Chevrolet Cruze 1.6 LS 5dr Car Review - March 2012

With a top speed of 118 mph the car's engine has a relatively good performance output with 122 bhp of power and 113 lb-ft of torque. This is fairly typical for a family car of this size and helps to give the car a half-decent acceleration speed, allowing the car to travel from 0-62 mph in 12.0 seconds.

In terms of handling, the car is disappointing and although body roll is controlled in bends there is little grip on the road. The suspension is also limited and this means that imperfections in the road can be felt within the cabin, making the overall driving experience fairly uncomfortable.

This car has very little equipment which, considering the purchase price, is a little disappointing. Features which are offered as standard include air conditioning, electric door mirrors, electric front windows and MP3 connectivity for the stereo system.

Some features such as a leather interior are not included but, for a family vehicle, this is unlikely to be a major concern. That being said, those who want to inject some additional style into the model can choose to have a metallic paint finish added for an extra cost.

The cars security has been well established and there are plenty of safety features fitted as standard. These include: an alarm, central locking, driver airbags, passenger airbags and front side airbags. This means that the interior safety levels are high but unfortunately the same cannot be said for comfort levels which are impaired by the car's poor handling.

In terms of practicality, this car is ideal for families and offers ample seating space for five occupants. Access to the car is also facilitated by the five doors and a generous boot offers 413 litres of storage space even when the rear seats are in position. Folding these downs sees the storage space more than double to 883 litres.

For reliability, Chevrolet have a fairly good reputation and this means buyers should be fairly confident in their purchase. On top of this, Chevrolet is providing a five year warranty with this model, which is a good advantage to drivers as often only three years is offered. The warranty is also applied to the first 100,000 miles which is great as standard warranties only cover 60,000 miles.

The Chevrolet Cruze 1.6 LS 5dr can be bought brand new for £13,995 and whilst this is not overly expensive buyers may expect to get more kit for their money.

That being said, the running costs of the car are manageable and this gives buyers the chance to recoup their initial expenditure if they own the vehicle for a long time. Fuel efficiency for the model stands at 42.8 mpg on a combined cycle - making refuelling fairly infrequent. Carbon emissions of 153 g/km are fairly mid-rang, putting the car under a manageable road tax band (G). The biggest saving is offered on insurance premiums which fall under insurance group 14.