[IPhantom]

Hi there,

as you might know i am living in China and have the Chinese 2018 Cruze. It comes standard with a 7-gear double-clutch auto transmission. If you ask me it is switching up way too soon to a point where it feels like actually stalling any minute, but i can't imagine this to be the problem.
I have now roughly 800 km on the odo - basically brand new. I am driving 5.5 km daily to work, which is mainly stop and go. Stop/Start is not reaching the conditions to work. Temperature is around 20 C (68 F). Filling her up with 95 octane. I am aware of break-in period and city traffic, cold engine and what not.

As of now i am getting around 13.5 to 14 L / 100 km (or around 17 mpg). Highway was like excellent 5.5 L / 100 km (42 mpg).
There is no way that this is anywhere near an acceptable and appropriate level for such a small engine, without anything being wrong. It shouldn't even be possible to reach that on purpose.
This??? In 2017???

Anyone else?

 

[Taxman]

5.5L sounds like your car's OK.

14L sounds like you're stuck in horrible traffic.
What other cars have you driven, and how much fuel did they use?

 

[IPhantom]

For example a 2002 BMW 530i Station and i managed to drive it below 10 L. Hardly any car i owned cracked 10 L. I rule out driving style and traffic. But not the transmission program just yet.

 

[WHITECO]

Sometimes if you don’t go fast enough start/stop doesn’t engage. I usually give it a bit extra gas to go a bit faster so it will engage, then I leave it engaged as long as possible before taking my foot off the brake to move again.

 

[jblackburn]

Assuming this is the same 1.4T engine used in the US model Gen 2's, but with what SHOULD be a more efficient transmission...I've never gotten below 25 MPG in heavy city driving (Washington DC area traffic). I don't know how heavy traffic is over there - traffic is a definite detriment to fuel economy, but generally, a heavy right foot (doesn't sound like you're driving in that manner by the shift patterns) will cause small turbo engines to run quite rich and get worse MPG than a naturally aspirated engine in those scenarios.

 

[14'ecocruze]

If i if its possible that they are still continuing to mess up spark plug gaps. I would look into that for sure. Enough people have enjoyed waking up their cars by fixing the gaps that I would guess it will at least give u something.

 

[ChevyGuy]

I have the Gen 1 and get just over 20 MPG in my "city" traffic. But when I talk "city", I'm talking about a traffic light on every block. Some times I get a green light, but often I don't. I find the EPA's (US) definition of "city driving" laughable. It doesn't reflect my "city" at all.

At least with the US Cruze, the DIC also has an average speed. I'd suggest comparing average speed along with the MPG if we really want to compare results. I think I'm around 13 MPH average per fill-up.

 

[blackbird]

The distance for your daily drive isn't very long but how much time does it take to get to and from work in the traffic. If it's a very quick drive the engine may not be getting up to full operating temperature where the auto start/stop feature will work. The engine control programming might also be different and if you have the air conditioning on and a lot of other accessories it might limit how much it's used.

The transmission upshifting to the point the engine feels like it is "lugging" or running at too low of rpms (revolutions) is unfortunately normal. Many automakers do it in an attempt to get the best fuel economy possible.

As another member asked, can you confirm which engine is in your car? I know the Chinese and other markets had different options not offered in North America where most people on this forums are located.

 

[IPhantom]

I do very much suppose the engine is identical maybe with minor ECU adjustments. How would i be able to confirm this? It was developed in Germany at Opel, same as the new Delta platform. I had high hopes this stands for something. Being German, if you release an engine with that mileage in Germany, you get ripped to pieces. Like i said, in my opinion it should be next to impossible to get this engine over 10 L / 100 km in any circumstances.

As for the transmission, it is a joint venture of GM and local partners. It was patented in 2013 and hit the market in 2016. So basically state of the art. It makes me wonder though, why it is sold nowhere else but in China. Chinese people have a very odd shifting behavior, believing highest possible gear is always right. Maybe they programmed it to suit that habit. Im planning to run the next tank on L3 or L4 and see where that gets me.

The Stop/Start quit working after some city miles. Which is ridiculous in my opinion, because this is the exact intention of the whole **** thing. The engine gets on temperature, i can go up to the city speed limit sometimes, i don't use A/C or any electric functions. For me it sounds like i reach safe conditions for it to work. Unless of course the battery and alternator dimensions are too small.

It is hardly ever possible to use the heavy foot. I too have traffic lights on every block and it is literally just stop and go. Average speed is 18 km/h and it takes me 20 - 30 minutes to get there. What i noticed doing that on the instantaneous mileage display is that it gets really really high, like over 20 Liters, for a very long period and then only drops to still above 10 Liters. If i take the foot of the gas completely it goes back to normal levels. I am convinced it is those occasions where one gear lower would be appropriate. And this is exactly the point where i think it is not the best attempt to achieve best fuel economy (see Chinese shifting habits).

However i can simply not imagine this to be normal.