Cruze Control with Rob Huff

A family hatchback that’s capable of returning 50.4 miles per gallon while having enough space in the boot for a pram and the weekly shop probably isn’t the best vehicle to be throwing around Bedford Autodrome. But Chevrolet World Touring Car driver Rob Huff invited us down to polish our driving skills and prove that this “reasonably priced car” can hold its own on track.

“It’s all about being smooth and controlled”, explains Rob as we take our first sighting lap around the particularly quick course. “If you can memorise the track and brake later than anyone else, you’ve pretty much got it sewn up”. Poor driving skills aside, the Chevrolet is standing its ground on the blacktop, with only a hefty turbo lag and the odd bit of understeer getting in the way of good lap times.

The Cruze we are in is a few steps down from Rob’s four-wheel-drive, turbocharged, World Touring car that features a sequential shifter and is capable of sub 5-second 0-60 times- but that’s not stopping him for tearing up the track. Rob posted a ludicrously quick 1-minute 40-something seconds time around Bedford’s West Circuit, beating me by a depressing ten seconds and giving the more powerful Golf GTI’s and Seat Leon’s a run for their money.

But what about the car? There’s nothing too much to shout about really. The steering is fairly light and numb on the track surface, the automatic box takes an age to downshift when you boot the accelerator and the 163bhp 2-litre turbo diesel engine lacks the poke to really compete. But let’s be honest, the Chevrolet Cruze isn’t designed for the track, it’s designed to attract customers away from a Ford Focus. Although it may not achieve a mass migration just yet, it has done a mighty fine job in the styling department. It looks great, features a massive boot and comes equipped with enough gadgets as standard to keep wandering hands happy.

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