2011 Chevy Cruze

2012 Ford Focus

The 2011 Chevy Cruze and 2012 Ford Focus have both been redesigned for this year. The new Ford Focus was not ready for launch at the beginning of the 2011 model year, so Ford released it as a 2012 model. The 2011 Chevy Cruze base model starts at $16,525, while the 2012 Focus starts at $18,200.

One of the major differences in the Cruze and the Focus is that the Focus engine is the same throughout the trim level lineup, while the Cruze base model (ls trim) comes with a different engine than the rest of the lineup. The 2012 Ford Focus is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 160-hp and 146 lb-ft of torque. Most trim levels of the 2011 Chevy Cruze come with a turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine with 138-hp and a48 lb-ft of torque. The base Cruze gets a 1.8-liter naturally aspirated engine with 138-hp and 123 lb-ft of torque.

The 2012 Ford Focus is rated at 26-mpg city and 36-mpg highway with a manual transmission. With the automatic transmission, the 2012 Focus gets 27-mpg city and 37-mpg highway. The Cruze is rated at 26-mpg city and 36-mpg highway with the 1.8-liter engine and 24 city, 36 highway with the turbo 1.4-liter. The 2011 Chevy Cruze is also available in Eco trim, which combines lower rolling resistance tires, a manual transmission and the 1.4-liter turbocharged engine to get 28-mpg city and 42-mpg highway.

Inside, the 2011 Chevy Cruze has one inch more headroom than the 2012 Ford Focus with 39.3 inches, but is smaller in most other interior dimensions. The 2012 Ford Focus has 53.9 inches of front hip room to the Cruze’s 53 inches and 43.7 inches of front leg room to 42.3 in the Cruze. Back seat room is a little bit closer, the Focus has 38 inches of head room, 52.7 inches of hip room and 33.2 inches of leg room while the Cruze has 37.9 inches of head room, 52.4 inches of hip room and 35.4 inches of leg room.