[oldreliable]

I bought a Cruze diesel a few months ago and have so far put 17,000 miles on it through a Chicago winter. It's an excellent little car for both city and highway driving. I have averaged no less than 37 MPG in the cold winter and do 42 combined most of the time with my commute (I'd say it's 30% stop-and-go/70% highway).

The transmission shifting starts off a little rough, but with mileage, it has improved to be quite smooth 95% of the time.

I did compare the Eco 1.4 and the Eco-D. The gas Eco was too gutless for me. It pulls hard from a stop to about 40 MPH, but there's absolutely nothing left from gears 3-6...the gaps between gears are huge and the ratios are tall. The Diesel is a little torque monster - not a race car, but it'll get up and move around slower-moving traffic with no problem at all.

 

[oldreliable]

Here is my post from when I was trying to make a decision on what car to buy:

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/6-new-cruzetalk-start-here/41657-market-new-car.html

 

[oldreliable]

If I didn't need a reasonably sized commuter car, the Mini Cooper S is an absolute hoot to drive - no comparison at all to the CTD - or any Cruze for that matter.