[Richard]

Hello everyone,

Picked up my new LT2 about 2 weeks ago. I absolutely love it. It's the 4 Cylinder, but it really feels like it has the power of a 6. I'm not at all disappointed with the power. I'm very happy with the highway mileage. I regularly get 33 - 35 MPG, and that will probably go up once it's broken in.

Here's some of the features:

Red Jewel Tintcoat Paint (Great Color!).
Sunroof
Premium Mat Package
Bose Stereo (Instructions are not in Owners Manual)
Aluminum Chrome Wheels
Body Color Side Moldings (I really wanted this - it looks good).
Black Leather / Suede Seats (Heated)

My previous car was a Caddy CTS and I like the Malibu much more. It's funny to say, but the Malibu reminds more of a Cadillac than the CTS did. The Malibu has a much smoother ride and it's more solid than the CTS was.
I also think the Malibu is a nicer looking car.

The CTS was more of a Sports Type car, so it did handle a bit better than the Malibu. I could make sharper turns with the CTS and the Steering was a bit more responsive, but those features took away from the ride quality. The CTS was a very hard riding car. Also, I didn't like rear wheel drive - front wheel drive makes much more sense. I had the 3.6 Liter CTS which was an upgrade, but the Malibu that I have is much more loaded. The only feature that the CTS had that I wish the LT2 had is the Electronic Climate Control. Other than that, the Malibu has many more features.

I will post a new thread with some questions that I have.

Thanks for your input regarding my new car.

Thanks,
Richie.

 

[Silver LTZ]

Also, I didn't like rear wheel drive - front wheel drive makes much more sense.

Congrats on the new car!

But I totally disagree on the RWD thing, I like it MUCH more and I think most others would agree. Better for handling, balance and fun!

FWD is fine for a daily driver, hence why I have one. But I wish the Malibu was RWD....

 

[DrivenDaily]

I would hazard a guess that there are two very opinionated camps about FWD and RWD. Until my last car and this car (4 years total) I've always had RWD. I know how to spin it around a lamp post while facing it. I'm familiar with how it wants to whip the tail if you put too much power in a corner, but also how a little deceleration pulls it back in.

On the flip side, I've revelled in how this 'Bu will let me accelerate in a corner, and I've even experienced the ESC kicking in to keep me on my line thru the corner. When I try to leave the line from a dead stop, though, I have to moderate the throttle to keep it from spinning excessively.

Pros and cons to both systems. All in all I prefer the FWD for most applications but I'd really like to try an AWD to see if it combines the best of both or if it just sucks the power through parasitic losses.

Knock, knock, Subaru. Can I come take a test drive? I promise not to roll it. (I hope!)

 

[Sandhopper]

Congrats on the new ride Richard... Both FWD and RWD have their fun factors but there is nothing like sliding the rear around corners. When the weather gets funky I am glad to have Fwd or 4wd. Just my 2cents.

 

[Silver LTZ]

I would hazard a guess that there are two very opinionated camps about FWD and RWD. Until my last car and this car (4 years total) I've always had RWD. I know how to spin it around a lamp post while facing it. I'm familiar with how it wants to whip the tail if you put too much power in a corner, but also how a little deceleration pulls it back in.

On the flip side, I've revelled in how this 'Bu will let me accelerate in a corner, and I've even experienced the ESC kicking in to keep me on my line thru the corner. When I try to leave the line from a dead stop, though, I have to moderate the throttle to keep it from spinning excessively.

Pros and cons to both systems. All in all I prefer the FWD for most applications but I'd really like to try an AWD to see if it combines the best of both or if it just sucks the power through parasitic losses.

Knock, knock, Subaru. Can I come take a test drive? I promise not to roll it. (I hope!)

If driven properly a RWD car will be MUCH, MUCH quicker around a turn. Hence why you never see a FWD race car, and why 99% of all real performance cars are RWD. FWD pushes and adds to much weight over the front end. IMO FWD is only good for daily driver duties or if you live in the snowbelt. If the Malibu was RWD it would be much more fun to drive. Also more expensive though....

 

[Richard]

Congrats on the new car!

But I totally disagree on the RWD thing, I like it MUCH more and I think most others would agree. Better for handling, balance and fun!

FWD is fine for a daily driver, hence why I have one. But I wish the Malibu was RWD....

During the last couple of snowstorms we had, I was wishing I had FWD. If I didn't keep my trusty shovel in trunk, I would have been stuck. And I didn't pull into parking spaces with deep snow. This never happened to me with FWD. I also came within an inch of spinning around in the snow. I had a '95 Eldo with FWD and right after I got it, we had a 15" blizzard. I was driving around like there was no snow on the ground while everyone else was stuck. There are pros and cons to both, but FWD has been vastly improved (equal length drive axles to avoid torque steer, etc.), so it's really hard to tell the difference between FWD and RWD. And it just seems that FWD is more practical.

 

[Silver LTZ]

During the last couple of snowstorms we had, I was wishing I had FWD. If I didn't keep my trusty shovel in trunk, I would have been stuck. And I didn't pull into parking spaces with deep snow. This never happened to me with FWD. I also came within an inch of spinning around in the snow. I had a '95 Eldo with FWD and right after I got it, we had a 15" blizzard. I was driving around like there was no snow on the ground while everyone else was stuck. There are pros and cons to both, but FWD has been vastly improved (equal length drive axles to avoid torque steer, etc.), so it's really hard to tell the difference between FWD and RWD. And it just seems that FWD is more practical.

In the snow, FWD is much better, I agree totally. But to me it is very easy to tell the difference. No matter what they do, FWD does have torque steer and will have to much weight up front, wear tires quicker and not handle as good. But for a daily driver it is fine. If I only had one car, it would not be FWD.

 

[elcompaLalo]

Hello Richie. Congrats on the new car and welcome to the site.

 

[DrivenDaily]

For a daily driver and one that I rely on to get me safely to and fro (oooo, but you never thought you'd hear that here! ) FWD is fine with me. The 3.6 is so powerful that it can easily spin the front wheels, even from a rolling start, but that may just be the crappy OE tires (Eagle LS2's). And I agree totally with you about RWD. Because I love to goose the heck outta my car, if I had RWD the car would squat onto the drive wheels and give them better traction, instead of FWD's inherent traction reduction. Plus, like you said, FWD tends to wear the tires more severely since everything is being done with them, steering and propulsion. So, if I get another car I hope I'll be able to swing a bigger, more powerful engine, and that also means RWD. Like I said in previous post, I've driven RWD most of my life so I'm familiar with it. FWD has its advantages, but RWD has its as well. It all depends on what you prefer to do with your car to know what is better at floating your boat. I've learned to really like FWD, but the deal killer for me is that it is too hard to launch without getting wheelspin. I want to win, not spin!

In my opinion, and not meant as an argument or to raise your blood pressure, FWD is quicker through corners due to its one simple caveat: accelerate with FWD and it pulls the back with it. Do too much with RWD and it'll start to come around. Unless a person is really skilled (which race drivers are) it could be more than an average person could handle without getting into serious trouble. The open roads don't always allow for taking the best line through a corner, as there are other drivers out there and ~1/2 are going the opposite direction. Plus some of them are new and some are old and slow, and very few actually like to drive like we do. On a race course the traffic is all one direction, well-trained, and better equipped. And I agree that RWD is what is found there, road courses not included. Those tend to attract 4WD.

To each his (or her) own. I always read your comments, since they come from intelligent experience. Some of them have actually made enough of an impression that I've changed my mind or modified my opinion.

 

[Silver LTZ]

In my opinion, and not meant as an argument or to raise your blood pressure, FWD is quicker through corners due to its one simple caveat: accelerate with FWD and it pulls the back with it. Do too much with RWD and it'll start to come around.

You know your intiitled to your opinion, and I like to hear your statements.

But a RWD car driven by anyone with even moderate skill will be quicker in a turn. My guess is you haven't taken a FWD car to its limits. If you have you would see that the front will brake loose and push badly. A RWD cars tail might come out but unlike FWD push that can be controlled. RWD is even for the most part better around a turn then AWD. AWD adds alot of weight and can take the balance out of a car. Hence why most race cars, exotic cars, and real performance cars are RWD.

 

[DrivenDaily]

Silver, what you say makes enough sense that I'm going to read up on it some more and do a little testing with mine. I hope I don't roll it or slide so wide that I wipe out. If I'm imagining what you're describing correctly, the push from FWD would come from the vehicle's inertia pushing it to continue in a straight line exceeding the traction of the tires to exert forward force, kind of like skidding and trying to steer. I can see that with my mind's eye but I've got to go put it to the road and try to get that experience first hand.

And thanks for accepting my opinion while respectfully sticking to yours. Keep the comments coming.

 

[Richard]

Hello Richie. Congrats on the new car and welcome to the site.

Thanks. And that's my car in your caption.

Regarding RWD, my previous car was a CTS with RWD and I had a lot of problems with it in the rain. The Traction Control was slow to respond and on several occasions, the car fishtailed severely when I accelerated on an extrance ramp in the rain. Very scary. I also had problems going around turns in the rain when accelerating - same thing - fishtailing.

The traction control was very strange on the CTS. If you accelerated over a wet sewer plate, the Traction Control message would come on and the slip was barely detectable. But when I really needed it, there seemed to be a long delay before it activated.

 

[Richard]

In the snow, FWD is much better, I agree totally. But to me it is very easy to tell the difference. No matter what they do, FWD does have torque steer and will have to much weight up front, wear tires quicker and not handle as good. But for a daily driver it is fine. If I only had one car, it would not be FWD.

The only FWD Car that I felt the Torque Steer with was a '95 Eldorado. It had a very powerful 8 cylinder (Northstar Engine) and when you punched the gas, you felt the torque steer. And Cadillac had developed something called equal length drive axles that was supposed to minimize torque steer, but I still felt it, only when I hit the gas hard. In most situations, it wasn't noticeable.

I have the 4 cylinder Malibu. Even though it has very good pickup for a 4 cylinder, I don't believe it has the outright power to even create torque steer. I've yet to feel it, but I haven't floored it yet as I only have 300 miles on it.

 

[Silver LTZ]

The only FWD Car that I felt the Torque Steer with was a '95 Eldorado. It had a very powerful 8 cylinder (Northstar Engine) and when you punched the gas, you felt the torque steer. And Cadillac had developed something called equal length drive axles that was supposed to minimize torque steer, but I still felt it, only when I hit the gas hard. In most situations, it wasn't noticeable.

I have the 4 cylinder Malibu. Even though it has very good pickup for a 4 cylinder, I don't believe it has the outright power to even create torque steer. I've yet to feel it, but I haven't floored it yet as I only have 300 miles on it.

I can feel it on every FWD car I have driven, including my Malibu. It is impossible to eliminate it since the drive wheels are the steering wheels. All they can do is reduce it.