Awesome Mileage from my Malibu on trip!

rluck9277 said:

I just got home from driving from Lafayette, LA to Hoover(Birmingham), AL. My 2008 Malibu 4-cylinder/4-spd auto got 32.6 MPG and that was with the cruise control set at 76MPH almost the whole way, it was a 440 mile trip. The car had me my wife, our 2 dogs and trunk full of stuff too. I ran 93 octane in it the whole trip and I have put a K&N airfilter in it, not sure it that helped any. Just wanted to share, thought that was awesome.

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Do you have the LT2 (that's what your profile says)? The reason I'm asking is the LT2 only comes with the 6 speed transmission. You mentioned you have the 4 speed. The 6 speed does better on the highway than the 4 speed. The 6 speed is rated 3 MPG better than the 4 speed on the highway. The 4 speed is rated at 30 MPG and the 6 speed is rated at 33 MPG. The city MPG is identical for both transmissions - 22 MPG.

But getting 32.6 MPG is very good - especially for a pretty heavy car. I've gotten over 33 MPG on the highway.

I noticed something interesting that I was unaware of. I found the Chevy Malibu Website for 2009 and it says that the LT1 had the 4 speed as standard equipment and the 6 speed was optional. I didn't realize that. I thought the 6 speed was always standard on the LT1.

my1stlt said:

I've gotten 36 on my 09 2.4L starting from OC to Queen Creek Az. Cruised at 76 starting at banning till queen creek. Next trip i'll snap a photo of my MPG on my BU.

Here's a snap from my 05 Cobalt

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These are 2 completely different cars. The Malibu is a 3,600 lb car which is pretty heavy. To get 33 MPG is great for a car of this size and weight. The Malibu MPG is rated better than similar cars in this class such as the Camry, Accord, or Fusion.

rluck9277 said:

I have a 2008 2LT, it came with a 4-spd auto, I am pretty sure the 6-spd was only avaliable on the LTZ 4-cylinder cars in late 2008 models, and then it was an option on the 2LT in 2009.

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I was unaware of this. Did all 2008 models initially come with the 4 speed? According to the 2009 brochure, the 6 speed was standard on the 2009 LT2.