...and mine was pretty hard to find
> 
> ...


If it wasn't an MT, I wouldn't have bought it, it's that simple. They must be hard to find, there were only 2 on each of the lots I looked at, and there had to be 30 or more Cruzes in each location. The dealer uptown hasn;t had a manual for 

Thanks for the correction on the torque. I haven't done any digging on the plugs yet but thanks for the info. I did see where people are retrofitting the plastic underbody floor panels from the diesel and ECO models to the gas cars, other than that, I haven't looked for details other than reliability related stuff, this was a pretty spontaneous purchase. 

I woke up Saturday, took a look around at everything on my list of things to do, and subtracted one TDI from the list. It's a good reliable car for a VW TDI and it should sell relatively quickly. Unfortunately, my son has my other TDI and it's been a thorn in my arse but he loves it and it's a rare color so he wants to keep it forever. Wish I could subtract that one, too.


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## 99_XC600 (Feb 24, 2013)

Congrat's and Welcome


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

Patman said:


> Welcome to the forum and nice car! Let me know if you did not get floormats with it(I did not see floormats in the pic). I have a set that I replaced with Husky floor liners and the old mats are just taking up space in the garage.


I did get fabric mats, they were in the trunk and not installed yet. I talked them into throwing in a set of all weather mats, too.


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

ParisTNDude said:


> You're going to like this car. I get compliments all the time on ours...black granite. The cost of fuel will probably be a wash as you said and you got the manual that you wanted. Good luck.


Yeah, that's a nice color. I found a number that were red, one ice silver, one Atlantis Blue, and mine. the blue car was an option but it didn't have the My Link option and I think that may be nice down the road.


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

99_XC600 said:


> Congrat's and Welcome


Thanks


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## stamas (Mar 7, 2014)

Nice car you will enjoy it , I see you have some chevy pin striping looks pretty cool


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## BlkGrnetRS (Jul 21, 2013)

Nice car! And btw the special tool can be rented at most auto parts stores

Sent from AutoGuide.com App


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## Ger8mm (Mar 13, 2014)

Sweet cruse, now go and break the bank with mods


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

BlkGrnetRS said:


> Nice car! And btw the special tool can be rented at most auto parts stores
> 
> Sent from AutoGuide.com App


Thanks. And yes, I know I could go rent the tool but I'm just tired of running into this special crap needed to work on VW's. I have a $300 toolkit to change timing belts on my TDI's.


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

stamas said:


> Nice car you will enjoy it , I see you have some chevy pin striping looks pretty cool


Funny you should mention them, they are the first thing I was planning to remove when I got it home. I'm not too much of a fan of the stripes.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

The transition back to gas for me would be tough, at least for a daily driver. Congrats on the new car, and enjoy!


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

diesel said:


> The transition back to gas for me would be tough, at least for a daily driver. Congrats on the new car, and enjoy!


I thought the same after all this time driving VW diesels but that's why I made a point of saying it compared favorably with the TDI's. I'd recommend anyone with a diesel drive the 1.4 gas turbo with an open mind. I knew I was buying the car so I didn't beat on it (there were no others on the lot to beat on, haha) so I don't know if it pulls to redline like a diesel but what I felt in normal driving was very good for a gas turbo car. 

It's a good manual transmission option, I can't speak to what it's like with an automatic, I didn't bother to drive one because I knew I'd never buy one.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

888 said:


> I thought the same after all this time driving VW diesels but that's why I made a point of saying it compared favorably with the TDI's. I'd recommend anyone with a diesel drive the 1.4 gas turbo with an open mind. I knew I was buying the car so I didn't beat on it (there were no others on the lot to beat on, haha) so I don't know if it pulls to redline like a diesel but what I felt in normal driving was very good for a gas turbo car.
> 
> It's a good manual transmission option, I can't speak to what it's like with an automatic, I didn't bother to drive one because I knew I'd never buy one.


Having driven both...the manual trans makes the little engine feel SO much more spunky.


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## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

-J, Penelope has her spunk back with these Eco wheels!



888 said:


> it's been a thorn in my arse but he loves it and it's a rare color so he wants to keep it forever. Wish I could subtract that one, too.


What color is that?


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

Sunline Fan said:


> -J, Penelope has her spunk back with these Eco wheels!


Speaking of wheels, what is the bolt pattern on the Cruze and is it the same as anything else FWD GM makes? Maybe the Malibu? I love the wheels on my wife's 11 Malibu.




Sunline Fan said:


> What color is that?


Cosmic Green, about the color of an old school glass 7UP bottle. I'm told VW made 1,200 total Jettas this color and very few were diesels.


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

Ger8mm said:


> Sweet cruse, now go and break the bank with mods


Haha, maybe after the warranty period is up and I see how it hangs together in stock mode.


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## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

888 said:


> Speaking of wheels, what is the bolt pattern on the Cruze and is it the same as anything else FWD GM makes? Maybe the Malibu? I love the wheels on my wife's 11 Malibu.


What trim on the Malibu?

And no, the Cruze does have a unique bolt pattern. Sonic wheels should fit, but aftermarket options are limited. Even the diesel's wheels are a different bolt pattern due to the larger brakes.

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/12-wheels-tires-brakes-suspension/47993-cruze-oem-wheel-options.html

Interesting, I don't think I've ever seen that color on a Jetta before. Probably think it was custom if I did. Makes sense that it's so rare.


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

Sunline Fan said:


> What trim on the Malibu?
> 
> And no, the Cruze does have a unique bolt pattern. Sonic wheels should fit, but aftermarket options are limited. Even the diesel's wheels are a different bolt pattern due to the larger brakes.
> 
> ...


I believe the Malibu is an LT1 or LT2, has nice 17" 5 spokes on it. Figures on the bolt pattern being different, I'll find a set of OEM wheels in a junkyard down the road, I favor these:










or these:










Here is the Jetta back when I bought it from the PO. The fenders were new due to a recall for rust, but no one bothered to paint the hood.


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## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

That first one will be a tough one since it's so rare. But you may as well start looking now because those 1LT 16" Firestones aren't known to last real long.

So your 'bu must have these, if you like that general design: Image Sheet

Kenny's Auto Wrecking up in Lima might have a set of those you're looking for, asking $320 for the set.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Welcome to the forum! As J said the spark plugs will also give you some more life. How is the 91-93 prices down there? If you was going to spend money on diesel prices the 93 shouldn't be to big a hit on you. Up here I also had issues finding a 1.4 manual in the color I wanted. All they had was DGM Eco to pick from. The rest were LS models.


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

Sunline Fan said:


> That first one will be a tough one since it's so rare. But you may as well start looking now because those 1LT 16" Firestones aren't known to last real long.
> 
> So your 'bu must have these, if you like that general design: Image Sheet
> 
> Kenny's Auto Wrecking up in Lima might have a set of those you're looking for, asking $320 for the set.


Yes on the Malibu wheels, funny you should mention the Firestones. That is the only problem I had with the Malibu. It developed a vibration in one of the wheels, I thought that my wife had pegged a pothole and popped a weight or bent a rim so I moved it to the back and eventually decided to have it dealt with. The dealer said that the tire was cupped on the inside because I hadn't had it aligned. I took the car back to the dealer for every recommended maintenance, did everything they recommended, and an alignment was never recommended. The tires were always inspected and had less than 1/32" of even wear at 32k miles. I complained nicely about the situation and the dealer sold me a set of other tires at cost and I kept the $100 rebate, they mounted/balanced/aligned for free, and I went on down the road.

I planned on the Firestones being junk when I saw them on the car. If I find some 17's, I'll put Blizzaks on the 16's and scrap the Firestones in a year or two. I usually get Yoko Envigors when I need all season tires but tire threads can be like oil threads so I probably shouldn't go there.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

> Yoko Envigors


I really, really like those tires - had a set on my old car and that was the best it ever handled - stuck to the road like it was on rails. But the tread life is just atrocious.


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

Merc6 said:


> Welcome to the forum! As J said the spark plugs will also give you some more life. How is the 91-93 prices down there? If you was going to spend money on diesel prices the 93 shouldn't be to big a hit on you. Up here I also had issues finding a 1.4 manual in the color I wanted. All they had was DGM Eco to pick from. The rest were LS models.


Thanks. How/what are the factory plugs? AC Delcos? Coppers? It's been so long since I had to mess with plugs, I hardly know what's out there. I run NGK's in my aircooled VW's and anything else that needs plugs, Bosch stuff has gone to Hades since it's not made in the EU any more.


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

jblackburn said:


> I really, really like those tires - had a set on my old car and that was the best it ever handled - stuck to the road like it was on rails. But the tread life is just atrocious.


Really? That's odd. I installed a set on a Volvo wagon some years back that has been through three owners and ended up next door to me. Still has the same Envigors and they got the guy through the winter from h*** this year. they don't appear to be worn hardly at all. Aren't there different speed ratings on those? Maybe that's the difference.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

888 said:


> Thanks. How/what are the factory plugs? AC Delcos? Coppers? It's been so long since I had to mess with plugs, I hardly know what's out there. I run NGK's in my aircooled VW's and anything else that needs plugs, Bosch stuff has gone to Hades since it's not made in the EU any more.


They're AC Delco (NGK) Iridium. They seem to not do well at handling heat in the turbocharged engines and can cause pre-ignition at low RPMs that make the car feel like it's falling on its face at times. Add to the table that most 2011-2013 models came from the factory with plug gaps all over the place.

A lot of us have switched to NGK Copper plugs (same heat range) or Iridium (colder by 1 heat range) with great results in drivability. There are several threads in the 1.4T technical discussion section.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

888 said:


> Really? That's odd. I installed a set on a Volvo wagon some years back that has been through three owners and ended up next door to me. Still has the same Envigors and they got the guy through the winter from h*** this year. they don't appear to be worn hardly at all. Aren't there different speed ratings on those? Maybe that's the difference.


Haha, mine were V-rated on a Volvo S70. Granted, I drove that car pretty hard...and 30K miles in a year, but I don't think I got more than 25-30K out of a set of em. Reviews from Tire Rack all said that's about the expected lifetime as well.

And I'm surprised he got through snow with them. Those were absolutely useless in snow, especially compared to the Conti DWS's I had on there...also one I was very impressed with.


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

jblackburn said:


> Haha, mine were V-rated on a Volvo S70. Granted, I drove that car pretty hard...and 30K miles in a year, but I don't think I got more than 25-30K out of a set of em. Reviews from Tire Rack all said that's about the expected lifetime as well.
> 
> And I'm surprised he got through snow with them. Those were absolutely useless in snow, especially compared to the Conti DWS's I had on there...also one I was very impressed with.


Haha, I put them on a Volvo 850, same car, earlier version. Go figure.


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## 888 (Jan 14, 2014)

jblackburn said:


> They're AC Delco (NGK) Iridium. They seem to not do well at handling heat in the turbocharged engines and can cause pre-ignition at low RPMs that make the car feel like it's falling on its face at times. Add to the table that most 2011-2013 models came from the factory with plug gaps all over the place.
> 
> A lot of us have switched to NGK Copper plugs (same heat range) or Iridium (colder by 1 heat range) with great results in drivability. There are several threads in the 1.4T technical discussion section.


Okay, I guess I'll have to move to the 1.4 forum now!


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

888 said:


> Okay, I guess I'll have to move to the 1.4 forum now!


Yep, more info there as the Diesel section still has the new car smell to it.


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## Ger8mm (Mar 13, 2014)

> Yep, more info there as the Diesel section still has the new car smell to it.


ha, that's for sure, I haven't even changed my oil yet lol


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