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| 2014cruze.com |
GM’s last
efforts to put diesel engines in U.S.-market passenger cars in the 1980s were
famously—or rather, infamously—half-baked, and turned a generation of American
consumers against oil-burners. But in Chevrolet’s new Cruze diesel, which is
making its debut at the 2013 Chicago auto show, GM probably doesn’t have to
worry about its prior bad-diesel acts. Compression-ignition engines have been
gaining mainstream popularity here in the U.S., largely due to their high
fuel-economy numbers. That the Cruze diesel is pretty far removed from a smoky
’86 Chevette bodes well, too.
To pull the Cruze diesel out of its hat, Chevrolet
first pulled a 2.0-liter diesel four-cylinder out of Opel’s Astra and Insignia
and dropped it into the U.S.-market Cruze, albeit with additional
exhaust-treatment gear to meet our more-stringent emissions standards. The
diesel marks the third engine option for the Cruze range next to the base
1.8-liter four and available 1.4-liter turbo four, and enters the lineup as an
alternative to the fuel-efficient and lightweight Cruze Eco