Honda civic FD 1.8 vs Chevrolet Cruze 1.8

[ghosthunter]

...Besides, if Pacho Blanco is able to modify the Cruze to become a track conquering monster, then it shouldn't be THAT bad shouldn't it? Perhaps some tinkering with the electronic bits and a few upgrades will do the trick. And then again, you do get a free iPad.

Well, it is not really that hard to modify the Cruze to the level BRE did it on any other car. And Pacho Blanco didn't choose the Cruze as the platform of choice, it was a job commissioned by Chevy to get media attention.

Lets see:
-stripped interior
-racing seats
-racing steering wheel
-racing pedals
-18 inch wheels with nitto tires
-roll cage & body stiffeners
-"BRE" dyno tuned 1.8L engine (125whp)
-BRE twin exhaust mufflers
-chevy touring car livery (aka stickers)

Frankly nothing special that one cannot do themselves with the proper working budget on any other car.

[GTi]

What did they do in tuning to achieve 125whp? And besides, isn't Chevrolet offering a Cruze that is somewhat similar to the BRE Cruze? What did they upgrade with it again? Since the Cruze has a 6 speed automatic, even if it is one that sucks, it should offer better fuel economy right?

[ghosthunter]

What did they do in tuning to achieve 125whp? And besides, isn't Chevrolet offering a Cruze that is somewhat similar to the BRE Cruze? What did they upgrade with it again? Since the Cruze has a 6 speed automatic, even if it is one that sucks, it should offer better fuel economy right?

Let me see, 125whp is roughly 145-150hp at the crank.

Kindly note that factory stock 2.0L engines rated at 140-145hp will get 120-125whp, example Nissan SR20DE with M/T tranny.

The Cruze's 1.8L is factory rated to have 138hp at the crank. So getting 7 to 12 HP more is child's play with the tools available off the shelf at any tuning shop.

How did BRE get 125whp from the 1.8L? My guess, standard IHE mods, piggyback programmable ECU, maybe ignition timing adjustments (if possible on the ecotech engine), and lots of dyno tuning time.

Just to compare... owners of Lancer EX have modded their cars with air filter and piggyback ecu (with dyno tuning) have already achieved 14 to 15 hp gains (dyno proven). Those who got exhaust header upgrades gained another 8hp.

[GTi]

Can the transmission be reprogrammed as well? If it can, I'm sure it will solve the Cruze's anemic problem. After all, 138hp for a 1.8L compact sedan is no small number. If they can do something with the tranny, then the Cruze will definitely win over the Civic. Has Speedlab done this already? It would be nice to see them post the performance gains in their website.

[ghosthunter]

Can the transmission be reprogrammed as well? If it can, I'm sure it will solve the Cruze's anemic problem. After all, 138hp for a 1.8L compact sedan is no small number. If they can do something with the tranny, then the Cruze will definitely win over the Civic. Has Speedlab done this already? It would be nice to see them post the performance gains in their website.

Chevy's 138hp from a 1.8L is pretty good but the highly publicized 125whp is not really ground breaking in terms of HP gains over stock.
(stock) HP per liter = 76

Honda's 140hp is also from the same 1.8L displacement motor.
HP per liter = 77.78

Mitsubishi gets 153hp from a 2.0L engine.
HP per liter = 76.5

Sorry if I am comparing Cruze against the Lancer EX, it's is just something I know from the top of my head.

As for the tranny problem from the Cruze, I think Chevy has already tried fixing that BEFORE they launched the car yet unable to find the solution.

As for SPEEDLAB, I haven't heard about them doing a Cruze mod yet.

[GTi]

Nyek ano ba yang Chevrolet na yan... They could have just sourced an available Aisin or ZF unit. But why aren't the folks from other countries complaining about this? I just came from cars.com and the stuff they were complaining about have nothing to do with the transmission at all like the lack of other body forms, pricing, fuel mileage and rear drum brakes. And they have the same engine as ours and the same 6 speed M/T and A/T's.

[ghosthunter]

Nyek ano ba yang Chevrolet na yan... They could have just sourced an available Aisin or ZF unit.

Cheaper for Chevy Phil to use a unit straight from their local inventory. They are not really going to have a full time racing team. All they want is enough to get their name recognized in the local newspapers and car magazines. In the end, the BRE modded Chevy Cruze is all just a publicity stunt.

But why aren't the folks from other countries complaining about this? I just came from cars.com and the stuff they were complaining about have nothing to do with the transmission at all like the lack of other body forms, pricing, fuel mileage and rear drum brakes. And they have the same engine as ours and the same 6 speed M/T and A/T's.

Maybe it is because the Chevy Cruze is marketed as a loaded/equipped economy compact car and not as a performance car or luxury cruiser in other countries?

[niky]

Just a side note... modified Lancers (MT) are getting about 150+ whp at Speedlab. That's around 145-150 whp at Autoplus (where they dyno'd the Cruze). The 125 whp number is from the race car, which is restricted. The road car likely does 130 whp with all of BRE's mods.

Good, but modified Civic 1.8s can belt out more.