Be honest: unless you’re a storm chaser, the chances are you don’t shop for a new car based on its capabilities in heavy storms.
But as part of its latest advertising efforts to promote the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze, General Motors wants you to know that the compact sedan can take everything that mother nature can throw at it.
That includes heavy rain, dust storms, extremes of temperature and even hurricanes.
Admittedly, every major automaker puts new cars through exhaustive tests to ensure that they can cope with life in the real world.
Normally, these tests occur behind closed doors at top-secret testing grounds, but GM, as it has proven in the past, is particularly keen to prove that its cars won’t leave you stranded or electrocute you when the weather turns bad.
And as GM is keen to tell us, the 2012 Cruze is no exception.
2012 Chevy Cruze Weather Testing
At GM’s proving ground in Milford, Michigan, GM subjected the sedan to a number of intense weather tests. in each case, the car passed.
As well as undergoing temperature tests in GM’s thermal chamber to simulate a variety of conditions from frigid arctic to arid desert, GM placed the 2012 Chevy Cruze in its custom-built Universal Water Test Booth.
Capable of spraying 6,600 gallons of water at a car in eight minutes, the booth helped engineers ensure that the 2012 Chevy Cruze could withstand the very worst rain storm imaginable, keeping passengers inside the car dry regardless of the weather outside.
Other tests, which included driving through a one-feet deep flooded road, dust storm chambers and hurricane-force winds, were all passed without incident.
2012 Chevy Cruze Weather Testing
Add to those weather-test credentials the Cruze’s OnStar emergency assist services, and just like the 2011 Chevy Volt, we think it’d cope admirably with anything a hurricane could throw at it.
As for storm-chasing? While it looks like it could theoretically cope with life in Tornado Alley, we’d like to suggest you find something a little more robust to storm-chase in, like a 2012 Chevy Avalanche.
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