We were discussing this in the other thread - and more than likely it's due to the gear ratios. The 9-speed's final drive is much taller so it might actually put it in a lower gear with a shorter gear ratio, compared to the manual, especially given how the EPA's cycle is.Why does the 6 speed manual get 5 MPG better highway than the 9 speed auto? That doesn't make sense. Oddly, the combined is still the same.
I'm suspecting there's something about this arrangement that "plays well" with the EPA test and real-world experience will show something different.
I too am looking forward to the new Equinox and the Terrain. Chicago auto show had two 18 Terrain prototypes at the show, I was very impressed. Great look, they wouldn't let us sit in them tho. I might prefer either of those over the Cruze, although I will prolly keep my 15 diesel for a long time.I'm just really pumped for the Equinox. The Cruze will be cool and all, but I prefer my hot hatches to be gas powered. That Equinox is going to be a monster with the 2.0 gas and 1.6 diesel.
I find it interesting that the new 1.6L uses solenoid injection vs. piezo. Piezo was actually a step forward from the solenoid injectors from the early days of common-rail injection systems about 20 years ago.
The piezo injectors have been extremely reliable. I don't think I've heard of one single instance of a failed injector on this forum. I am on my originals past 200K miles and they still work as new.I wouldn't really call it a step back. Pizeos can open and close extremely quickly. Orders of magnitude faster than the solenoids. But... In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter much. Solenoids are fast enough that the gain with pizeos is extremely small if it exists at all.
The real reason is Bosch. GM slammed the door in Bosch's face and are moving to replace everything they got from them.