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Comments
Its torque vrs horse power. Torque is what moves you from a stop, torque is what allows you to maintain speed when climbing a hill, torque is what pulls you up that hill without forcing you to drop a gear or two. The Malibu delivers more torque at low to moderate Rpm’s than either the Toyota Camry or the Honda Accord and delivers its peak torque using a lower percentage of its maximum horse power.
Using just the peak torque numbers the Malibu develops a max torque of 220 ft lbs. at 3200 rmp and the engine is putting out a calculated 134 HP or 67% of its maximum 200 HP. The Honda Accord's V6 develops 212 ft lbs at 5000 rpm and the engine is using 201 HP or 84% of its 240 HP max. Toyota Camry top performing engine V6 (225HP) develops 240 ft lbs at 3600 rpms or 164 HP or 73% of its max HP.
Since HP is what gives you top end speed the import's are theoretically faster and they may get there a few 10th of a second earlier but in the real world of every day commuting to work, trips to the store or vacation travel what does that get you except tickets and increased risk to life and limb.
The lower RPM delivery of useful power is why the Malibu is so fuel efficient. The less the cylinders have to fire the less gas they use.
Horse Power and torque data was taken from online data for 2004 or later auto's. To learn how to calculate HP from torque numbers and other useful information on automobile engines and power go to www.howthingswork.com
The Malibu is plenty fast and doesn't need to make any excuses for it's lower HP numbers.
Maybe the G6.
They need something that is a simple value with low price, low maintenance, lower insurance etc.. The sportier, and more sophisticated and expensive powertrains should go to the G6 and the Malibu should sell on value and "bang for the buck."
It's good that GM is better differentiating their newer cars between divisions and not simply "rebadging" them.
I don't want to to see a $27,000 Malibu. They can try to compete with Toyota and Honda V6 refinement with the LaCrosse.
The alternator, AC compressor and starter are all easily accessible. The serpentine belt is the shortest I've seen on a vehicle. For anybody wanting to do their own maintenance the Ecotec takes a lot of beating.
you need to look at more than at what RPM the peak torque arrives at but also at the overall torque curve. the accord delivers most of its peak torque at low RPM.
in real world driving the accord matches the malibu's low end power and clearly outperforms the malibu at highway speeds. and the accord also gets pretty good mileage numbers too.
sounds like GM put a lot of work into making the 3.5L OHV a pretty smooth operator but the engine still gets a little gruffy at high RPM. like you said though, in everyday driving that's not going to be a problem.
but there's a darn good reason why caddilac uses OHC engines.
i hear what you're saying though. the TSX has a I2.4l 200 horsepower engine that works great with the 6-speed manual but is a dog with the automatic.
I think the 2.2L is fine. I rented an Alero a few weeks ago and it felt peppy and strong in the city and on the highway. Base car is a great compromise for those on a tight budget.
Magnus
The interior could be a little bit more colorful and the exterior could be a little more exciting but hey, the Camry is no better.
I'll bet it will be average or above next year. Many new designs drop in the first year.
with how sophisicated cars are getting these days it's almost impossible to avoid those gremlins in a first year car.
with so many new car puplications avaialble now, CR probably thought they needed something more than once a year to summerize the car market.
with models coming out at all times of the year, you need to keep up on the market. still, there are many new models not reflected in the publication i saw.
CR is CR. Inconsistent and flaky, but worth a read.
CR road tests (which has nothing to do with the reliability data) are so much more comprehensive than consumer digest's verbiage. heck, i don't even think they conduct road tests other than maybe taking a spin in the car when the automaker releases the car to the press.
trust me, it means a whole lot more to GM (or any other automaker) when CR recommends their cars then it does for consumer digest. and CR did recommend the mailibu until the below average reliability rating. once the first year gremlins get worked out the car will once again be recommended.
don't get me wrong, there are times when i'm completely baffled by some of their conclusions. but you should read how comprehensive their road tests are.
go back and read the road test of the malibu and then compare it to consumer digest's press junket.
Seriously though, from everything I've read (and experienced with my '04 LT), this first year model has been relatively trouble-free compared to many other new car launches, and especially so when you look at GM's past models. I have experienced the issue with the electric power steering, and recently the Delco 6 disc in-dash CD changer decided to stop working (was replaced, and I blame that issue solely on Delco), but otherwise the car has been extremely tight, and the mileage has gone up considerably at only around 8k on the odo! (started out between 28-30 on my local work run, now it's more like 30-33, and if I could avoid some of the more annoying traffic holdups, it appears to be ready to give me closer to 34, which really blows my mind, especially with this V6).
http://motortrend.com/features/news/112_news48/
Thanks.
It'll be interesting to see what mileage the 2.4 liter Ecotec can manage. It'll have variable valve timing, which the 2.2 liter does not have. Whether vvt can be used towards the ends of enhancing mileage or not I'm not certain. It of course broadens the powerband over that of the same engine without vvt (at least if the techology is properly exploited). We don't hear much from the 4 cylinder Malibu crowd on this forum, but from the few posts I've read, it seems that the Ecotec does a fair bit better than what the EPA manages.
Some months back the EPA was in the news, being criticized for their tests not being representative of how people really drive, real world figures being significantly poorer. As I recall there was a movement afoot to create a new test standard, though making some random checks on the EPA website shows little to no change 2005 vs 2004. However, the V-6 Malibu for 2005 has dropped 1 mpg (city rating) from 23/32 to 22/32. The Maxx remains unchanged at 22/30.
Frankly, I wish auto enthusiast pubs would make mileage runs part of their testing, i.e what would be the best mileage you could expect to get if you were to drive the vehicle being tested on a closed course (for consistency) using techniques useful in maximizing fuel mileage. Mileage is a measure of a car's performance too, it's just not as exciting or as visceral as 0-60 and quarter mile runs. As the cost of fuel rises, fuel economy will become a greater impairitive for those in search of a new car.
Apparently the Malibu Hybrid is going to use the 2.4 liter Ecotec as its basis, though the MPG GM were projecting (25/35) was virtually no better than what they already get with the 2.2 liter. The 3.9 liter engine that will be used in the Pontiac G6 GTP version (apparently) initially will not have GM's displacement on demand, but once that cylinder deactivation technology becomes available (and hopefully used on the Malibu line), we could expect similar V-6 highway mileage figures comparable to that of the 4 cylinder Malibus (the advantages of the DOD system are principally realized at steady-state highway cruising speeds on fairly level ground). My guess is that the V-6 DOD is a little later to market than the V-8 (already available in some SUV's) because of engineering issues- specifically taming the vibration caused by running on 3 cylinders- Honda has tackled this in their Accord and Odyssey with specially tuned engine mounts (fluid filled etc.).
It is expensive at around $30K and is not so much about pure economy as much as having very good power with the gas mileage of smaller, slower cars.
It does not compete with the Malibu.
The 05 Malibus seem to be doing pretty well. It seems that most of the 04 problems (EPS failure, etc.)were put to rest with that model year.
If you have an 05 Malibu, some of you might notice there is a slight difference between the bowtie emblems on the grille and decklid. That was a change that happened early on.
The sedan is still selling way better than the Maxx. Marketing obviously is still trying to figure out who they're selling the car to. As a result, we're stretching the limits of how fast the plant can build the sedan, while at the same time a lot of the Maxx equipment sits idle.
A few months ago, I had a unique experience. A reader of this message board told me he had ordered a Maxx and he was wondering if I could look it up on the schedule to see when it would be built. Not only was I able to get the timing, I was able to track the car as it was being built! He got a real kick out of getting live updates on how his Maxx was doing.
Which reminds me, I wanted to let everyone know that they are still doing this "GM in the Driveway" program. This is the website:
https://www.gmfamilyfirst.com/pages/ff_login.jsp
This program allows employees to offer the supplier discount to anyone interested in purchasing a GM vehicle. This is in addition to other current incentives. You don't have to be a family member either. If anyone's interested, shoot me an e-mail, and I'll get the information I need from you. I get no benefit from it other than a fraction of job security. LOL. Actually, I enjoy helping people out. That's the real benefit.
There are a lot of interesting changes coming up on the Malibu over the next couple years. The new G6 and the yet unnamed Saturn will give several clues. The SS models and hybrid will both pose several challenges from an assembly perspective.
Happy motoring!
Dave
hybrids to this point have sacrificed performance for gas mileage. honda takes a different approach with this hybrid.
BTW we have enjoyed our Malibu so much we plan on purchasing another one!
it's time to have different expectations of hybrids. 255 hp AND 31/37 gas mileage is impressive.
what about going here:
http://www.edmunds.com/used/2004/chevrolet/malibu/100274114/optio- ns.html?tid=edmunds.u.tmvmipmake.tmvpricetable.num3.1.chevrolet*
But the good news is that since it's the end of the year, GM is having a big sale, so you may end up buying absolutely the same car for even less than the first one. Talk to a dealer, see what you can get.
Maybe getting a brand-new car after adding 4-5K to the settlement price isn't such a bad idea? Depends on your financial situation, of course.
And you'll add to Dave's job security, which was somewhat eroded when a GM mechanic failed to make a proper repair of my Bu despite being handsomely compensated for his efforts
- Michiganmaxx
Glad you are ok.
First year is by far the worst in terms of depreciation. One of the reasons I lease is that you get gap insurance should the thing get totalled during the lease term. I think you can buy that on a purchased car also, something to look into.
Acceleration is a smidgen under the figures of the 4cyl. Camry which Toyota claims is its best seller so there is no lacking in performance. For the Camry it's 0-60mph in 9.9 secs and for the 4cyl Malibu it's 10.1 secs.
Also, the Ecotec engine has been on the market in various cars for several years now and so far there have been no major issues with it. It seems to be very durable.