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To avoid causing any damage, I'd highly recommend using no less than 87.
Boring explanation of why:
Octane ratings are the resistance to pre-detonation or what's known as pinging/knocking. This occurs when the air/fuel mix heats up too much and reaches the point of spontaneous combustion on the compression stroke before the spark plug ignites it at the optimal time. Vehicles with high compression ratios or forced induction (turbo or superchargers) require a higher pre-detonation resistant gasoline. The Cruze has sensors that monitor knocking and will retard the timing if it is given 87 octane, but this causes lower fuel economy and less power since it can't run at the optimal timing advance.
The Cruze has forced induction and would prefer to have 93/91 fuel especially in high heat or when using the AC. The inter-cooler (cools the air back down after it gets compressed in the turbo and heats up) is sandwiched in between the coolant radiator and the AC radiator. When you're running low octane while driving in hot temperatures or using the AC the air intake temperature is much higher so the air/fuel mix is much more likely to pre-detonate in the cylinder during the compression stroke and if the computers can't retard the timing enough it will cause harm to the engine.
I've noticed when I run 87 my engine is less responsive and feels less powerful because it's pulling timing(I can monitor my timing advance on my ultra-gauge), I have to down shift on hills much more often or when accelerating in 6th, and I get much worse fuel economy which negates the savings in fuel. If you insist on running the cheapest fuel I advise strongly following the manual's suggestions and put no less than top tier 87 in the tank.
To avoid causing any damage, I'd highly recommend using no less than 87.
Boring explanation of why:
Octane ratings are the resistance to pre-detonation or what's known as pinging/knocking. This occurs when the air/fuel mix heats up too much and reaches the point of spontaneous combustion on the compression stroke before the spark plug ignites it at the optimal time. Vehicles with high compression ratios or forced induction (turbo or superchargers) require a higher pre-detonation resistant gasoline. The Cruze has sensors that monitor knocking and will retard the timing if it is given 87 octane, but this causes lower fuel economy and less power since it can't run at the optimal timing advance.
The Cruze has forced induction and would prefer to have 93/91 fuel especially in high heat or when using the AC. The inter-cooler (cools the air back down after it gets compressed in the turbo and heats up) is sandwiched in between the coolant radiator and the AC radiator. When you're running low octane while driving in hot temperatures or using the AC the air intake temperature is much higher so the air/fuel mix is much more likely to pre-detonate in the cylinder during the compression stroke and if the computers can't retard the timing enough it will cause harm to the engine.
I've noticed when I run 87 my engine is less responsive and feels less powerful because it's pulling timing(I can monitor my timing advance on my ultra-gauge), I have to down shift on hills much more often or when accelerating in 6th, and I get much worse fuel economy which negates the savings in fuel. If you insist on running the cheapest fuel I advise strongly following the manual's suggestions and put no less than top tier 87 in the tank.
