[Aussie]

I bet any 1.4T automatic owners could through 400lb in the car and climb the same hill without even noticing. At highway speeds 65-80mph I never hit any hills that cause the trans to downshift and the motor does not seem to struggle what so ever.

I don't know the hill but I do know that while your 1.4T may climb the hill with weight in it the diesel will just drive off into the distance and wait at the top for you, they climb steep grades that well. My old V6 3.8 5 speed manual Commodore would not even come close on a hill climb, even though it would win on a flat road drag race.

 

[Aussie]

I live about half an hours drive from the blue mountains and when I drove up there in a NA car the power drop was really noticeable. When I took the Cruze over them, because of the turbo, there was no power loss that I could detect. Mind you the mountains are about 5,000 feet high. Highest mountain in Aus. is 7,000 ft.