- Doors and Seats
4 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
1.6T, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
132kW, 230Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (95) 7.9L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
2014 Holden Cruze SRI V Review
I bought a Holden Cruze SRi-V 1.6 turbo automatic sedan in March 2014. A year later I'm still in awe of just how good this car is and enjoy every moment behind the wheel. Most reviews of the Cruze are very critical and this is mainly because the reviews are for one of the earlier models or any model with the horrible 1.8.
- Ride/Handling/Performance combination, Smoothness, Quietness, Doors close with a reassuring thud unlike many Asian models, Extreme fun to drive
- Design-wise, it's getting old, but it does have character, Electric power steering could have slightly better on centre feel, Interior could have been slightly better put together
The 1.6 turbo is totally brilliant and even with the auto transmission that mine has, still pulls like a train. Holden say 8.4 seconds from standstill to 100Kph. Mine manages 7.8 seconds using 98 octane!!!
Being a bit of a "rev head", even though I'm a female, I decided to flash the ECM and TCM and this managed to improve matters even more with 0-100 coming up in 7 seconds flat!!! Not bad for an almost 1.5 tonne car with auto transmission and a 1.6 litre engine!!!
Holden Commodore (VE/VF 3.6 litre) and other drivers of so-called sports cars get quite a surprise in traffic light derbies, lol. The best thing though, for me, is that driveability has not suffered at all and my car is quite happy in stop/start traffic and sedate driving as well, ie, it still drives just as smoothly and quietly. Best $700 I ever spent.
And yes, I do agree the car needs a refresh, but then it is far from an ugly car all the same. Value for money (or bang for buck) is uncomparable with any other small car that I can think of. Not that the Cruze is actually a small car as it's a similar width to the Toyota Camry and passenger room is just slightly less.
So, in summary, an ideal family car that also doubles as a sports sedan. The Cruze now, with the MY14 updates, rides well, handles brilliantly and you will never want for more power, and that's before I did the ECM/TCM performance flashes. Now the acceleration has moved from very good to awesome!!!
And the MyLink infotainment system does everything but make you breakfast.
Honestly, this car is so underrated, so if you are in the market for a new car, do yourself a favour and test drive one. I suspect you WILL buy it even after test driving the Asian and European competition - all of which are much more expensive for the same amount of features.