Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday

MANILA, Philippines - “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday”, car companies with a racing pedigree live by that ethos. Ask any enthusiast, and he’ll tell you that it’s just as important to own a car that wins races as it is to be critically acclaimed by journalists and pundits. After all, how can a car espouse “sporty handling”, when it hasn’t even set foot on a racetrack? Unfortunately, cars such as these are often too expense and too exotic to drive on a daily basis; a shame really considering that cars are meant to be driven and not stored in an air conditioned garage. Fortunately, for the 99.9 percent who aren’t born billionaires, there’s a much more affordable solution: the Chevrolet Cruze CMP Street Edition.

For the uninitiated, Chevrolet has been running in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) for quite sometime now. Lately, it’s been a fixture as well in the Philippine Touring Car Championship (PTCC). Unlike other racing series, both the WTCC and PTCC actually run cars that are pretty close to a standard production model; which should say something on how good the standard Cruze’s platform is. And having driven the bone stock Cruze on more than one occasion, I can attest to that fact.

Of course, there are some who aren’t satisfied with a run-of-the-mill Chevrolet Cruze. They want to standout and make a statement about the car they drive. They want a degree of personalization beyond the usual rain visor and rear spoiler that dealers offer. Thanks to their fruitful collaboration in the Chevrolet Motorsports Program or CMP (which includes the PTCC), Chevrolet Philippines and Blanco Race Engineering (BRE) have begun offering the Cruze CMP Street Edition. Starting off with any variant and color of Cruze, BRE is offering a menu of options that give both show and go. Depending on your budget, you can go purely for a sportier look, sportier performance or both.

The photos you see here represent the fully-loaded Cruze CMP Street Edition with a 6-piece A-Toy body kit, 18-inch Concept One rims, 225/45 Z-rated Nitto tires, H&R performance lowering springs, a BRE dyno-tuned air intake/headers/exhaust by Freemuff and a Leder Interia custom interior trim. All in all, the entire package sets you back P226,000 on top of the Cruze’s retail price. It may seem a bit pricey, but considering how much these cost individually, you can potentially save around 10 to 20 percent.

Driving the Cruze CMP Street Edition, you can’t help but immediately notice the amount of double takes people do when you pass by. More than once, people thought the Cruze CMP Street Edition was wearing a wide body kit. And when you try explaining that the additional kit’s limited only to the bumper extensions, side skirts and rear spoiler; they’re amazed on how the Cruze looks. Add the 18-inch black rims and springs that lower the car about 1.5 inches, and you’ve got the complete package. It’s surprising how the entire package works well with the gray test drive unit, but I’m pretty sure it works well on other, much sportier colors like white, black or red. Unfortunately, as much as I like the body kit, it tends to scrape itself on just about any driveway imaginable. In fact, after just a week and a half’s worth of use, there were already some hairline fractures to the front bumper skirt.

In the spirit of the WTCC or PTCC, the Cruze CMP Street Edition sticks with the same 1.8-liter ECOTEC 4-cylinder engine with some modifications. This includes the aforementioned BRE-tuned headers and exhaust as well as a mushroom-type HKS air filter. Though there’s no official word on how many horsepower was freed by this set-up, you do feel some difference but only at higher speeds. At lower rpms, the Cruze behaves just like a regular Cruze albeit ten times louder. However, as the tachometer breaks 4,000 rpm, the blaring exhaust fills the cabin accompanied by some additional thrust. It’s not the same sort of rush you get from a turbo-charged engine, it’s more gradual as the revs and the speed picks up. With such a sporty get-up, I wish the test unit came with a manual transmission. The 6-speed automatic though responsive, was clearly designed more for fuel economy than for exhilarating performance. More than once, the transmission shifted too early, preventing me from exploiting the high-rev biased tuning. The exhaust system is also so loud that it can scare small children. Additionally, there’s a small penalty in fuel economy as well. Whereas the regular Cruze can get up to 8.5 km/L in the city, the CMP Street Edition can only manage around 7.5 km/L.

The exterior and engine modifications to the Cruze are completed with a refurbished interior. The changes are polarizing since the CMP Street Edition swaps the homey black/gray hues for something much sportier: black on black. Everything from the door trims to the dash panel is now covered in black leather; and though I cannot vouch for its safety, even the passenger airbag cover isn’t spared. Though the Cruze already comes standard with gray leather seats (well, at least in LT guise), the Cruze CMP Street Edition swaps these for black ones with body-color matched stitching.

Being pretty much a “stock guy”, I can’t say I understand the Cruze’s transformation into the CMP Street Edition. Though I love the Cruze in its stock form, I have to say that this isn’t my cup of tea. For me, there are too many compromises for the additional looks and performance gains. However, I still have to applaud Chevrolet and BRE for coming out with a personalization program such as this. For those with an extra P226,000 to burn on top of the Cruze’s P808,888 to P1,048,888 price tag, then the Cruze CMP Street Edition does present itself as a performance-oriented car with an attractive price point. But more than anything, the Cruze CMP Street Edition showcases to Cruze owners that they aren’t just driving a car with great looks and value; it also provides some exhilarating performance and some pedigree to boot.

The Good

• Exterior modifications highlight the already handsome design.

• Highly ergonomic driving position and comfortable.

• Expansive interior room for 4 adults.

• Whether stock or modified, excellent price point.

The Bad

• Body kit tends to scrape just about everywhere.

• Modified exhaust scares little kids.

• Two-tone leather seating feels too “aftermarket”.

• Automatic transmission is inappropriate in this guise.

The Verdict

• As a proof of concept, the Cruze CMP Street Edition works well as a modified car, but for everyday practicality, stick with the stock Cruze.