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2012 Chevy Cruze handles like a much sportier vehicle

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DETROIT – From the back seat of Chevrolet’s 2012 Cruze the view looked pretty good. There was plenty of headroom, and though it was a bit of a squeeze getting through the narrow rear door, leg room wasn’t bad either.

The Cruze’s press materials said the compact sedan had as much room as a midsize car. To me it felt close but comfortable in the backseats but the front seat area was spacious. This car has been getting a lot of good press for Chevrolet and now I know why.

My test vehicle had a black interior and what got my immediate attention was the swath of tightly quilted material that was part of the dashboard and door panels. It formed a center patch that ran the width of the car across the dash, curved across the middle of both front doors, jumped the B pillars and split the rear doors, ending almost at the rear door frame.

The point is that this sort of craftsmanship just wasn’t possible at the Chevrolet (read General Motors) of old. It was the same sort of craftsmanship that was evident in the subtle yet sophisticated beveling of the Cruze’s control switches that just did not happen in previous Chevrolets.

Coupled with the leather seating surfaces, the white French stitching around the seat seams and head rests and my test car’s interior was pretty sophisticated. Anyway, the Cruze is Chevy’s best selling global car. As such, it comes in numerous variations. There are five trim levels, two engine choices and two gear boxes to choose from.

My test car was light, in fact, it was kind of slithery. Not in a hard to grasp or slip off the road way. At certain angles or in certain turns it felt light as though it were slipping through air.

The car handled well, at times it responded to my driver input with the accuracy of a much sportier vehicle. The Cruze accelerated with authority and its seating position was high enough that

What struck me were the quietness of the cabin and the smooth shifting of the six-speed transmission. It was effortless and something consumers don’t expect in a Chevrolet. The suspension was up to the task of handling ruddy streets, the potholes that come with them and the quick turns to avoid road obstacles.

My 2012 Chevy Cruze had an EPA rating of 26/39 in city and highway driving. Ā Factor in that it had a 15.6 gallon fuel tank and on paper its highway range was more than 500 miles. That’s diesel engine range.

The couple of quibbles I had with the car were its power windows; they all went down automatically. But only the driver’s window came up automatically. It was the same thing with the driver’s seat. The seat cushion was six way power while the seat back reclined manual. I’m sure it was a cost factor but I prefer all or nothing.

And my test car had plenty of creature comforts. It had satellite radio, Bluetooth, OnStar, tire pressure monitoring, a navigation screen, voice controls, daytime running lights (that I could turn off) and an auxiliary jack.

But the best part of all was its base price: $20,605. Add the six speed automatic transmission and remote start, the navigation system with touch-screen display, a premium audio system, the shipping charge and the total came to $23,980.

At that price, with those amenities and the build quality, it seems to me the Chevrolet Cruze can compete in the compact car market that was lost to foreign-owned carmakers decades ago.

Frank S. Washington is editor of AboutThatCar.com.

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