[ChicagoMalibu2009]

Recently I went on a 3,800 mile road trip over 10 days with my 2009 Malibu LS. I wanted to post a trip report to give everyone an idea of how it handled, and as well some details about the trip and how the car performed.

Overall, it handled the trip extremely well. I was impressed, and felt safe, prepared, and excited to be going on a trip with the Malibu!

The route was semi-set initially, but wound up being Chicago to Salt Lake City to Las Vegas to Denver to Chicago. I was the only driver, and it was myself and my SO on the trip.

The two details I am MISSING today, are mileage (in the shop on a clipboard in need of me finishing the calcs) and pictures (in the camera). I'm inspired to type a bit and post now, though, so those can be followups if anyone is interested.

Planning: Well, I'm a planner. I also knew there was a chance that instead of going through Utah to Denver, we'd skew south through Grand Canyon and take the Million Dollar Highway. That can be next trip. But, regardless I was going to be driving about 4K miles so I decided to be ready in case anything came up.

In case this helps anyone with planning for a trip, here was my road trip gear. As with most things as you know, I change what I do based on past experience and also what I see as the possibilities. For example, I didnt bring tire chains or sand/kitty litter.:
A full size spare (A winter wheel/tire and I left the donut under the floor too)
A basic tool kit
A torque wrench
An Inflator/Jump Starter combo
An air gauge
A first Aid kit
A headlamp
Two 2' lengths of 2x4
Flares x6
A medium blue tarp x2
A flannel Blanket
100' of rope
Rubber Mallet and Machete
5 Quarts of Oil
2 quarts of coolant
5 towels, and a spray Bottle of no rinse car wash
Fuse Kit
1 Gal Gas Can
2 24 Packs of bottle water incl some in a drink cooler.
A cooler of food and some dry snacks.

Driving Time: I did the driving mostly over five days.
Day 1: Chicago to Rawlins, WY
Day 2: Rawlins, WY to Las Vegas, NV via SLC
(Day 6: Side Trip into California to the Mojave Area)
Day 8: Las Vegas, NV to Parachute, CO
Day 9: Parachute, CO to Omaha, NE
Day 10: Omaha, NE to Chicago, IL
Total Mileage was 3798 mi.

Driving Notes:
-Cruise worked OK. It upshifts hard even on rolling hills, and did try and keep the speed but in an attempt to stay within 1MPH or so when the road starts to go up, it downshifts, floors it, then realizes its going way too fast and eases up suddenly/coasts you up to 4-5MPH over. It isn't a good tradeoff. If the computer was willing to be a bit more gradual with applying throttle the results would be better. I eventually just turned it off in hilly areas and stuck to using it only when flat.

-Crosswinds are brutal. Through Utah the speed limit was 80 through crosswindy areas and I found myself steering slightly to the side in order to go straight. No complaints from the drivetrain and I was able to maintain 80 at 3200RPM or so and was pretty impressed.

-Good performance on mountain passes. I took the old road into salt lake, and the engine got hot going up, but downshifting worked well and as desired both up and down the hill. Thus the brakes wont overused and the engine temps never exceeded 240 degrees.

-No emergencies. I was prepared but the car started, stopped, accellerated, everything fine. No flat tires, accidents, didn't even get pulled over once. I was very pleased with that although SOME of it is luck of course. Got both of us home safely.

-Finding Gas is tricky if you're picky. Through Nebraska and Iowa, the gas is mostly ethanol or something. I havent investigated too much, but it resulted in an odd phenomena. 87, 89, and 91 octane available. Most Expensive is 87 octane, since it is only 10% ethanol? That is my understanding. I know the 87 was 10% or less ethanol, and the other two had (ETHANOL FOR A CLEANER TOMORROW) stickers. So i wasn't risking it. Perhaps i paid more and got NO ethanol and the other two were only 10%? I can't be sure. Anyone know? I couldn't investigate because all the gas stations I got gas from had no attendants on duty through those states.

I'd rather post now and add more later... especially the mileage figures which had weight and winds as a significant hinderance. I was cruising about 750lbs above curb weight at between 77 and 85MPH depending on Speed Limit (5-12 over). Mileage was around 25MPG overall and I did leave about 3 MPG on the table by bringing extra water, supplies and such and going into the 80's but that's fine with me on both counts. I wanted to added layer of preparedness and i'd rather get a bit farther in daylight when possible. I slow down at night for animals.

Pics later too! Let me know of any thoughts or q's if i left something out.

 

[Silver LTZ]

Cool read....

 

[whoflungpoo]

heh .......

 

[elcompaLalo]

Vegas..........you were in Vegas and didn't give me the heads up? Oh well, maybe next time right?

J/K.

I too have taken many road trips in my Malibu but none nearly as long as yours. Interesting observations, it was a good read......thanks.

 

[DrivenDaily]

That was a nice "report", CM. I like how detailed your list is for the trip. When I lived in CA and went anywhere I had a list on my computer all ready from the last time (camping, to sister's, to mother's, to ...) and would just edit it a little as needed, then print it out. I ended up with two columns for check marks - one for packing to leave, one for packing to return. You can't believe how many times I left something at my sister's house!

I'm gonna put your list on my computer. I'm thinking about driving from Louisville to Spokane next year to visit my sis, and your list will be very helpful if I can find a way to make the trip. One way is about 2500 miles. If I go I'll take notes and pics to share with everyone, too.

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to pics and mileage figures, etc. Share whatcha got!

 

[ChicagoMalibu2009]

OK, I got the pics, and like everything it's on my to do list it will get done, but I just need to get to it! Still need to compute and get all the mileage info, that will be soon. Thanks for the positive feedback on the observations and such...

Anyhow, here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip that included the car; please let me know any thoughts!

 

[ChicagoMalibu2009]

And then my personal favorite:

 

[Mastery]

-Crosswinds are brutal.

Nice read, thanks for taking the time. Question on the above...are you saying the crosswinds in Utah are generally brutal, or the 'Bu has problems with crosswinds over all? Just checking.

Oh, really liked the pic out near the mountains...but I'm a landscape kind of guy

 

[ChicagoMalibu2009]

I meant that the crosswinds in Utah were brutal. Heading west (south) there was a Wind advisory for 40MPHish with 60 or so gusts. The 4cyl. 4spd was able to sit in 4th at 85MPH at about 3300RPM for probably 3 hours through that. Engine only got to about 225 degrees coolant and oil with a 85 degree ambient temp.

I consider that pretty darn good. But shifting between 40MPH and 60MPH gusts was brutal to tackle. I felt sorry watching the minivans getting tossed about. And saw many a semi do the little lift up and slide two feet to one side in the back move.

Thanks, yeah I took alot of pictures on the trip and these were my favorite...

 

[DrivenDaily]

Nice pics! I like the 3rd and 5th ones the best. The 3rd because of the jagged lines the mountains scribe out, the 5th because of the open feeling I get, and remembering living out West, too.

 

[Mastery]

I meant that the crosswinds in Utah were brutal.

Thanks for the clarification. Our Trailblazer does lousy with the crosswinds around the fields here, and have no interest in getting another vehicle with these types of issues. Guess the 'Bu stays on the potential list

 

[K-A]

Nice write-up. I too take my Malibu on lots of long trips, never near that long though (at one time).

I agree that the Cruise Control sucks.

Were you able to avoid any rock-chip/road-debris damage? It's a skill to drive carefully enough on Highways to avoid that kind of potential "damage" to the car, but the crazy winds make it a lot harder.

 

[Railfan]

Driving Notes:
-Cruise worked OK. It upshifts hard even on rolling hills, and did try and keep the speed but in an attempt to stay within 1MPH or so when the road starts to go up, it downshifts, floors it, then realizes its going way too fast and eases up suddenly/coasts you up to 4-5MPH over. It isn't a good tradeoff. If the computer was willing to be a bit more gradual with applying throttle the results would be better. I eventually just turned it off in hilly areas and stuck to using it only when flat.

I have experienced the same thing with the cruise on just about all the cars I have owned (which 90% of them being GM). It seems as if the cruise is not too intelligent, waiting until the last second before deciding to engage itself, which by that time it is 2-5 mph slower than what it is set at. Too bad it cannot anticipate its need and engage just before the speed drops below the cruise speed so that it doesn't have to downshift two or more gears to catch up. I too, do my own thing on hills. Perhaps someday somebody will design a "smart cruise" that will do the job better on its own without intervention from the driver.

 

[Silver LTZ]

I have experienced the same thing with the cruise on just about all the cars I have owned (which 90% of them being GM). It seems as if the cruise is not too intelligent, waiting until the last second before deciding to engage itself, which by that time it is 2-5 mph slower than what it is set at. Too bad it cannot anticipate its need and engage just before the speed drops below the cruise speed so that it doesn't have to downshift two or more gears to catch up. I too, do my own thing on hills. Perhaps someday somebody will design a "smart cruise" that will do the job better on its own without intervention from the driver.

Agreed, I am not a fan of cruise. I feel like I tend not to pay as much attention. I rarely use it.