2011 Cruze will have some nice feaures not available on the 2011 Malibu LTZ :
- Cabin air filter (LS, LT and LTZ)
- Assist handles (Driver, Front passenger and rear outboard - LS, LT and LTZ)
- Auxiliary input jack and USB port located in center console (LT and LTZ)
- 2 Power outlets in center console (LS, LT and LTZ)
- Heated seats with 3 warmth level settings (2LT and LTZ)
- Rear center armrest (LS, LT and LTZ)
- Front passenger express down power window
- Audio system with navigation available on 2LT and LTZ models
- Front Air bag for knees (LS, LT and LTZ)
- Pioneer premium 9 speakers system and 250 watts amplifier available(LT and LTZ)
- RS package with fog lights available on LT and LTZ

I can't understand why a lower level car can have more interesting features !

Simply because the Cruze (I still hate that name) is a newer model. The next-gen Malibu will offer these features as well.

Yep! GM wants to make a good impression for its introductory year. Just look at the stuff the 09 Malibus lost that the 08 came equipped with.

2011 Cruze will have some nice feaures not available on the 2011 Malibu LTZ :
- Cabin air filter (LS, LT and LTZ)
- Assist handles (Driver, Front passenger and rear outboard - LS, LT and LTZ)
- Auxiliary input jack and USB port located in center console (LT and LTZ)
- 2 Power outlets in center console (LS, LT and LTZ)
- Heated seats with 3 warmth level settings (2LT and LTZ)
- Rear center armrest (LS, LT and LTZ)
- Front passenger express down power window
- Audio system with navigation available on 2LT and LTZ models
- Front Air bag for knees (LS, LT and LTZ)
- Pioneer premium 9 speakers system and 250 watts amplifier available(LT and LTZ)
- RS package with fog lights available on LT and LTZ

I can't understand why a lower level car can have more interesting features !

- Don't want it, nobody changes them
- Hate the way they look, and only old people need them LOL
- Just a different spot
- I have that
- Have them, never use them
- Don't care about that
- Don't care about that
- Wish we had a real nav
- We have 6, so this has 8?
- LTZ has similar (Monsoon/Bose)
- Have that too


So not really anything great over a LT2/LTZ. You have to remember, this car is HUGE to Chevy, they have to make it work. Even if that means bumping the content alot.

Cruze is on Delta-II and was designed specifically to offer premium features which also explains why it costs a bit more than most compacts. The Epsilon-II Malibu should have even more features available.

Well I just turned in my 2008' Chevy Malibu LT at the end of my 3 year lease and now have a Chevy Cruze 1LT w/ the RS package. When I test drove the Cruze for the first time I noticed how much sportier, better handling, faster, more manuverable and how much better the comfort was in the Chevy Cruze! I think the Chevy Cruze is a MUCH better car than the old man car, Chevy Malibu. There are big differences between the two cars too. The Front Head Lights are MUCH BRIGHTER ON THE CRUZE and the Cruze does BOT HAVE the Terrible blind spots that my Malibu had! Other things are how I now get an average mileage of 30 miles per gallon even though the car is brand new and the mileage should get better with time. My old Malibu got, if I was lucky, 22.5 miles per gallon! The Cruze has so much better handling and is fun to drive as opposed to the Malibu which was dull, very poor handling and no fun to drive. I am a 49 year old man and I have had many cars in my time and this Chevy Cruze is an exceptional, fun, fuel efficient, beautifully built & styled, roomy, very cool car to drive. The Malibu is just old, dull, has very poor headlights, terrible gas mileage, has very bad blind spots and just not very much fun! I hope this helps anyone trying to choose between the two car.

Oh, yea, My Chevy Cruze is a 2012', 1LT RS in Silver Ice Metallic with Black interior!!!!
It is a joy to look at and drive! Super Fast, sporty and with Great Gas Mileage! Chevy has built a super car that fits all of my needs. This is no "Old Man's Car"!

The new Cruze is nice, but it is not in the same class as a Malibu. It is a smaller car, for different needs.

I for one like the Cruze, I think it looks good and has a nicer interior then the Malibu. But the new Malibu coming out in a few months will change that.

As for your old headlight issue, that is a 2 minute fix. Malibus were known for having the lamps come from the factory adjusted too low. All you have to do is get a screwdriver and turn them up a little, and they are very good.

Glad you like your Cruze, but after driving a few they are not at fast (they were actually slow, 0-60 is like 8 seconds) and they are not sporty to me at all. But they are not designed to be either of those things.

I also find it odd that you reg'd just to come on here and boast about you new Cruze LOL.

@ Silver LTZ,

All I can say is that compared to my 2008' Chevy Malibu, My NEW 2012' Chevy Cruze is a much nicer car in many ways. My new Cruze is much sportier than my old Malibu and I find the handling of the Cruze much better than the Malibu. The Cruze has much more accurate tracking and better body control which the Malibu never had. The Cruze has much less body roll and much less wallow than my old Malibu as well. I just find my new Cruze is more energetic and sporty comparede to the Malibu when you drive the two cars back to back. Like I said, I had the Malibu for 3 years and it is a very good car but I have found the Cruze a much more enjoyable car to drive and more sporty in comparison.

Cruze is a little quicker through the slalom, but IIRC is slower than the I4. The V6 isn't fair though. :o

How do these cars compare in terms of quietness and comfortable/smooth drive?

I sold my Malibu, and was generally happy with its attributes for long distance/work-horse drives (what I had it for). The Cruze looks like a good car for what I need it for, but I wouldn't want to regress to something more harsh/loud/less comfortable on long Highway trips. Last thing I care about with cars like these is handling/slalom/0-60, etc. As long as it's competent and engineered well in those departments to be a well balanced car.

How do these cars compare in terms of quietness and comfortable/smooth drive?

Comfort is subjective so you're gonna have to do a test drive but the wife and I both thought the Cruz ride to be a little harsh.......and the Bu is much better. Just an opinion. Not represented as fact.

Malibu offers a smoother and quieter ride, IMHO.

Malibu offers a smoother and quieter ride, IMHO.

X2, no comparison, love my LTZ :D

Understanding we're discussing LTZ's; I found a big difference in the LS models as all I was looking for was basic commuting car (~14 miles round trip). The Cruze LS had manual side mirrors and no cruise control. Honestly, I don't recall XM or OnStar but I would think the Cruze had these. Based on discounts and rebates the Malibu LS was less expensive. Plus, Check Writer liked the Malibu better.

Too many of the newer cars have reduced headroom between the A/B pillars. Not enough to where I can sit and not hit my head on the ceiling, and after side curtain airbags were mandated it is a lot worse.

The 7th Gen 'bus are that way. I'm 6'3" and most of my height is in my body and not my legs, so I sit closer to being a 6'6" person and would rather sit closer to straight up than laying back just to fit in a vehicle (back issues in my old age).

IMO the Cruze is a much better overall car then the current Malibu. I just had a rental for a work trip. Got a '12 Malibu LTZ with the 3.6 and only 10K. Thing vibrated just like mine, and shifted like crap. I actually brought it back and got a new Cruze LTZ. Much, much better to me. But it is a slightly smaller car.

How noticeable is the size when you were driving the Cruze (compared to the Malibu)? I.e, if someone like me, who feels a little "closed in" by small cars gets one, would they possibly be bothered by the size difference? What's weird to me, is that visually, the Cruze doesn't appear thaat much smaller than the Malibu.

Also, how did those two examples that you drove compared in quietness/isolation and smoothness on the Highway?

How noticeable is the size when you were driving the Cruze (compared to the Malibu)? I.e, if someone like me, who feels a little "closed in" by small cars gets one, would they possibly be bothered by the size difference? What's weird to me, is that visually, the Cruze doesn't appear thaat much smaller than the Malibu.

Also, how did those two examples that you drove compared in quietness/isolation and smoothness on the Highway?

It's not really smaller up front, the back seat is smaller for sure though. The Cruze was slightly less soft then the Malibu (which I prefer), and was just as quiet under normal driving. Push the Cruze and it gets buzzy and louder. Biggest thing to me was that the Malibu felt old, and not classic/vintage old LOL, while the Cruze felt more up to date and didn't vibrate like the Malibu did at certain speeds. If I was in the market for a new, smallish car with good mileage I actually would consider it.

Hmm, thanks. Seems like there's a tradeoff in qualities. Good thing is that the Cruze certainly sets the bar higher for the next Malibu.

The buzzy and loud thing might get annoying on 8 hour consistent round trips. However, if it's about as quiet at *cruising speeds*, then I can deal with the added noise on acceleration.

BTW, what's odd to me is that the Cruze is shown as wider than the Malibu (.7"), but one statistic I saw showed the cruise as having less "shoulder room". Was that apparent? I assume that means the space between your shoulder and the B-Pillar (I hate when the pillar is right next to my head/shoulder, i.e, too close for comfort). I drove the new Focus and wasn't too comfortable with the little size.

I guess I just gotta drive the Cruze.

Hmm, thanks. Seems like there's a tradeoff in qualities. Good thing is that the Cruze certainly sets the bar higher for the next Malibu.

The buzzy and loud thing might get annoying on 8 hour consistent round trips. However, if it's about as quiet at *cruising speeds*, then I can deal with the added noise on acceleration.

BTW, what's odd to me is that the Cruze is shown as wider than the Malibu (.7"), but one statistic I saw showed the cruise as having less "shoulder room". Was that apparent? I assume that means the space between your shoulder and the B-Pillar (I hate when the pillar is right next to my head/shoulder, i.e, too close for comfort). I drove the new Focus and wasn't too comfortable with the little size.

I guess I just gotta drive the Cruze.
The car was only noisy when being pushed, like to pass. The 4 banger Malibu might do the same as I only have driven the V6. As for the shoulder room I noticed no issues to be honest and I am 6-1 and well over 200 pounds with wide shoulders. Drive one, I think you might like it.

I test drove a Cruze LTZ and while it was and is a very nice car, it didn't feel any quicker than my 4-cylinder Malibu. It actually felt slower.

I actually would consider the Buick Verano before the Cruze. It is a better looking car, has many more features for only a modest price jump, and comes with the 2.4L.

I test drove a Cruze LTZ and while it was and is a very nice car, it didn't feel any quicker than my 4-cylinder Malibu. It actually felt slower.

I actually would consider the Buick Verano before the Cruze. It is a better looking car, has many more features for only a modest price jump, and comes with the 2.4L.

The Cruze isn't meant to be fast, so if it is just as slow as a Malibu I doubt that will hurt sales. If you want a fast, fun car you you won't be looking at any Cruze or Malibu. Looks are opinion too, as I think the Cruze looks better then the Verano. You have to be careful with options on both though, or you will end up pretty close to 30 grand. Which neither car is worth...

The Cruze isn't meant to be fast, so if it is just as slow as a Malibu I doubt that will hurt sales. If you want a fast, fun car you you won't be looking at any Cruze or Malibu. Looks are opinion too, as I think the Cruze looks better then the Verano. You have to be careful with options on both though, or you will end up pretty close to 30 grand. Which neither car is worth...

I wasn't trying to say either is fast, because neither are. Just voicing my opinon to the fact that somebody said the Cruze was quicker then the Malibu. A Cruze Echo might be quicker then the Malibu, but the LTZ Cruze I drove didn't feel as quick as my Malibu. But you are right neither is a very quick car, and aren't meant to be.

As far as price, a fully equiped Cruze LTZ with RS package, sunroof, Nav, and Pioneer sound system comes in at $26,850 (that dosen't include all the fluff stuff like mudguards, sill plates, and stuff like that, that most people don't buy). A fully equipped Verano comes in at $28,970. Both are overpriced as far as I am concerned. Especially when you consider that a 2012 Camry SE V6, or 2012 Passat V6 will cost around $28,000 to $30,000 and are both very quick. Both will do the quarter mile in 14.2.

Was just at the dealer buying a Mailbu, while waiting checked out all the cars including the Cruze, not really impressed. Though it has sporty looks and handling the engine, front grill and gauge cluster leave a lot to be desired IMO.

The Cruze looks a lot better when it's wearing a Holden badge, IMHO.

http://www.thetorquereport.com/holden_cruze.jpg

That angle makes the nose look way too big, but the grille treatment does look nice.

That angle makes the nose look way too big, but the grille treatment does look nice.


I agree. Problem with the current Chevy version is that the grille looks awful, IMHO.

I agree. Problem with the current Chevy version is that the grille looks awful, IMHO.

FYI the grille is kinda big to allow clearance for the active grille on the Eco.

FYI the grille is kinda big to allow clearance for the active grille on the Eco.


Probably so. It just does a terrible job flowing with the Chevy design language. It has nothing on the Focus though. That car is nice! It also is built well.

http://sharedlog_ai.s3.amazonaws.com/1311671005-_ford_focus_0_430.jpg

http://www.automedia.bg/files/news/body/mini-Focusi.jpg

Probably so. It just does a terrible job flowing with the Chevy design language. It has nothing on the Focus though. That car is nice! It also is built well.

http://sharedlog_ai.s3.amazonaws.com/1311671005-_ford_focus_0_430.jpg

http://www.automedia.bg/files/news/body/mini-Focusi.jpg

Agreed, in that segment American wise, the Focus is it.

@K-A, did you test drive the Chevrolet Cruze as MalibuKen suggested to do? He is right, the only way that you are going to know if the vehicle handles, rides and how you feel in it is by personal experience. Would love to read your input as to how this vehicle did when and if you did test drive it.

Michelle, Chevrolet Customer Service

@Silver LTZ, when you had the Cruze did you attempt to sit in the back seat? When I had some training on the Cruze, I sat in the back seat and… well yes, it is a little smaller than that Malibu. LOL

Michelle, Chevrolet Customer Service

Not yet, but I do plan on doing so. I sat in it for a while at the Auto Show. I do really like it, but it's just a liiiiiitle too "snug" feeling inside. I'd like to drive it and see how I feel.

On another hand, I was practically blown away by the new Malibu. Looks very substantial and luxurious, even stately for such a "budget priced" car.

I'd check out the new Focus before the Cruze IMHO.