Chevrolet Cruze vs Skoda Laura vs VW Jetta

Hitherto, most buyers looking for a reasonably large and luxurious diesel car ended up buying the Skoda Laura. For good reason too; lack of competition and a good value for money proposition being just two. It made especially good sense for those with over Rs 17 lakh to spare.

Now there’s a new car in the fray, the Chevrolet Cruze, and it’s superbly priced, even for its fully loaded version. So much so, that the only Laura that competes at this price point is the Ambiente featuring the older 1.9-litre engine; the same as the Jetta. So, does the Chevy make for a better buy? To find out, we have the Volkswagen , albeit in Trendline trim (again thanks to the price point) and the Laura Ambiente locking horns with the Chevy.

The Chevy has the most modern insides and is well equipped too. But the quality of plastics could have been better in the Cruze

The Cruze, as its name suggests, is happier on a straight road, no matter what the surface. Around bends it lacks the composure and intent showcased by its competition.

The first round goes to the Chevy. It’s the newest car here and this shows in its design, both inside and out. Outside, with its large front grille, angular headlamps, coupe like roof line and LED rear lamps, it has the most road presence. Inside too, it looks the most contemporary. We love the dashboard design even though the central console with an endless array of buttons can look a bit tedious at first. It has wonderfully cheery clocks, a nice looking steering wheel as well as a centrally mounted display that reads out audio info, among other things.

It’s also much better equipped than the other two cars here. On the comfort front, it gets climate control, a multi functional steering wheel, cruise control and a plethora of cup and bottleholders. But its ace is the keyless entry and start. We can’t tell you enough how convenient this feature is; pull on the door handle and the car unlocks itself. Push the clutch pedal in, press the Start-Stop button and you are ready to go. To lock, just place the thumb over the sensor on the driver’s side door handle, and that’s it. And all this without ever needing to remove the car’s key fob from your pocket. However, the Cruze’s cabin isn’t the best built or one that exudes quality. It isn’t the most stowage friendly either, but with its dash mounted storage bin and some space under the front armrest and then some in the door pockets, is doesn’t feel too inconvenient.

The siblings, Laura and Jetta feel richer and better put together. The plastics in particular reek of quality, which the Chevy’s lack. But these can’t compete with the Cruze on equipment; unlike their top-of-the-line versions, the Ambiente and the Trendline on the Laura and the Jetta respectively are sparsely equipped. The Laura doesn’t even score enough on safety equipment, which its higher positioned cousin manages without breaking a sweat. The Jetta gets six airbags, four more than the others and warning blinkers which light up under hard braking. There’s ABS and anti slip regulation as well. The Laura gets the latter two, but with the Cruze additionally sporting electronic stability program, the Skoda fails to match up with either.

The Skoda's insides look and feel well put together. The design isn't as modern as the Chevy but the cabin feels like a nice place to be in

The Laura is the most fun to drive car here. Around corners it feels planted, has a sharp urn in and the readiness to play with cornering lines.

The Laura does regain its pride when it comes to practicality. It has the most comfortable and spacious cabin here. It’s considerably roomier at the front, and at the rear it sports the most head and shoulder room. The seats are spacious and supportive, especially at the rear. It has the largest, most flexible boot too; having split seats and hatch-like opening makes for easy loading and unloading.

The Cruze, which treads the middle path, walks away with the most passenger knee room at the rear. But its rear seats could do with better thigh support. These are nonetheless, better than the ones on the Jetta, but are no match for the Skoda.

Settling in comfortably behind the wheel is equally manageable in all three. The front seats are very supportive and comfortable and are all adjustable for height. The driving position again is nearly spot-on on all three. You can spend hours in them and walk out without a slouch or an ache.

Jetta too is very well put together and its quality of plastics and the fit and finish of the interiors is good too

The Jetta, like the Laura, is good fun around bends. Like its cousin it too exhibits good ody control and a willingness to change directions quickly.

But drive the three back-toback, and the differences suddenly come clear. The Skoda with its quick and well weighted steering, good body control and a willing turn in is by far the most fun to drive. It’s also as stable as a rock in a straight line. The Jetta comes in second and is in fact the easiest to live with in the city thanks to a lighter steering than the Laura at slow speeds. Like the Laura, its steering also weighs up adequately as speeds climb lending the driver confidence to keep that throttle floored both around bends and on a straight road.

The Chevy’s steering works in a slightly strange fashion. It has better feel and crispness at slower speeds. But at high speed, it turns mute and feels vague. Not that the Cruze feels scary in a straight line, but it’s not as involving to drive as the other two. Under braking though, it can get hairy. It’s the same story if the car is subjected to quick direction changes; the tail feels light and there’s some delay between steering input and the car’s response to it.

At least, the Chevy offers the best ride characteristics. It rides particularly well at slower speeds, no matter what the surface. At higher speeds over undulated roads, the comparatively fi rmer Skoda and VW maintain their composure better, but the Cruze isn’t bad either.

Chevrolet Cruze - The best engine here, even though it's not too great on refinement or fuel economy. It's the most powerful and torquey, and by a margin at that

When it comes to engines though, the Cruze is a class apart. It’s not the most refi ned modern diesel engines, especially towards the top of the rpm range, but it has poke. The variable geometry turbocharged 2-litre produces 150bhp; almost 50 more than the other two. No wonder it leaves both the Laura and the Jetta in its wake in acceleration terms. It’s also more driveable than the Jetta, which like the Cruze, uses a 5-speed manual, but the Laura pulls away in the roll on tests courtesy the DSG. The Chevy also manages to breach the 200kmph barrier while the other two struggle to get past the 180kmph marker.

Skoda Laura - Laura is also available with a 2-litre, more powerful engine, but only in the L&K trim, which is too expensive. This 1.9-litre is more efficient though

It does suffer from turbo lag, which isn’t as pronounced in the other two cars. And it’s more evident if the car’s in a higher gear than needed, and the driver is in a tearing hurry. But when the turbo rush comes, it’s quite enthralling. It also comes in two steps; there’s an initial rush that comes in past 1500rpm and then just before the rev needle hits the 2000rpm, the fl oodgates open. However, the lag isn’t bothersome when driving in city traffi c. Neither are the noise levels inside the cabin; the Chevy might sound a bit crude when revved close to the redline but under normal driving it’s as quiet inside the cabin as the other two.

Volkswagen Jetta - The same 1.9-litre engine as the Laura with identical power and torque figures, but it's both slower and less fuel efficient than the Skoda

All that power and torque had to take its toll somewhere, so the Cruze is the least effi cient of this lot and mainly loses out to the other two competitors in the city driving cycle. There’s not much difference in the highway fi gures compared to the Jetta, but the Laura proved to be signifi cantly more effi cient even on the open roads.