New 2016 Malibu Drive

[Frisky Dingo]

Drew, feel free to merge this if you want.

 

 

 

Anywho, I'll make this short and sweet, and drop the bomb right out of the gate. The new Malibu is the best mainstream midsize family sedan I've ever driven. There. TL;DR set, you can stop right here.

 

For those of you want a little more detail, here goes. I drove our one and so far, only, new Malibu, a 1.5 LT. It had the optional 'Leather Pkg' for $2,140; 'Driver Confidence Pkg' for $1,195; 'Convenience & Tech Pkg' for $895, and pearl paint for $995. Grand total, after a $745 In-Sticker discount, was $30,375.  Let's start with the things I like. It's a list that could be titled "Just About Everything". No, really. From the overall design, to the interior, to the driving dynamics and equipment. 

 

The outside is nice. It's not a knockout, but it's fresh, cohesive, and classy. It makes the Impala, which utilizes much the same design language look kind of tired and contrived in comparison. My only complaints would be that the front bumper could extend down a little further and be cleaned up a bit, and the trunklid has a somewhat too short and sloping appearance when viewed from the side profile.

 

The inside is a nice place to sit. The seats felt great fro my build, and the driver position was fantastic. Not too high, not too low, and with good visibility. Steering wheel is very nice all around. The layout and design of the interior is very good, imo. There are more hard plastics than I'd like, but they're not obvious until you start feeling around. Panel fitment is tight. The patterned, metallicesque trim on the center console is a bit chintzy. The dash is styled very well, and well laid out. There's now plenty of room in the back seat, and several plug-ins for connectivity.

 

The drive is really where it all comes together. The ride is the best I've come across in the segment. Very compliant, but with first rate body motion control. Noise levels were also a plus, as in there isn't much. Road and wind noise both are very well quelled here. I would give the steering very high marks. There may be a bit of unnecessary weight, but it's within the acceptable range for such an application. Turn-in could be a little sharper, and there's little to no feel to speak of, but that's rather par for the course for newer EPAS systems. It is fairly precise, and happily directs the car where you want it to go. The handling is impressive. It's no back road scalpel, as pushing it will reveal understeer, but it is more than competent. Body roll is well checked, and the car will happily consume corners so long as remember this is a family sedan and not a sports car. Brake feel and modulation was exemplary.

 

Now for the powertrain. I was 100% dead wrong here. I'll take back my words and eat them, because the 1.5T is more than adequate for daily driving duties. The powerband is smooth and far reaching, with the car never feeling caught off guard when asking for power. The 6AT is well programmed here, with no searching for gears, and smooth, well-timed shifts. I can't help but wonder what the 8AT could do here, however. I had no trouble getting the estimated gas mileage, either. With a rating of 27 city, 37 highway, and 31 combined; I saw a sustained 38-39 mpg indicated @ 70 mph, 35-36 @ 75, and 31-32 @ 80. After a 30 mile round trip that consisted of aggressive back road driving and WOT blasts in addition to the interstate driving, I averaged 29.3 mpg. I am very pleased with that.

 

My complaints are few and fairly minor. Aside from the aforementioned plastics inside, I have trouble seeing how a 30 grand car doesn't have dual-zone climate control. Also, the housing in the dash for the Forward Collision Alert reflects onto the windshield while driving with on most pavement. I would absolutely have to pass on that package solely because of this. I wish there was a knob for the tuning on the radio, but that's a minor quibble. Lastly, when viewed from the side, the front bumper doesn't extend down as far as the rocker panels do, so there is a strange offset look. A darker color would take of this, however.

 

Overall, the new car blends together nice packaging, efficiency, value and competent driving dynamics into a total package that is hard to match for others in the class. The Camry is loads more detached and feels cheaper. The Honda is compelling were it not for that dreaded CVT and ho-hum styling. The Fusion comes pretty close, but falls short on the design fronts, imo. The Mazda is fun, but lacks refinement. The Nissan is just awful. The Koreans feel sterile and still kinda half-baked to me. Ditto the 200. If I were in the market for a family sedan right now, this thing would shoot straight to the top. Can't wait to try a 2.0T.

[G. David Felt]

Very cool to hear how well GM has done this car. Thanks for the write up.

[cp-the-nerd]

Great in depth review! Honestly surprised you liked the engine as much as you did. I hope the car is a success for GM despite the tarnished nameplate.

[Frisky Dingo]

I'm genuinely shocked by the powertrain. It really makes me question how justifiable the 2.0T is. Unfortunately, there are certain options that are only available with that engine, which is something I have a beef with.

 

On a side note, I just figured a lease on a 2.0T Premium for myself, and I'd be looking at right around $300 a month all in for 36 months/36,000 miles with no money down. Very tempting. 

[Suaviloquent]

That's a ridiculously good lease deal for a car that's just recently been birthed from the factory.

 

All right, well at that price point, you'd have to be nuts not to test drive this vehicle at the very least.

 

GM has created value for the customer, and now just needs to deliver it through an effective campaign of marketing communications.