Cruze 0 to 60 results

It was time to do some 0 to 60 MPH benchmarks on our Cruze Auto. Whilst I'd love to get it to the track, it is the middle of winter here, so I don't even know if the street meets are running at the local drag strip.
The car is currently running a 45% E85 mix, this has allowed about 5 more degrees of timing before it starts to show signs of knock at WOT (there is none at all otherwise), current tune is pushing it to about 19 PSI of boost from 4,400RPM up. On the scanner I've seen maximum torque of 204 lb-ft (277 Nm) and maximum of 190 HP (141 KW). Sadly, this is almost the same torque as the 2010+ 3.0L SIDI V6 GM has, 212 lb·ft (288 Nm) @ 5800 RPM.
Stock, the 1.4L is rated at 148 lb·ft (200 Nm) and 138 HP (103 KW).

The log I did tonight was a bit of a disaster though, the engine hit the limiter just before the 2-3 shift (I've lowered it to 6200) which as a result dropped the boost down to 5 PSI, I also had the Commanded Power table set too low vs road speeds, the result was it only had 50% throttle from 4,400RPM up in 1st gear as the ECM was trying to limit engine power (as per the table), but still held 14 PSI of boost, so it wasn't too bad.
Anyway, the result was, the car did a 0 to 60 MPH time of 7.2 seconds.
With a few more small adjustments to the tune (not hitting the RPM limiter) I am sure the Cruze will easily get in to the high 6 second zone for a 0 to 60 MPH run.

Back to the 7.2 second run, it's no LSx I know, it never will be at 1.4L, but, how's this for some comparisons of some 0 to 60 MPH times (found on the internet):

For the Aussies, 1993 HSV 185i = 7.8 seconds
For the Americans, 1996 Impala SS (LT1) = 7.2 seconds

Those two cars, we used to admire them for their performance, just trying to put it in perspective :lookaround:

Edit Post 29th June:
Running a new tune that doesn't hit the limiter in 2nd gear (dropped the shift speed for 2-3) it got the car 'just' under the 7 second mark. 0 - 60 MPH in 6.9 seconds (see bottom right corner of the pic below). This is still with everything stock, stock intake manifold, stock air box and filter, no hardware mods at all (well,except the E85 conversion). Also, not really loading the car up to build boost off the line, just hitting the loud pedal and away we go.

http://download.efilive.com/Staff/GMPX/Cruze0to60.png

That's pretty impressive for the little 1.4t, with an auto & not being the lightest car.

Perfect forced induction weather at the moment here in not so sunny Melbourne :D be good to do some vmax testing although it's far from acceptable these days.....

Yes the weather is good for engines, 102 kPa baro and 5°C ambient.

Those are great results, the published 0-60 times for the Cruze are about 2 seconds slower than that. Also, one of the tuners advertises around 6.8 seconds with around a 180 hp tune. Great job, and glad you got the boost up! :)

Did you do any similar testing with e0/e10 fuel? I'm curious how much role the octane is playing in the power improvements here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by eficalibrator

Did you do any similar testing with e0/e10 fuel? I'm curious how much role the octane is playing in the power improvements here.

---

+1 good point.

No sorry Greg I didn't, but I will revisit that down the track. The first thing on the cards was the E85 conversion, the 0 - 60 times were done just because the opportunity was there :mrgreen:
Based on what others tell me, Holden advertise this engine as being able to run on 91 Octane, but, if you log one running 91 they are on almost constant knock retard, even when the octane scaler is biased to the Low Octane table. On 98 Premium they still knock a bit down low, but under reasonable boost they can't tolerate more than a few degrees of timing, usually people aim for just 2 to 3 degrees total. I am assuming because this is a new generation of ECM that the knock processing is even better than the E38's etc?
I'm currently at about 9 degrees final timing under boost at 19 PSI with no knock, if I increase that up to 11 it will occasionally get a few degrees retard, so once I run the tank down further I'll continue to increase the E85 percentage. And I appreciate the aim isn't to be seeing how much timing can be thrown at this thing, but surely just a few degrees of timing (even under boost) seems pretty darn low.
As far as the max power improvement on E85, there's probably not going to be a lot in it on the standard engine, as it is on premium unleaded it's possible to max out the turbo's ability to pump more air in. The Cruze that ran the 15.2 was just running premium.

Your "91 octane" != our "91 octane". You are using RON, correct? We typically advertise (R+M)/2 for pump grades here, so your "98 octane" is closer to ~92 here.

On a completely stock engine (and exhaust), I would expect that GM knows exactly where the knock limit is for a given fuel quality and have no real reason to try and outsmart that unless we start changing engine hardware. The high octane map is probably calibrated based on premium pump fuel (100 RON, 92 here), so running midgrade or worse should rightfully excite the knock sensors and drive a change in knock learn factor. High percentages of ethanol (at ~112 octane) quickly get you up above the knock threshold in most cases and allow you to just run MBT timing under full load.

My main question really revolves around how much power you think there is simply by increasing boost/airflow. I'm curious about how much boost can be generated from the stock turbocharger and what power/torque levels (on pump fuel) that correlates to at various pressure ratios. I understand that final timing will be small numbers here.

I found a comparison on-line between the US and European Octane ratings (which we use), it's like so:

USA –> Europe
87 –> 91
89 –> 93
91 –> 95
93 –> 98

The High/Low spark maps between the USA Cruze and the local Cruze are the same, so it would appear Holden spent zero time tweaking the engine to run on our USA equivalent of 87 Octane Fuel (which they say is ok in the sales brochure).

I've seen on my logs that boost levels taper off above about 5,200 RPM (from 19PSI to 17PSI by 5,800) with no change in the wastegate duty cycle, so I suppose the turbo is doing the best it can at that point. I believe people are getting up to 21 PSI from a stock turbo but I don't know how far in to the RPM range it can sustain that.
With the tuning changes the maximum airflow I've seen is 0.81 g/cyl @ 4,500 RPM. Interestingly GM calibrated the airflow axis for the spark tables to finish at 0.75 g/cyl, not the usual 1.36 g/cyl we see.

Cheers,
Ross

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GMPX

The High/Low spark maps between the USA Cruze and the local Cruze are the same, so it would appear Holden spent zero time tweaking the engine to run on our USA equivalent of 87 Octane Fuel (which they say is ok in the sales brochure).

---

So it would appear they took the easy/lazy route of just letting the knock learn factor correct for the change in fuel spec. It will certainly work, it's just not necessarily "optimal". The upside is that simply putting in 98RON will give you free power without a reflash locally. If they had remapped the high octane spark table for 91RON, you would not get all the benefit from adding premium fuel without a reflash.

Quote:

---

I've seen on my logs that boost levels taper off above about 5,200 RPM (from 19PSI to 17PSI by 5,800) with no change in the wastegate duty cycle, so I suppose the turbo is doing the best it can at that point. I believe people are getting up to 21 PSI from a stock turbo but I don't know how far in to the RPM range it can sustain that.

---

This is likely the line of constant turbocharger shaft speed. The turbo manufacturer will recommend a max speed limit for their wheel (under warranty) and this results in limited boost at high engine speed even with a constant wastegate DC. Cranking the wastegate duty cycle up at high engine speed should allow for constant (or even increasing) boost at higher RPM, at the expense of higher turbo speeds and potentially reduced life. The "good" solution here is usually to just put a slightly bigger turbo on there. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by eficalibrator

So it would appear they took the easy/lazy route of just letting the knock learn factor correct for the change in fuel spec. It will certainly work, it's just not necessarily "optimal". The upside is that simply putting in 98RON will give you free power without a reflash locally. If they had remapped the high octane spark table for 91RON, you would not get all the benefit from adding premium fuel without a reflash.

---

Yeah I can see the GM line of thinking on this, but I think the low table is still to high for our 91RON and the High is too High for 98RON. They almost needed to do a crude select all and drop 3 or 4 degrees on both tables. I say that because I've heard of audible knocking on Aussie Cruze's, now surely if it's at the point of audible knock the scaler has already biased to the low table 100% and has nowhere to go. In fact they tend to knock the worst at part mid throttle, not WOT.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by eficalibrator

This is likely the line of constant turbocharger shaft speed. The turbo manufacturer will recommend a max speed limit for their wheel (under warranty) and this results in limited boost at high engine speed even with a constant wastegate DC. Cranking the wastegate duty cycle up at high engine speed should allow for constant (or even increasing) boost at higher RPM, at the expense of higher turbo speeds and potentially reduced life. The "good" solution here is usually to just put a slightly bigger turbo on there. ;)

---

Well, there's no plans for that on this Cruze, but I do agree that is the best solution, but to be honest, living in the speed camera capital of the world winding this thing up isn't going to happen too often.

Great info, loving this thread! :) Keep it going please, I will also post my findings when I learn something interesting. Cruze is running great and averaging 30.5 MPG.

I am curious, how are you getting the ET counter to correspond with the moment you launch the car? Maybe I am missing something here, but your result is very realistic. Also, have you gotten runway highlighting to work on this? I am having trouble. Thanks!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Boost

I am curious, how are you getting the ET counter to correspond with the moment you launch the car?

---

Based purely on VSS going above zero. At the last frame the VSS read zero I start the time calculation from there.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Boost

Also, have you gotten runway highlighting to work on this? I am having trouble. Thanks!

---

I don't think it's been defined in the software yet, it's nothing you are doing wrong. It's starting to annoy me too so that gives some hope to get it fixed sooner rather than later :laugh:

Well the wife and I did a test drive this weekend with the Cruze and she seems OK with it. Now it's down to payment and if she sees the same payment on a lease for the BMW 328i she wants to get that over the Cruze. I hate having to work the logic with people between purchasing a $25K and leasing $10,000 of a $45K car.. Oh well it's her choice.

At any rate for fun in the sun I did a 0-60 run in my sky the way done here.
Attachment 13447
The Teal line in the highlighted area is Throttle Position. I can't go WOT off the line or it will just spin.. So I eased into it and still spun a little after the first shift. Still put down a (IMO terrible) 6.862 0-60MPH time.
So off the line the Cruze would give me a run for my money in this configuration. Normally I do 0-60 in 5.1-5.4 sec depending on the altitude, but I have been messing with my new injectors a lot trying to squeeze cold start numbers down to an acceptable number.

@ Ross: cool thanks so I was thinking in the right direction on both of those questions.

@ Adam: sweet, and talk her into the Cruze! We both love it, it's beautiful, comfy and fun.

I have been tweaking a new tune all weekend, I am very limited by 93 max octane and 100% stock but I am still hopeful for 200 hp all tuning since I have been able to make BIG improvements in such a short time. Currently, my goal is to settle on a baseline tune with 180+ Delivered Torque PID, 30+ displayed avg. MPG, and less than 1.0 degree Knock Retard under any condition. Today, with Ambient temp displayed at 103 F, and Intake Air Temps well above 120 F, it made 184 Torque, and stayed at 30.3 MPG, but KR was still around 1.5. Will post logs later. With the wife driving it, I launched on her hard from a red light in a Saturn that runs consistent high 10s in the 1/8 mile, and after jumping a wheel spinning / hopping car on her in first gear she proceeded to pull a bus-length on me by 70 mph. So, the healthy lively Ion can not in fact smoke the docile Cruze in fact it pretty much spanked me. Oh well, I tuned it :)

I thought I would share some similar results running 50:50 methanol/water injection. I have a MAF referenced progressive injection system that is programmed to start the flow at around 70 g/sec mass air flow (~4300 Hz). At 20 psi boost I saw a 20hp / 20lb-ft gain measured at the wheels on the dyno. The increase is largely attributable to the additional 6-8 degrees of advance that was possible. The below 6.6sec 0-60mph run was captured at 300ft above sea level and 25C ambient conditions. 2011 Cruze LT 1.4T Automatic, K&N Typhoon intake, slightly larger compressor wheel. Everything else is stock at the moment.

http://www.vtunersaabs.com/cruze/VTu...0%206_6sec.jpg

Cheers,
Brian

You already did a 15.2 1/4 mile right Brian? I wonder if this improvement might just get you in the 14's?
My Cruze is currently running on 72% E85, oddly enough still getting some knock retard above 8 degrees at WOT, however, exhaust cam position greatly affects this too.

Very nice and interesting!

This is my lastest log, up to 203 lb-ft Delivered Torque now - my best ever recorded. Knock Retard is very reasonable for 93 octane, less than 2 degrees but I am still working on it. This is at sea level and a humid 88 degrees F ambient, 100% stock. Hoping the average MPG will settle a tick or two above 30, and I can get that KR below 1.0. It's a challenge...

Attachment 13539

203 Torque at 3541 RPM and over 22 psi Boost.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GMPX

You already did a 15.2 1/4 mile right Brian? I wonder if this improvement might just get you in the 14's?
My Cruze is currently running on 72% E85, oddly enough still getting some knock retard above 8 degrees at WOT, however, exhaust cam position greatly affects this too.

---

Are you still using the stock knock balancing rate values in table B1940 and is the knock only above 5200rpm? If so I think there is some false knock occurring based on my test results. I ran out my tank of 93 octane (your 98 RON ;) and filled up with 89 (your 92 RON) and I actually saw slightly higher final timing on the same amount of meth/water injected.

14s should definitely be possible- I was running the stock transmission calibration when I ran the 15.2 at 21psi boost, but had the ported TB and ported intake manifold installed and I still need to put those parts back on the car. I see ~7% higher MAF readings at the same boost pressure with the ported TB and intake manifold ;)

Agreed, none of my knock is above 5200 RPM @ WOT. Brian, do you recommend altering B1940 if one is using better than 93 octane or m/w injection?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Boost

Agreed, none of my knock is above 5200 RPM @ WOT. Brian, do you recommend altering B1940 if one is using better than 93 octane or m/w injection?

---

I did not alter this table until after I was injecting meth/water as that gave me the confidence that it was probably not real. I would not hesitate to remove it with E85 either.

I agree, I think it's false knock, I can run between 5 or 10 degrees around 5,000RPM and it always pulls a few degrees due to knock around here, this is on 73% E85 at the moment too.
Also, I hit 21 PSI of boost tonight @ 5800 RPM, the car felt pretty good too so I did a 0 to 60 run for the fun of it, UNTIL the stupid ESP kicks in just after the 1-2 shift where the wheels slip a little on the change, it only managed a 7.3 second run to 60 but, the throttle was at 50% all through 2nd gear :rippedhand:
I don't get it, traction control is off, so let the wheels slip a little please.

I did discover one thing, the temp gauge is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. Just for fun, watch the gauge and have the driver display show coolant temp. No joke, between 88 degC and 108degC there is no movement in the needle, none!!

Also, I was talking to a tuner of Mitsubishi's EVO's today and he said running E85 they are at about 11 degrees at 5,000 RPM, 15 at 6,500 and up to 18 at 8,000RPM.
When I get time I am going to experiment by dropping the boost down to maybe 15 or 16 PSI and play around with the timing some more. Because our car is 100% stock (apart from the FlexFuel stuff) there seems no point working the turbo any harder than what it is doing now. I've noticed on high E85 percentages boost is slower to come on too, but the factory FlexFuel spark maps are weird alright, they pull timing down low, that doesn't make sense to me with a slow burn fuel.