[ProdigalSon]

First of all, I apologize if this is in the wrong forum, new to the site (as in brand new) and didn't see anything that fit better. I bought a 2013 used Cruz Lt, it has the 1.4t and all that fun stuff, but the fact is I am still driving a 4 banger, the gas mileage is great and I love that, but theres not a lot of get up to it. I want to put a tuner on it to increase Hp, but I want to know how much (if at all) the tuner would affect my gas mileage.

Also planning on slapping a cold air intake on it if anyone has advice on which brands work best with a Cruz.

Any other simple/cheap mods that are out there, I am all ears. I know putting black rims on your car gives you an extra 20 hp, as well as dvd players in the steering wheel give you another 30, but I want everything I do it to be reasonably undoable in 4 years when I move on up in the world and buy me a nice new truck.

 

[bostonboy]

hello & welcome to the best cruze site in the world IMO. OK for a lil more power w/o losing reliability I would try Vtuner. give brian a call & check out his site. there are many people happy w/ him. Yes there is other options like bnr, trifecter. some like these companies. I like a more one on one approach & brian great. Once I find good service I tend to stick w/ them. like my dentist 20+ yrs & same insurance company 25+ yrs. PS yes i'm old

 

[ChevyGuy]

The cheapest, quickest upgrade is to give it higher octane. While it's rated for 87, the 2011-2013 was much happier with at least 89 - especially when the weather is warm. The next step might be spark plugs. Step three would be a tune. I don't know as a CAI does that much for this car. It might improve the sound, but I doubt if it would do much for performance.

 

[Tomko]

The cheapest, quickest upgrade is to give it higher octane. While it's rated for 87, the 2011-2013 was much happier with at least 89 - especially when the weather is warm. The next step might be spark plugs. Step three would be a tune. I don't know as a CAI does that much for this car. It might improve the sound, but I doubt if it would do much for performance.

Let me echo this advice and offer the following: you should only be using a Top Tier Gasoline.

Retailers

 

[ProdigalSon]

I had always been told that using a higher octane gas in a vehicle that only requires 87 doesn't improve performance (though I am skeptical because there would be no reason for the pro's to use it at the drag strip)

And I am big on either exxon or shell gas, I am blessed, and cursed, to live in the US oil and gas "capital" (Southeast texas) so there is no shortage of quality gas stations, and you can almost bet there is a plant nearby providing for them.

 

[ChevyGuy]

I had always been told that using a higher octane gas in a vehicle that only requires 87 doesn't improve performance

Using more than the car can use is a waste of money. But ... can the car make use of higher octane? If you open the glovebox and examine the sticker there, you'll probably see code KRD - which is for 91 octane. The car was engineered for higher octane before the sales department got to it and made a change.

Certainly, the car won't hurt itself, but it may not put its best foot forward. It's worth the price of a few tanks of gas to see if there's a noticeable change. It's only $2-3 per tank. You may find you can run lower octane in the colder weather with no noticeable difference but it will want higher octane when the weather turns hot.

There's no shortage of threads that discuss people's experiences. I think most find the 2011-2013 needs at least midgrade (89) to be happy. It will never be a racer, but it can be an enjoyable daily driver.

 

[ProdigalSon]

I'll drop some "Super" in there next time fill up. See how she goes