The Eco-tec 2.2 litre 4-banger

[trinacriabob]

I just went to the auto show. As some of you know, I am looking at the LaCrosse and the Grand Prix. I am somewhat pissed off with the poor visibility in both.

I then sit in a Malibu. The cabin is so user-friendly and the greenhouse is awesome. I have rented about 5 of these. They are nice enough, though I have more confidence in a GM V6 than I do in a 4 cylinder.

I went over to a Saturn salesman and he said they inagurated this engine. He told me of clients who have put beaucoup miles on these without a tear down.

Any bits of information or stories on how Eco-tec 2.2 litre 4 cylinder fares over the long run?

[cmattson]

I've got one in my '04 Malibu. I've got just over 37,xxx miles on the car in slightly less than 2 years of driving. When I researched my Malibu, the word I heard is that the Ecotec is damn-near indestructible. I've heard the same thing about people running up the miles with nary a problem. The gas mileage on the 2.2l Malibu is outrageously good. If you baby the vehicle, you can squeeze 36+mpg pretty much without a problem. I've never had it out on the freeway for a full tank of gas, so that 36+mpg I've achieved is in a combo of city and hwy driving. If you drive it hard, you'll still get 30+ mpg. The only times I've dropped underneath 30mpg on a tank is when I do strictly city driving -- which is pretty rare. I average a 60% hwy/40% city mix. -- with half of those highway miles in stop-and-go commuter traffic.

My only complaint with my Malibu is that the cloth interior sucks. In '04, you couldn't get leather with the 4cyl. To get leather, you needed to move up to the LS or LT trim levels, both of which gave you the V6 - which I wasn't interested in.

[Satty]

Great mpg, as has been stated. I never had a problem with the engine itself, just some of the stuff attached to it (AC compressor and exhaust manifold) that went out at around 65-70k. And I put 40,000 hard miles on the car in 13 months.

[daves87rs]

I have two Ecos, one in each of our cars...

Hers is up to 28k, nary a problem. Mine has been good as well, but the miles haven't piled on yet (5k).

A co-worker has a 00 L2 with 170k on it, and it still runs great (I've been it in it)

The true test so far: a friend of mine drives a 03 Cavalier (work use) and

the miles have really piled on.

This cav has almost 200k on it now, and the engine is holding up well...

It has had a few parts replaced, but nothing major-motor is hanging in there....

[thegriffon]

The Ecotec is an evolution of GM's Family II 4-cylinder engine which they've been building since Noah was a boy. It's gained a DOHC head and more recently the 2.2 L's aluminum block (and since then VVT and direct injection in some versions), but it's a well engineered block with a lot of yeras behind it, so it should hold up very well indeed. A European rag once rated an earlier 16V version (2.0 L I think) as "the best engine in the world" and I wouldn't be surprised if it earned that accolade again in the near future.