The 2012 Chevrolet Cruze 2LT reviewed by txGarage

We’ve been looking to get into the Chevrolet Cruze for a full week review for a while now. We’ve actually driven a few different models of the Cruze at some events, but have never had the time to really check out the details. Well, we finally got our hands on one, so what’d we think?

The last two times I was behind the wheel of a Cruze, one was a base and one was an eco model. Both had cloth seats and a lackluster performance. Our tester was a 2012 Cruze 2LT. This afforded us leather seats, navigation, 17” alloy wheels, remote start, and a 1.4 liter turbocharged engine matched up to a 6-speed automatic transmission. This decked out Cruze has a window-sticker of just under $24k (23,980) and is spec’d out the exact way I’d want one if I was dropping the money. But would I drop my own money for this car? Let’s get more into the driving, looks, and feel and find out.

Driving:

You can have the Cruze in a few different engine choices. You can have a 1.8 liter 4-cylinder engine with a 6-speed manual transmission. This combination will be good for 138 horsepower and 125 ft-lbs of torque. If you opt for the 1.8, you’ll be looking at fuel economy numbers around 26 mpg city and 36 mpg highway. As I said earlier, we had the 1.4 liter turbocharged engine, the same as the Sonic we reviewed last week, that pushes out the same horsepower (138 hp) but ups the torque to 148 ft-lbs. This car is said to get 24 city and 36 highway miles and we easily averaged in the lower 30’s during our week with the car. If you are looking at the Eco model, you get the 1.4 liter engine with a 6-speed manual transmission that should be good for 28 mpg city and a whopping 42 mpg highway.

The extra torque from the small turbocharged engine helped push the small Chevy Sonic out of the corners well, but how did it fair in this heavier family sedan?

Well the power just wasn’t there to make this car feel real sporty or responsive. If you’re going for a fun and sporty ride, you might want to keep the Sonic on your test-drive list. Although it wasn’t as sporty, it was still enough power for trolling around town and merging onto highways. Also, because this is a European car, the handling and steering feel were “bang on”.

Looks:

If you pay attention to the European car market, this look might already be growing old as the Cruze was being sold overseas there a full year before it hit American showroom floors. If you’re seeing one for the first time, it’s intently recognizable as a Chevrolet with it’s big two tier front grille. The headlights and lines down the side give it a swooping and sporty look and the 17” alloys we had continued that theme well.

Unlike the Sonic, the Cruze doesn’t really have any radical styling. It’s more of a basic style that looks good but won’t really put anyone off either. The looks outside and the ride were not really the party piece of this ride though. In our tester, the real surprise is the interior. The leather seats and quality material used is very European like. The interior isn’t just good for its segment, it was even better than some Cadillacs I’ve driven and it’s what stood out to everyone that got into this car.

Feel:

Comparing this car to it’s predecessor, the Cobalt, just isn’t fair. Just like the Sonic we drove last week, it’s not just better than the car that came before, it’s a giant step forward for Chevrolet. You can actually buy a smaller family sedan without sacrificing quality and comfort. Compare that to the competition and there is really only one car that can compete. This Cruze sets it’s sites on the likes of the Honda Civic, the Toyota Corolla, the Ford Focus, and the Hyundai Elantra.

I can tell you right now that the interior quality of the Cruze outshines that of the Civic and Corolla easily. It is also a much more enjoyable drive than either while costing less than an equivalent Civic. The Corolla is a little cheaper than the Cruze, but can’t stack up to the options you get. Also, the Corolla only has one engine option, a 1.8, and comes with a 4-speed automatic.

The Elantra is a nice car that has improved in quality over the years. I like the exterior design and what Hyundai is doing with their products. The interior quality is very good as well, but it doesn’t quite hold up to what we got in the Cruze.

The biggest competition for the Cruze is now the Ford Focus. We really like the Focus we reviewed last year, and it was also an all around good car. The interior is nice and put together well, the looks are great, it’s priced well, and it gets good fuel economy. Choosing between these two really comes down to what you personally think looks better. The Focus is probably the better to drive enthusiastically, but the Cruze isn’t bad.

Overall, we’ve been real impressed with the Cruze after our week long test. We’re impressed with the car, but also the attention that GM is giving it’s lineup. The only thing we really see lacking is a real sporty model. In Europe, they race the Cruze in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). I think GM would do good to make an RS model with a powerful 2.0 liter engine that’s not focused on fuel economy. Then enter that car into some racing series within the U.S.; maybe Grand-Am racing against the likes of the Mazda 3, Honda Civic, and Volkswagen Golf.

Check out more photos on Facebook or Google+

Subscribe to us on YouTube!

2012 Chevrolet Sonic turbo - reviewed by txGarage

First and foremost, let’s do some house cleaning. The Sonic is a replacement for the Chevrolet Aveo. Don’t look on this site for an Aveo review, because there isn’t one. I have driven a few versions of the Aveo. Back when running a small local dealership in Dallas we would stumble across an Aveo or two. This was always a tough sell as there was nothing particularly good about these cars, except maybe it’s price. I could never recommend it to anyone; not as a teenager’s first car or a cheap family car. There were just too many other products you could get that were much better.

Now we have the Sonic and GM says that it’s not really replacing the Aveo because it’s a whole new car. You see the Aveo was a car built by Daewoo and badged in the U.S. as a Chevrolet. The Sonic on the other hand is all Chevy and assembled in Michigan. So did Chevy do it right this time? Can I finally recommend a Chevrolet, compact hatchback, to friends and readers?

Let’s start with the looks. The Sonic’s design was given high priority. With manufactures like Ford and Hyundai making not just good products but great designed compact cars, GM couldn’t afford getting it wrong. They haven’t disappointed either. The design is supposed to inspire sportiness and it’s said to be taken direction from motorcycles. I’ll have to say I really like the headlight and front fascia design. Looking from the side you can tell the car leans aggressively forward. This is no mistake as it’s given two character lines running from wheel to wheel showing off it’s aggressive stance.

Step inside and you’ll notice that this is a budget car. Unlike the Hyundai Veloster that offers a big touchscreen with navigation on even it’s base model, the Sonic doesn’t even offer one on it’s top-of-the-line LTZ trim. No matter though, what you really want to be looking at is the gauge cluster. This is more styling taking from “sport-bikes” with a large tachometer showing your 6500 rpm redline. Beside the large tachometer is every other output displayed onto a LCD display.

The rest of the interior is designed well and you don’t automatically notice its cheapness. There are a lot of plastics used but GM did a good job of breaking up the interior and keeping the driver focused on driving. In our tester we had cloth seats that were comfortable and supportive. There were a few times that I longed for leather/heated seats but after seeing the leather seats in the LTZ trim, I’ll stick with the cloth on this car.

The Sonic comes with two different engine options. You can get a 1.8 liter 4 cylinder that pushes 138 horsepower matched up with either a 6-speed automatic or a 5-speed manual transmission. You can also get a 1.4 liter 4 cylinder turbocharged engine with the same 138 horsepower but torque is bumped from 125 lb-ft to 148. This engine can be matched to a 6-speed auto or a 6-speed manual. Our tester was equipped with the 1.4 turbo and a 6-speed manual, so we’re expecting some fun driving!

Ride:

Driving a car with a turbocharged, small displacement engine is a lot different than what I’m used to. Living in Texas our sports cars are equipped with big V8’s or V6’s with lots of low down power. The Sonic’s 1.4 turbo doesn’t have that kind of lowdown power on tap. Cruising down the highway in 6th gear at 70 mph is smooth and fine, but what if someone pulls out in front of you and you need to slow down a little. Slow from 70 to 55 mph and then put the peddle to the floor and you get nothing. No power. Drop a gear to 5th and you get the same result, now people behind you are getting frustrated. Drop it another gear and finally that turbo is spoiling and you can use that 138 hp. It’s the same story around town. Corners I’d normally take in 3rd gear in my car require 2nd in the Sonic.

You might be thinking that this is a slow and un-fun car to drive then. Well you’d be wrong. You just need to adjust your driving style to get the most power of the small engine. Keep the rpm’s above 2500 or 3000 and you’re good. Keep them at the top of 5000 rpm and you’re having a blast! I know 138 horsepower isn’t that much but the suspension and the chassis are tuned for cornering. You can toss this car into corners at speed and you don’t get wobbling body roll. You get decent grip and balanced, level cornering. The steering has good feel as well so it’s easy to predict the amount of lock needed to attack a corner. This would be a great weekend time-attack car.

Economy:

This is a small hatchback and many will buy it not just for the price or utility but also for its economy. Our tester with the 1.4 turbo engine and 6-speed manual transmission is ratted at 40 mpg highway and 29 mpg in the city. Overall, with our fun spirited driving style, we averaged 32.8 mpg.

The Sonic is light and small but feels more spacious inside. I can easily get out of the driver seat and sit in the back without having to adjust the seat and I’m 6’ 1”. The hatch has decent space too and it helps that the seats fold down. The biggest thing that bothered me was the size of the fuel tank. Although you get great fuel economy the tank is so small you’ll be filling up ever few days if you drive a decent amount a day.

Comparison:

So the Sonic is giant leap above the outgoing Aveo and that’s great for GM, but how does it stack up to all the great compact hatches in the American market today? We really like the new Ford Fiesta and the hot new Hyundai Veloster. Not just that but the Mazda 2, Suzuki SX4, Honda Fit, Kia Rio, and Hyundai Accent are all decent cars.

I think the Sonic can be thrown right up there with in the top 3. It’s got good looks, a good engine, and it’s great to drive. This could easily be a weekend time-attack car and still produce good economy on day-to-day runs. My only slight reservation is on the price. When you’re comparing it to the likes of the Fiesta and the Veloster it’s priced similarly, but offers a little less as far as standard equipment. When you start looking at some of the others though, like the Mazda 2, you can find an economical and fun car for a lot cheaper.

Check out our full photo galleries on Facebook and Google+

Subscribe to us on YouTube!!!

Team Hall n' Nass on the Bullrun Rally 2011

Berry Lowman – a good friend and fellow Texas car enthusiast – with Team Hall n’ Nass and Motorama Live had the opportunity to join in the Bullrun Rally last year and he got some pretty good video of some of the craziness that goes on.

Check out the video below and make sure to follow this guy:
Twitter
Team Hall n’ Nass
Motorama Live
YouTube
Facebook

It’s a new year and here at txGarage we’ve got a new look, a new logo, lots of new reviews coming your way and a new website!

-We are all real executed for all the changes and updates and it’s thanks to the support of all of you guys who watch our videos and read our reviews.

-We’re already kicking off the year well and this month we’ll be bringing you reviews of the 2012 chevy Sonic Turbo and the 2012 Chevy Cruze. Plus we’ll be heading to Houston for the firs big auto show in Texas for 2012. We’ll be tweeting and updating our social pages so make sure to follow us on twitter @txgarage and like us on Facebook. We’re even on Google+.

-Also please subscribe to us on YouTube! We’re looking to post up lots of cool videos this year and the more subscribers we get, the better!

JG's Garage Dallas, Texas

Our friend and local Texas automotive blogger at reflectionsofthedrive.com posted up a great little video of JG’s Garage in Dallas, Texas.

Check out the video below and make sure to check out Reflections of the Drive!

This is my very first (small) effort for video with an SLR…well, SLT actually. This was shot with a Sony A77. The video was kind of an afterthought, and this came from 3 clips I filmed along with a few still photos.

Thanks to JG for opening his home for us to hang out and enjoy some pizza, beer, and all things Porsche.

2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302

I wasn’t alive in the 60’s and 70’s, a time that most call the golden era of American motorsports. I never had the opportunity to watch the original Boss 302 race in the Trans-Am series and win, yet it’s a car I’ve heard of many times as this American classic certainly has a reputation that precedes it..

It’s been a long time since the Boss 302 rose to glory, and the Mustang has gone through many changes. When I first heard that Ford was considering bringing the Boss back, I was actually worried. Would it just be another dressed up Mustang with a graphics package and fancy wheels? The only real track worthy Mustang to date has been those branded with a Roush badge, so would this be more of the same?

Ford’s VP of global marketing, Jim Farley, made a pretty bold statement that made me hope for the best. He said “My dream for the car was that it would make a lot of money for a guy street racing. It should be a car that winds up on YouTube doing something illegal. I’ve been waiting 20-plus years to launch a car like this.” Now you see why this statement gave me hope!

Not a nostalgic machine:

On the outside, the Boss is basically a 2012 Mustang. The front grill sports the Mustang pony badge with red, white, and blue stripes behind it. It has a more aggressive and race-inspired front splitter. The graphics are all nostalgia with the iconic C-stripe on each side and black on the hood come straight from the ’69 Boss 302.

We all really liked the overall styling of the Boss. It wasn’t overdone; it’s pretty straight forward and race inspired. We couldn’t agree though on the best color scheme. The Boss only comes in five colors including the Performance White, Race Red, Competition Orange, Kona Blue Metallic, and Yellow Blaze Metallic. I really like the White/Black car we were reviewing while Toby thought the Orange/Black was a better fit. Actually I like pretty much every color scheme I’ve seen on the Boss.

Inside The Beast:

There isn’t much as far as options in the Boss, and that’s a good thing. You can’t get a sat-nav with SYNC and you can’t get heated/electric/leather seats. The option that is available, and you’ll want to get, are the Recoro seats. These are heavily bolstered, but incredibly comfortable!

The rest of the interior is your basic Mustang, which isn’t as bad as it used to be. A few track-themed items are scattered around you including an Alcantara steering-wheel, a retro cue-ball shifter, black gauges with a tach that stretches to 9,000 rpm, and some “Powered by Ford” door plates.

It’s a basic, business only interior and we loved it!

Powering the Boss:

The Boss 302 carries around the 5.0 liter engine like the current GT Mustang. For those of you hearing nostalgic numbers, that’s 302 cubic inches. It’s the same engine, yet it’s been tweaked and reworked to push out 32 more horses. This was done with an all new intake manifold with runners resembling velocity stacks, new cylinder heads with stronger alloy, camshafts increased lift, the intake valves grew larger, and the bearings are replaced with race-spec bearings. All this jargon equates to 444 horsepower at 7500 rpm. Yes, that’s 7500 rpm on a Mustang.

Revving the Boss up to 7500 takes a little getting used to. If you are familiar with driving Mustangs, you don’t expect to keep your foot on the throttle that long, but it keeps going. This car doesn’t just push you back in the seat, it rockets you seamlessly to where you need to be. With over a 100 hp disadvantage to the GT500, the Boss is only 0.2 seconds slower 0-60.
The horsepower numbers aren’t the big kicker with the Boss, though. It goes without saying that a 32 hp gain isn’t that substantial, but there’s so much more to this engine and car than peak horsepower.

On the track and on the street:

No matter if you’re on the track or on the street, when you hit a corner, it’s time for this Mustang to shine. One of the first things I noticed when I got behind the wheel of the Boss is how different the steering felt compared to other Mustangs. It was lighter, but not in a bad way. It felt very direct, but made the car feel lighter on it’s feet and much more nimble. The chassis feels overwhelmingly balanced as you don’t get the feeling of a heavy front end like you do in the GT500. This, in turn, inspires confidence in the turns.

To step up the Boss’ suspension, Ford gave it stiffer springs, a fatter stabilizer bar, 5 way adjustable shocks, and new bushings. You ride on top of 19-inch Pirelli P Zero tires which are 9.5-inches wide in the rear. The tires alone give you so much grip that it inspires you even more so.

Getting ready to stop this bad boy are some 4-piston Brembo brakes resting on 14-inch rotors, vented for better cooling. The pads tucked in these Brembos are close to race-spec compound, but give minimal squeal.

Everything about this car came to life once we got it out on the track at Texas Motorsport Ranch. The track is full of elevation changes and tight cornering. The Boss just took it all in and spit it all out. I’ve been out on a few tracks in a few different cars, but this track and this car were definitely the peak of my track driving experience.

Yes, how much:

The price of the Boss isn’t that outrageous. In terms of power and performance, on paper, the Boss falls nicely in between the Mustang GT and the GT500. The price is no different. You can get a base Boss 302 tor $40,995; throw in the Racaro seats and Torsen limited-slip differential and only add another $1,995 to that price. If you are worried about fuel cost, it is a high-performance track-ready car, well don’t be. We easily averaged in the mid 20 mpg range throughout our week of everyday driving. For a weekend racer as competent on the track as the Boss is, that’s quite a bargain. Ford will be producing only 3250 Boss 302s and 750 Laguna Seca editions totalling out at 4000 total examples.

We had this car out at Texas Motorsport Ranch in Cresson, Texas for almost the entire day. The day before they actually delivered a Boss 302 Laguna Seca S to a customer from Houston to this very track. Ford brought the car to the MSR track and had the Ford engineering team tune it and fit it to the driver. While we were there in our review car, we not only received many looks but were told on many occasions how much people loved this car. Those came from Porsche owners and even a guy who just purchased a new GT500 who told us he should have waited and bought one of these. I can see why this car is so popular at the track. It really is more than just a Mustang, it’s a great track car. It’s a Boss 302 through and through.

Video on YouTube:

Check out the full photo gallery of the 2012 Boss 302 on Facebook or Google!

Laguna Seca:

Just a little extra about the Laguna Seca edition. We had the chance to do a Quick Drive review of this car a few months back, but we were not able to get it for a full review. As I stated above, the Laguna Seca is a special edition of the Boss 302 that Ford will only produce 750 examples of total. What makes this better than the standard Boss 302? The Laguna Seca implements the “less is more” attitude. No rear seats, just a fancy tubular-steel X-brace where the seat should be. The front end has an even more aggressive front splitter that looks like it’s taken strait off a Grand-Am car. The springs are refitted with an even higher-rate. The rear wheels are up from 9.5 to 10-inches wide in the rear. You get brake-cooling ducts, an
under-body air scoop, a rear anti-sway bar, and inside the cabin you get extra gauges for oil-pressure and water-temperature. The R-compound Pirelli’s fitted to the Laguna Seca are so slick and track ready that it’s not really advised to drive it in the wet. If you are serious about trackday driving, you can’t go wrong with this car and at a $6995 premium over the standard Boss, the Laguna Seca still comes in way under any other trackday dedicated car out there.

Laguna Seca Photos

We’ve written about the relationship between Texans and our trucks before on this site and why this is such a big state for the truck and SUV market. The open country, the need to haul a trailer, and simply the internal needs for wanting to go big or go home all figure into the equation. When it comes to Ford’s new super-truck, the F-150 SVT Raptor, there has already been plenty said and written about it as it’s been out for a few years now. Border agents along the Texas border were even some of the first to put in an order for some. So as you read this, and if you live in Texas, the answer to your inevitable question is yes. Yes, if you have the means to buy one, buy it!

Size: Because it’s all about Size…

2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor reviewed by txGarage

When the Raptor was introduced, it came in SuperCab configuration only. This means 2 doors with a small extended area in the rear. For the 2011 model year, Ford broke out with a SuperCrew variant stretching the Raptor and including another set of full doors. This move has been met with some scrutiny as this is a performance truck and adding size and weight doesn’t help with it’s performance. How much size and weight? Well the Raptor is already bigger than the average F-150 and even wider than a Hummer H1, but adding the second set of doors to the Raptor meant stretching it by a foot. The fuel tank capacity was increased by 10 gallons adding up to a total of a 36 gallon tank. Adding all this extra size to the already massive truck tipped the scales up by 300 pounds.

Engine: Because power solves all problems…

The extra size and weight in the 2011 Raptor we tested went basically unnoticed. This was helped by the new 6.2 liter V8 pushing 411 horsepower and 434 ft-lbs of torque; which is now standard on all Raptors. This mass is matched up with a 6-speed automatic transmission that provides full manual control via buttons on the shifter itself. Shifting this big truck in manual mode isn’t that easy with the small buttons on the shifter, but when you get used to it, you notice that the transmission wont shift up automatically on you and will allow downshifting at any speed. All this put together makes for a pretty quick truck, which is a weird sensation in such a big vehicle. Even with the big engine the Raptor can only tow up to 8,000 lbs as it’s let down by it’s off-roading suspension.

Inside: Because it’s Texas and you want to be comfortable while off-roading…

Obviously, the upside to the extra size and weight is it’s added room and roominess. The additional room at every seat in this truck cannot easily be described as I’ve never seen this much leg-room in a backseat! No matter where you ride in this truck, you get lots of room and comfortable, leather covered seats. One thing that bugs me with a lot of big off-roading trucks or SUVs that we test is the switches and buttons. When manufacturers create a big vehicle, they seem to have a need to make the dash full of over-sized buttons and knobs. In the Raptor, you get the basic F-150 dash layout, and it looks great. You get a few extras including an auxiliary switchboard in front of the shifter. The idea of this switchboard is to make aftermarket customization easier with prewired switches attached to the power distribution box for electrical accessories, say big off-roading lights for example. Also equipped within the speedo is a 4.2” LCD screen that provides the driver with lots of useful information. Just don’t leave this screen on fuel economy as it’ll make you want to drive off a bridge. Our Raptor was also equipped with another LCD screen in the middle of the dash with Ford’s SYNC system and and navigation.

Ride: Because it’s not always about off-roading…

Ford knew when building the Raptor that this would be an everyday driving truck as well as overly capable off-road truck. Squishy, off-roading suspension makes highway cruising smooth and easy. Moving between lanes and overtaking is easy as well thanks to the rigid chassis and powerful engine. To make the stretched chassis behave the way it’s supposed to behave, Ford tightened the steering ratio and stiffened the spring rates.

Off-Road: Because I wanna jump this thing in my backyard…

We’ve all seen the shots of the first generation Raptor jumping hills and making spectacular landings. There has been some controversy about the capability of the frame for off-roading and jumping, but last we’ve heard, nothing has came of it. What we do know is that this thing glides off-road with ease. There is nothing quite like mashing your foot to the floor pushing that 434 ft-lbs of torque to the rear wheels, creating rooster-tails of dirt and dust, and shooting across a country field. The temptation is so intoxicating that you don’t even want to wait to get to an open field. You have to constantly fight your subconsciousness to not drive right off the side of the road, or drop a few tires off into the ditch. You know this truck can handle it with ease.

Price: Because a bigger truck deserves a bigger price-tag…

This isn’t the most expensive F-150 in Ford’s stable, but it’s close. A base price of $45,290 is a lot for an off-roading toy, but this is really an everyday truck that’s incredibly capable off-road. The base price of the truck is just the first expense, the next big expense never stops. Filling the Raptor up with fuel, premium only, can become a mind boggling experience. We’ve tested high performance sports-cars here on txGarage that got bad gas mileage, but the Raptor takes the crown. Let’s just say that we struggled to stay around 12 mpg even with normal driving.

I still stand by my statement that if you have the means, this is the truck you want. There is really nothing out there that competes with the Raptor. Although Chevrolet and Dodge have both flirted with the idea of Raptor competition, neither have pulled the trigger, yet. The Raptor has caught on for sure. Ford’s last SVT truck offering was the Lighting and Ford has already stated that the Raptor’s annual sales rate nearly double that of the Lighting when it was launched.

Check out our full photo album on Facebook and Google:

In-n-Out Burger Line in Texas

A Texas motorist shot this video of the line and excitement leading up to the grand opening of an In-N-Out Burger. Needless to say, too many people in DFW were excited about the franchise moving to our neighborhoods.
In our opinion, it’s been hyped way too much. I’m sure they make good burgers, but I don’t want to sit in a line for 30 minutes or more waiting on lunch. One day I’ll get around to eating there, but other than that, it’s not a big deal.
Thanks for the video kylecorley.

Make sure to go and Subscribe to our YouTube channel and give the video a “Like”