Motor Trend '10 LT test.

Overall good report. Lots of good things to say. Amazing how much the base tires hurt handling compared to the 18's. They weren't too happy with the 2.4 performace either. I guess they should have tested one with the 3.6.

Also interesting how they say the car is only about 1/2 way through its service life. I wonder if the new car is a little further off then we think?

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/112_1003_2010_chevrolet_malibu_drive/index.html

You dont buy a malibu for performance. I4 is plenty enough power for what the car needs. Everyone expects to have a hp motor and get 30-35mpg. There is a purpose to the I4 and the ecotech engines are very strong worthy and have a lot of potential if you seek that high hp.

I agree about those firestone tires they are pretty crappy. I will have my new wheels and tires installed tomorrow cant wait.

You dont buy a malibu for performance...

True, but the 3.6 with the 18's actually gets very good handling and braking marks. Road & Track were very impressed. I'm sure mine with the summer 20's must put down some respectable numbers for a sedan.

Tires can improve or worsen your handling or breaking. My reason why i got some better wheels and tires. My cobalt ss/tc had great handling and great braking only because it had brembos and tuned suspension. Tires were crappy.

I agree that I didn't buy my V6 for HIGH performance (heck, I'd get arrested if I drove while I was high ;)), but I did buy the V6 instead of the I4 because it has more power and performs acceptably well for a 4-door. And with 2 more gears than the standard overdrive automatic, the launches are more fun (nah, LOTS more fun!). The ratios are supposedly closer together, which means it keeps the RPM in a tighter power band, hopefully helping it perform still better no matter the engine.

I'm also quite satisfied with the overall mileage. In the winter it looks like I get about 18 around town (use remote to warm it up), but when better weather is here I'll get over 20, and even squeezed out 27.5 (yes, in town!) last year for about a month, but that was using some extreme measures to literally squeeeeeeeeze it out! Most of the rest of the time I was getting about 21-23 around town. Trips yielded over 30.

Dang, I wish they had tested the V6 so I could see published times for 0-60 and 1/4-mile. Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to see when a local track has a day for the general public to come on down.

Of course the 2.4 won't sling the tires off of it but in my opinion it is a peppy little engine that does what it should very well. I couldn't be happier with performance and mileage. I guess it's all about what you want in a motor and that choice should be made before you buy the car.

Dang, I wish they had tested the V6 so I could see published times for 0-60 and 1/4-mile. Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to see when a local track has a day for the general public to come on down.

I've posted it before, but you might have missed it. Road & Track tested a '08 3.6 and got a 0-60 of 6.0 sec. and a 1/4 mile of 14.6 sec. @ 96.6 mph. VERY good for what it is. To put it in perspective that is quicker then a '90 Mustang GT according to Road & Tracks test records.

Once Diablo Sport comes out with their handheld tuner and we can program out some torque management and firm up the shifts I think the car has a sub 6.0 sec. 0-60 in it and a 14.4 1/4 mile easy....

My 2.4 is more than enough for this vehicle. No complaints with performance. Of course the A6 contributes significantly to this performance. After coming from a 300C with the Hemi, I'm satisified.

I've posted it before, but you might have missed it. Road & Track tested a '08 3.6 and got a 0-60 of 6.0 sec. and a 1/4 mile of 14.6 sec. @ 96.6 mph. VERY good for what it is. To put it in perspective that is quicker then a '90 Mustang GT according to Road & Tracks test records.

Once Diablo Sport comes out with their handheld tuner and we can program out some torque management and firm up the shifts I think the car has a sub 6.0 sec. 0-60 in it and a 14.4 1/4 mile easy....

Seeing those numbers I believe that they do ring a bell, so I must have seen them before but just forgot the particulars and/or the source. Thanks for puttin' 'em up again.

Every once in a while I have the perfect conditions for a blast off the line: First at a red light, concrete is flat, engine is warmed up, and there are no other cars around. If I just floorboard it I can hit redline and the engine management will prevent further acceleration until it gets around to shifting. Along with adjusting TM have you ever heard of being able to adjust the anticipator, if there even is something like that? The way I do it now is to lift my foot a little ahead of it getting there.

The last time I was able to get an engine to redline was after I had a '64 Mercury "medium-case cast iron Cruise-O-Matic" overhauled and shift-kitted. After that my tired old 390 4bbl would "blort" when it got to 6400 RPM. I was told it was the valves floating. All I had to do was lift my foot and it would shift from 1 to 3. A couple times I even got some scratch at 50 mph!

An acquaintance of mine has an '05 or '06 Mustang V6 manual. (Same guy who parked it with the hand brake that let go when the door shut and it drifted down the driveway, removing the driver's mirror.) He seems to think the 'Stang can do better in the 1/4 than the 'Bu. Any numbers you know of that might give me a little respite from his heckling?

try v6mustang.com There is a forum section there that posts times. But that model mustang stock is pushing 210 hp in the 4.0L I believe. The engine is built more for fuel economy rather than performance. So the Malibu would own, np. :D

An acquaintance of mine has an '05 or '06 Mustang V6 manual. (Same guy who parked it with the hand brake that let go when the door shut and it drifted down the driveway, removing the driver's mirror.) He seems to think the 'Stang can do better in the 1/4 than the 'Bu. Any numbers you know of that might give me a little respite from his heckling?

A new '11 Mustang V6 would beat us easily, the '11 Mustangs across the board are a BIG improvement.

That being said, the '05-'10 V6 is the old 4.0 liter block. Not a good engine by any means and yes, slower then a 3.6 liter Malibu. Consumer Guide is one of the few who tested a manual V6, they got a 6.9 0-60 and a 15.0 @ 92.1 1/4. So close yes, but you should beat him and piss him off. :p

That's what I was hoping your response would be! Thanks, man! (Oh, and thanks for correcting my 5/50 faux pas.)

In terms of the OP, the halfway may also be hinting at something which I could see becoming more common -- That Ford just did with the Mustang. Revising most of the body panels, maybe a bit of toying with the powertrains, but not a new GEN of the model. Same Platform, essentially. Which means alot of carryover with a "brand new" car for the public.

I have Sold Chevy's for over 20 years, and have driven a Corvette most of my life, and frequently race at Road Atlanta. I just want to say two quick things in regard to the Motor Trend article. They certainly didn't utilize the paddle shifters, that will easily cut a half second or more off any time. I agree the FR710 are the best of Performance tires, but take the air pressure up to 35psi and I will almost gurantee you will pull 80'g on the skid pad!
My daily driver is a 2010 1LT Malibu and I couldn't be happier with the entire car, I just wish I could take the Editors of Motor Trend a lap or two around Road Atlanta in my Malibu and I promise you I would change there mind about the Performance of a Malibu!!!!

They certainly didn't utilize the paddle shifters, that will easily cut a half second or more off any time.

Can't agree there. The paddle shifters on the Malibu are slow as hell and would do nothing, and maybe hamper times....

I agree with you, Silver. The manual shift is not for performance, it's for overcoming the inadequate programming of the transmission by using our vastly superior senses.

@Salesman:
I don't have the Firestone tires but instead the Goodyears. Both of these, in my opinion, are designed to keep the CAFE numbers high for GM, not for performance. Sure, they're tires, but not good ones. The sticker on my car says to keep them at 30 psi. When I do the car is imprecise in steering, it wanders a lot, and the shoulders wear prematurely. I raised my pressures to 38 front, 36 rear and now have much better stability and control, plus the shoulders are not scrubbing like they used to. If I replace them with some tires that are actually made for performance then I expect I'd get even better performance than I do.

Honestly, saying you're a salesman doesn't mean you know about cars. My salesman tried to impress me on a cold, wintry day by telling me that the car is so smart that it runs the engine faster to warm up faster. Cars with carburetors and thermostatic chokes have been doing that for decades. However, saying you drive a 'Vette at Road Atlanta makes me listen, even if cautiously. I'm not a cynic. Instead I've learned to "trust, but verify" (Ronald Reagan) when people speak, especially when it's only in print.

The Motor Trend test said that the Firestone FR710 tires reduced the performance in the skid pad from the previous test vehicle's 0.81g to 0.75g. What kinds of vehicles can achieve 0.80g? Which ones can exceed that? For me to form an opinion of how much better our 'Bu can be I'd love to see (or even be part of) a road test. But it seems much simpler to see that putting better tires on the 'Bu will put it back to 0.80g or better. Putting my Eagles up to 38/36 definitely helps! So pumping the 'Stones up to 35 just might help, too, but maybe not. You can get only so much hair from a bald man.

For any interested parties, here's a link to the MT test:

Motor Trend test of 2010 Malibu LTZ 4-cylinder (http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/112_1003_2010_chevrolet_malibu_drive/index.html)

I have Sold Chevy's for over 20 years, and have driven a Corvette most of my life, and frequently race at Road Atlanta. I just want to say two quick things in regard to the Motor Trend article. They certainly didn't utilize the paddle shifters, that will easily cut a half second or more off any time. I agree the FR710 are the best of Performance tires, but take the air pressure up to 35psi and I will almost gurantee you will pull 80'g on the skid pad!
My daily driver is a 2010 1LT Malibu and I couldn't be happier with the entire car, I just wish I could take the Editors of Motor Trend a lap or two around Road Atlanta in my Malibu and I promise you I would change there mind about the Performance of a Malibu!!!!

I agree with you - considering what we have compared to other cars on the market, the Malibu does surprisingly well.

But - after reading beau coup reviews on the '09 - '10 Malibus, I sense that some automotive journalists get their rocks off by bashing GM, and Malibus are one of their favorite targets. Some of the criticisms I've read about Malibus are almost at the level of grade school playground insults.

And these are the same bozos that will gush over a 4-banger vanilla Fusion, a Sonata, a Smart (well, maybe not a Smart! :D).

Hey - no matter. I'm pleased with what I have, the first Chevy (other than my '71 big block Monte sitting in the garage) that I've owned and driven daily since '78. I probably have the record for the world's longest test drive before I decided to buy my LTZ, and my Ecotec does just fine!

I gotta admit, though: I have to wonder how my car would run & handle with the new Buick direct injection 4 cylinder, a set of Bilsteins, and some nice Michelins..... hmmmm. :rolleyes: