Hi,
Recently GM announced a big sales jump of the Chevy Cruz Eco. Earlier, I was impressed with the Cruz use of automatic vanes to block excess air into the engine compartment. So I went back to check and found it is a Jetta TDI equivalent. Comparing manual transmission versions of the two cars:
Jetta TDI - Cruz
30/42 - 28/42 :: MPG City/Hwy 34 - 33 :: MPG combined 94 - 94 :: Passenger ft{3} 16 - 16 :: Cargo ft{3}Someone else pointed out the Honda Elantra is in the same class:
29/40 :: MPG City/Hwy 33 :: MPG combined 96 :: Passenger ft{3} 15 :: Cargo ft{3}Best of all, these two gassers use fuel that is running 10% cheaper than diesel and is more universally available. But of course, neither is a Prius and can come close to:
51/48 :: MPG City/Hwy 50 :: MPG combined 94 :: Passenger ft{3} 22 :: Cargo ft{3}With the Prius, we still get more space and pay less for fuel. The Prius can work as an efficient, emergency generator without the problems of carbon monoxide, noise, small tank, additional maintenance, and storage when there is no emergency. These are things the Cruz and Elantra will never achieve, not even close. Then there is the question of quiet which the diesel Jetta commercials emphasized that they are so much louder. Yes indeed, we have two Jetta equivalent gassers and that is a good thing.
Bob Wilson