18th Dec 2015, 08:06

To add to my review of the 2015 Chevy Cruze LT, I recently made a day trip from Dallas, to Bonham TX, about 120 miles round trip. Left in the afternoon and surprisingly hit no traffic and only a small amount of city highway construction.

I already knew from owning the car for a few months now, and traveling along the highways to/from where I work that my Cruze drives really great. But was curious how it would do on an actual, albeit only for the day, road trip. I was able to pleasantly confirm that at speed on the highway through town, but more importantly on the twists, turns, peaks and valleys of the Farm to Market road between Dallas and Bonham, the Cruze drove like a road hugging, hard charging machine. It had no problem keeping pace with traffic and remaining quiet in the cabin while doing so. When I reached a passing zone, popping the accelerator resulted in quick acceleration and no problem getting in front of the semi's and the odd slow moving vehicle, even if I had to catch them before the road tightened back up. I'm slowly liking this little racer wrapped in the skin of a commuter car a little more every day.

I failed to mention in my original review, spring for the remote start even if it's an option and not standard. My particular Cruze also has the OnStar app that'll let me start the car from the app on my cell phone. As I work overnight, the Cruze during the winter months sits in an open unsheltered parking lot amongst the cold temps, wind and occasional rain/sleet when we get a cold winter. It's been nice to set the temp controls before I go into my building for the night, then in the morning when I'm nearing time to leave, I pull out my cell and start the car. It's warm, toasty, defrosted and ready to go by the time I walk across the parking lot. No need to sit in a cold car waiting for the engine to heat things up. Those using the remote key fob will also find remote start (it may be standard or an option). It's got considerable range as I can stick my head out the loading dock of my building and the car will still pick up the remote signals from the far side of the parking lot.

As an added bonus, let me add that the Cruze handles well during emergency maneuvering. Recently on the way to work overnight, I was driving down one of the darkest portions of the highway that I use to get to my building. The headlamps, which are very bright, have good side throw ability and also throw a good distance in front of the vehicle - they spied a mattress lying in the lane in front of me. A sudden and quick swerve to the right and the mattress was avoided, and all the while the Cruze did so without a loss of control or even a protest. Thankfully there wasn't anyone next to me.