With the move to local production of the Holden Cruze, the Aussie company took the opportunity to tweak the Cruze for a Series II facelift and the collective motoring press held its breath that they would address some of the glaring shortcomings in what otherwise could have been a great little car.
Not that these shortcomings stopped the Cruze from selling up a storm, however, so expectations probably weren’t that high. But as it turns out, they could have been, because Holden has transformed the Cruze into the car it should have been from the start.
The SRi-V is the flagship of Holden’s new Cruze Series II range, boasting slightly sportier styling and a brand new infotainment system. But the biggest changes lurk under the bonnet, with the SRi-V packing Holden’s new 103kW/200Nm 1.4-litre turbo-charged inline four-cylinder petrol engine.
Inside, the Cruze sees much of the interior carried over from the previous model, so the familiar complaint of hard, cheap plastics is inherited by the Series II. However, the SRi-V’s leather upholstery is an improvement and build quality seems better than in the original.
The SRi-V packs cruise control, automatic headlights, rear parking sensors, satellite navigation, an MP3-compatible stereo system with USB/aux inputs and a 10GB hard disc for recording music and pausing live radio, heated seats, fog lights, 17-inch alloy wheels and keyless entry and ignition. Which is a fairly extensive and impressive list of standard equipment, but with one glaring omission - the lack of Bluetooth phone connectivity is a strange oversight.
Out on the road the new 1.4-litre engine needs revs to get moving quickly, but it still proves to be flexible enough at low revs for city driving. In fact, its relative flexibility makes it a pleasant engine anywhere in the rev range and it even manages to become slightly characterful as the revs rise.
It’s a massive improvement on the lethargic 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol boat anchor that the Series I Cruze was saddled with.
One of the big criticisms I had of the original Cruze was the painfully slow-witted automatic transmission. Reacting to throttle inputs with all the speed of a brain-damaged sloth, the auto took what little dynamic sparkle the original Cruze had, bundled it into a sack and beat it to death with a collection of poor ratios, lethargic reactions and willful stupidity.
Thankfully that has been drastically improved for the Series II Cruze. It’s still not the quickest of autos out there, but it is a vast improvement and added to the equally vastly improved suspension actually makes the Cruze quite fun to drive — something you couldn’t truthfully say about the original.
And speaking of suspension, the Cruze’s is nicely compliant and easily soaks up bumpy and broken roads. The new Watts linkage/torsion beam axle rear set up is unique to models with the 1.4-litre turbo engine and works a treat in improving chassis stability at speed.
So throwing the Series II Cruze down a winding piece of road is a massive improvement over the original, but how does the rest of it still stack up?
Well, to be honest, there wasn’t ever a lot wrong with the rest of the Series I Cruze and a lot of credit has to go to Holden for recognising the original car’s short-comings and focussing on them.
Apart from the fancy new stereo that incorporates navigation and a hard drive in the SRi-V, the rest of the interior is pretty much business-as-usual. Meaning an attractive, pleasant and sensibly laid-out interior complimented by comfortable and supportive seats and a surprising amount of room for a small car.
Niggles are largely limited to the fiddly and confusing stereo control layout, the nasty ignition button that looks like a quick afterthought, the quality of some of the plastics and the fact that, weirdly, the leather trim on the dash looks somehow cheaper and more low-rent than the fabric equivalent in lower-spec Cruzes…
Insignificant niggles like this are about the worst that the SRi-V throws up, however, and the overall package is an impressive one. With the frugal yet punchy 1.6-litre engine, improved suspension and transmission and impressive amount of standard kit on offer, the Cruze SRi-V makes a mighty strong argument for itself.
Even though the SRi-V starts knocking on the $40 grand door, you still get a lot of car for that money and with the Series II improvements, it is a car that is very easy to live with indeed.

Specifications: 
Body type  Four-door sedan  
Drive  Front-wheel-drive  
Engine Type  Four-cylinder  
Engine Capacity  1364cc  
Max power  103kW/6000rpm  
Max torque  200Nm/3250rpm  
Fuel Consumption 6.8L/100km

C02 emission  177g/km  
0 to 100kph  N/a  
Front suspension  McPherson strut  
Rear suspension  Torsion beam  
Roof Rack  No  
ABS Brakes  Yes 
Air Bags  6  
ESP  Yes  
Air Conditioning  Yes  
Lap/diagonal belts 5  
Satellite Navigation Yes  
Electric seats  No  
Burglar Alarm  Yes   
Panic Button  No  
Boot release  Yes  
Cargo Cover  No  
Boot Capacity  445L  
Wheel type  17-inch alloy  
Spare Tyre  Optional. 
Sealant kit standard 
Through Life Cost Report
36 Months 60000km
Price  $39,990  WOF   $120  
Registration      $1,007  
Servicing to 60k:     $1,215.  
Total tyre cost:    $1,010  
Residual value  $15,196  
Indicative final figure $28,146  

The Through Life Cost Model is used for illustrative and indicative purposes only. FleetWorks and Adrenalin Publishing Limited accept no responsibility or liability should any costs indicated in the Through Life Cost Model change from those published. All residual values are based on an average of values achieved through Turners Auctions Limited sales for the previous 3 months from issue date.