GM Diesel Cruze MPG Shortfall?

How many? Some simply prefer Ford/Detroit vehicles and have been waiting a very long time for a competitive choice.

We shouldn't be drawing conclusions so soon after rollout anyway. We have lots of examples from the past of how misleading that can be.

 

my father had an '81? diesel caddy. nightmare.

 

It seems like 25% or so lost from the v, I don't know about the liftback.

I'd suggest that the diesel-curious have had a greater wait for competition. Their current choice is which model of VW to buy. Luxury buyers, of course, have had the luxury of a choice of German manufacturers. With diesel take rates over 20% in VW models, I'd suggest that the market's desperately in need of some competition.

I think fall-off of 1k would be expected based on other cars of similar sales volume.

 

The above seems like a total GM PR fluff piece. Even this is not true:

if one looks at COMBINED mileage per Top 10 Most Efficient Non-Hybrid 2013 Cars (By Combined Mileage) - WOT on Motor Trend. One can verify the figures at Compare Cars Side-by-Side.

Unfortunately, CR didn't test manual Cruzes, but the Cruze Eco automatic didn't do well enough to make it in Best & Worst Fuel Economy | Most & Least Fuel Efficient - Consumer Reports or The Most Fuel-Efficient Cars | Best Cars for Gas - Consumer Reports, in CR's FE tests.

For reference, here's how the Cruzes did in CR's FE tests:
'12 Cruze Eco 6AT got 17 city/40 highway and 27 mpg overall
'11 Cruze 1LT (1.4L turbo) 6AT: 17 city/36 highway, 26 mpg overall
'11 Cruze LS (1.8L) 6AT: 6AT: 17 city/36 highway, 26 mpg overall

 

Oh Gawd, painfully yes, I do remember them. They were forever in the shop being repaired.

DBCassidy

 

Although this is nearly three years old, the per-capita ratios are region specific:
Prii per Capita by State | PriusChat

There was an order of magnitude difference between Vermont and Mississippi, the extremes. This suggests a cultural bias may be part of the differences. So should Toyota build Prius in Mississippi ... or the South?

Bob Wilson

 

This nails it. Once more fun to drive hybrids hit the road, they will quickly become main stream. I had both a Prius and Camry, and neither my wife, nor I liked driving them. Plain jane vanilla cars, with no pizazz. With the new Fusion and Cmax out(provided Ford gets off their nice person and does some fixes), hybrid sales are going to go up as more people start to take notice that hey, Hybrids are not that bad to drive now.

The new Fusion handles extremely well compared to the old one, and the Camry/Prius. That right there will help it sell.

As far as diesel cars, if the owners have to add urea, fuel treatments, and pay at least 30-40 cents more per gallon, and they dot get as good MPG as a hybrid, they wont sell well. The GM Fiasco with gas engine conversions to diesel, although decades ago, still is in peoples minds as of today, and that could still impact diesel car sales. Back in the 80's Nissan had a 60 MPG diesel, for one or two years, and I have yet to ever see one on the road. I saw plenty of Rabbit diesels, but nary a Nissan.

 

We'll see more diesels because of there advantage in bio-fuels over gasoline engines. While the NOx is higher, the other emissions are lower with bio-diesel. This includes the particulates. Which means longer DPF life, less regen cycles of the filter, and thus less fuel wasted. SCR with urea injection seems to have solved the NOx problem.

The idea of adding urea was seen as negative in the beginning, because of the additional maintenance. Stories of what Mercedes charged for it didn't help. It's widely available now. 2.5 gallons is under $12 at Wal-mart. Truck stops have it cheaper at the pump. The 5 to 7 gallon tank only needs to be filled at oil change time for most cars.

Friend's in-laws offered to pay a decent chunk of the Prius. After driving their Prius for a week, his wife didn't want one.

Diesel price is influenced by the heating oil market. We should expand the gas line infrastructure. Not only would more people be able to cook and heat their homes more efficiently, but the heating demand will be removed from the diesel price.

GM went cheap and used gasoline engine parts in the block. Diesel engines cost more because they need more metal in the block to withstand the higher compressions. So the gasser diesels had problems. VW also did this, maybe not to the same degree, with their diesels of that era.

The pent up demand for diesels is higher than for hybrids. People are willing to risk VW reliability for one now. More are waiting for a diesel in a truck smaller than a 2500. People are willing to spend thousands for Rangers with a 4 cylinder Cummins or to drop a VW TDI into a Tacoma.

 

Urea, DPF, diesel fuel prices, etc...:
Shell - 600 Rouse Rd - Orlando - East, FL - Orlando Gas Prices

Diesel exhaust as cancerous as asbestos, says WHO! Diesel exhaust as cancerous as asbestos, says WHO - thestar.com
etc....

 

Huh? We already have E85 capable gas engines here and there are E100 in places like Brazil.

 

Ford by the Numbers, Diesel Cruze to Debut, de Nysschen on Q
January 29th, 2013 at 11:47am

 

A Diesel should have at least a 20% improvement in MPG vs. a Gas Engine. GM's engineers are completely failing. Maybe they should put a Volkswagen TDI engine in this car instead.

 

Bio Diesel hasn't caught on, at least in my neck of the woods. If it is so great ALL diesel fuel stations would be doing a blend w/ regular diesel. That is not happening.

DBCassidy

 

I don't know about that
Compare Side-by-Side
They seemed to be vary close to the vw tdi with the eco cruise. Once you get to a certain point its hard to improve.

I have not seen that diesel prius getting drastically better fuel economy than the gasoline one. The new European regulations to make it much cheaper to drop a European diesel version into the American market. That doesn't mean they will sell.

 

Since the press and majority of car buyers put some stock into performance, GM is likely betting the higher output 2L will be better received. I wonder if they'll bump up the car's tow rating.

 

Bio diesel is not going anywhere when BMW, MB, and VW are warning of warranty voiding if going above B5.

 

Yep,

B5 is the max, but very few stations carry that.

DBCassidy

 

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2014 Chevy Cruze Diesel arrives with 42 mpg for $25,695* ​

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=369851​

 

That's because they only want to put the cheapest DPF system in. For regenerative cycles of the filter, they squirt the fuel needed to burn up the trapped particles through the engine during an exhaust stroke. Since biodiesel is more viscous than petrodiesel, more of it is left in the cylinder where it can work its way into the crank case.

Meanwhile, Ford and GM diesel equipped trucks can use B20 without problem, and they have a DPF. Perhaps it is simply because the larger displacement is better at moving that regen fuel through, or the oil sump volume is just large enough that the oil won't get thinned out between changes. Or they were willing to spend the money to have the fuel injected directly into the exhaust. In which case B100 is possible in theory.

Since the Cruze diesel can also use B20, it is likely that last one.

 

I have a good friend with an 8 year old Tacoma that he needs for work about 20% of the time. He likes everything about it but the fuel economy. He would like the next truck to be natural gas though Definitely clean diesel would work, but lots of these folks would like a 3L diesel in a truck so it could tow. I think that would be a bigger market if you could get a compact regular cab pick up with an not too expensive diesel in it.