Holden Cruze Sportwagon 2013 Review

The wagon also misses out on the 1.4-litre turbo-petrol engine the locally manufactured Cruze gets, the engine line-up restricted to the 1.8-litre naturally-aspirated petrol and 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engines. A six-speed automatic transmission is standard.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT

Pricing starts at $25,790 for the CD 1.8, rises to $29,790 for the turbo-diesel, then dips again to $29,040 for the petrol CDX. Those prices are a $2000 premium over the equivalent sedans and hatches.

Standard CD equipment includes cloth seats, CD/MP3 audio with six speakers, 16-inch steel wheels, air-conditioning, power windows and mirrors, cruise control, Bluetooth with voice recognition, automatic headlights and silver roof-rails.

The CDX adds leather trim, heated front seats, chrome highlights, climate-control with auto defrost, 17-inch alloy wheels, leather steering wheel and gear knob and front foglights.

The spare wheel in both cars is full-size, albeit marked with an 80km/h maximum speed warning sticker to meet regulations.

Holden had yet to confirm engine outputs, fuel economy and weight figures for the Sportwagon as this was written, but the power and torque should be the same as locally built cars – so 104kW/176Nm for the 1.8-litre petrol engine and 120kW/360Nm for the 2.0-litre diesel.

Fuel consumption and CO2 emissions will be similar to that of the sedan/hatch too, at 7.4L/100km and 175g/km (petrol) and 6.7L/100km and 176g/km (diesel).

Otherwise the mechanical story is as we have come to know it: front-wheel drive, MacPherson strut front and compound crank rear suspension (no Watts link as the 1.4 turbo-petrol gets), disc brakes all-round and electrically assisted rack-and-pinion power steering.

Localisation of the Cruze Sportwagon included the Holden grille (made in Australia and shipped to Korea), some engine and transmission calibration and minor suspension refinements.

But the big gain is in luggage space, which is claimed at 500 litres with the rear seat in place, compared to 445 litres for the sedan and 413 litres for the hatch. The wagon’s storage space expands to 1478 litres with the 60:40-split rear bench folded.

The CDX Cruze Sportwagon sampled by motoring.com.au provided adequate rear-seat kneeroom for a 180cm adult sitting behind another 180cm adult, good headroom and adequate elbow room. Two adults in the rear seat is really the comfortable limit though. They gain good access via wide-opening doors.

A wide fold-down armrest contains two cupholders. There are dual seat-back pockets, small door pockets and overhead grabhandles. There are no door-handle grabs or rear air-conditioning vents.

Hooks for child seat tether straps are located in the top of the seatback and the luggage area is accessed via an easy opening tailgate. Storage bins provide added flexibility, a cargo blind adds security.

Up-front, the packaging is familiar Cruze, including decent door pockets, dual cupholders in the centre console and a small centre storage box with a sliding leather top. A flip-top compartment sits atop the dashboard.

Priced from $22,090 to $30,090, the Hyundai comes as a 2.0-litre petrol and 1.6-litre turbo-diesel with manual and automatic transmission choices.

Priced from $27,990 to $35,990, the Opel is an all-auto range of petrol and turbo-diesel engines.

The Volkswagen ranges from $26,990 to $36,490, offering a familiar range of turbo-petrol and diesel engines. Only the 90TSI offers a manual as well as dual-clutch transmission.

ON THE ROAD

Inside, it’s familiar Cruze fair. Up-front the centre stack cascades into the console stylishly. Readouts and buttons are large and easily operated and there is some chrome-look and faux brushed metal splashed about to add a feeling of quality to this upper CDX variant.

Less pleasing are the quite hard trim surfaces, the 1980s graphics readouts and the flat-ish seats (there is some side bolstering).

At least the leather seat trim is of a more convincing quality than the Colorado 7 launched the same day, and the way the glovebox and overhead grab-handles are damped in their operations shows some effort has gone into the detail.

The driver gets a reach- and rake-adjustable steering wheel and faces an ‘eared’ instrument panel with clear readouts.

Once on the road the 1.8-litre CDX proves a solid if not inspiring driving companion. With two adults onboard and a small amount of luggage it felt a bit sluggish, the six-speed auto obviously working hard to keep the minimal amount of torque in-play.

Chevrolet Europe only claims an 11.5-second 0-100km/h acceleration time for the 1.8-auto, so that says it all really.

Although we didn’t drive it, we’d think the diesel would be the better option for load hauling. The absence of the 1.4 turbo-petrol engine can only be lamented.

Rolling on 215/50R17 Kumho Solus rubber, the Sportwagon rode quite well, without ever threatening to get into the Golf class for refinement. Most notably, it never quite settled over imperfect roads. There was also some road noise on coarser surfaces.

Otherwise, the third Cruze model derivative is a reasonably quiet car. The engine does get a bit hoarse when pressed and there was a vibration coming from the dashboard of our test car.

But overall, based on our short country drive, the Cruze Sportwagon is undoubtedly competent.

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site…