Re: Hyundai Xcent S 1.2 - My Daily Commute - Owner's View
First Drive Impression of Cruze D AT(with Sunroof)!
So yesterday my uncle just visited me all of a suddent. He recently bought a Cruze Diesel LTZ AT variant and it's just 2 weeks I guess. He already finished 1.9k kms and came here for his first service.
Since he decided to stay for a day, I thought why not take it for a spin! So I planned to take it out after 10pm when most of the roads are deserted. First of all, I'm not going to talk about exterior styling or interiors. It has been discussed a lot here. All I am going to talk about is, how it drives, how i behaves in comparison with the cars I've driven(XUV, SX4, Xcent, Lancer etc!).
First of all. the car starts without any vibration. Yes, there is a slight vibration but I'm nitpicking here. After that it just settles straight away. As with any conventional AT, it has few milliseconds of lag, and we need to be aware of that. Just release the brake pedal and it starts rolling. Mild input in D mode is enough for regular sedate driving. But, even in D mode, when I do pedal to metal, it just whoosh past the cars and reach triple digits in no time. This is my first time to feel such violent, brutal acceleration. Before I realize I've crossed 120+ and I just slowed down!
NVH is good, but still you can hear the oil burner's work but it is kinda sweet! It doesn't growl, but it feels like turbo whine. Handling for such behemoth is excellent. Steering is just perfect size. Easy for all situations and weighs nicely in high speeds. It just dismiss all those road irregularities, which I have felt in Xcent, SX4! Only fly in the ointment is, I need to be very careful with speed breaker. But low slung sedan sure is a joy to ride. Suspension make sure you won't feel a thing during your drive. I hardly felt anything in my regular 4 lane driving route.
Regarding AT, I can rate it closer to DSG/DCT! Yes, it has that ms lag, but if planned well, it can let other cars eat dust, in D mode! With tiptronic, it was just grinning fun.
Overall, I was completely floored by this car. For a car of its size, it rides well, handling is good, ride quality is excellent(I can rate it much higher than Corolla Altis!) and moreover, it was fun riding this one, unlike Corolla!