2008 Chevrolet Malibu LT

2008 Chevrolet Malibu LT - Oh, yeah, GM had products. The problem was that only a few could even be considered decent, and even fewer could compete. The import-brand superstars were gobbling up more and more share in most of the markets where the General competed, including the heart of the car market, i.e., the wildly competitive mid-size family-sedan segment, where suburbanites swooned over snazzy Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys while Chevrolet, perhaps our most American of Americanisms, offered a plasticized, groaning, achy-jointed Malibu, the darling of rental fleets but no one else.

If, when the curtain was finally raised, you were surprised by how handsome the new Malibu suddenly became in its newest iteration, you weren’t alone. Sharing its Epsilon architecture with the well-received Saturn Aura sedan, the Malibu is bigger and better-looking, having grown more than a bit with a six-inch-longer wheelbase (now at 112.3 inches), 3.5 more inches in length, and a half-inch of additional width compared with the model it replaced. The ’08 Malibu’s big, blunt front end represents the most mature and settled iteration yet of the new “face” of Chevy, which made its debut on the current Impala (which is scheduled to go even fuller-sized and shift to rear-drive in its next life). In a nod to its European roots, it even has a fender-mounted turn-signal repeater.

Like the Aura, the Malibu is offered with a number of interior themes. Our mid-grade LT tester came with a black cloth interior with a silver dash and front-door trim pieces offset by well-placed chrome bezels, all assembled with the same level of quality that has impressed us on other recent GM interiors. We’ve seen other Malibu cabins, some with high-contrast color schemes and even some “black chrome” bits here and there, but, frankly, this is our favorite—understated, simple, and functional. The gauges are crisp and modern, and the nighttime illumination is quite upscale. We only wish the dash itself were made up of fewer actual pieces to reduce the number of visible cutlines.

Keep moving rearward, however, and you’ll find a truly vast 15-cubic-foot trunk. But this is a distinctly horizontal space: Although there is plenty of square footage back there, the trunk floor is rather high, making it an ideal place for carrying big pictures, for example, but not tall boxes.

The LT we drove came with a 169-hp, 2.4-liter DOHC four-cylinder engine mated to a four-speed automatic. Now, that may not sound like a terribly stirring powertrain for a 3400-pound family car—and at 9.3 seconds to 60, it indeed is not—but we have to issue credit for the 2.4’s uncanny smoothness of operation. Truly, in terms of NVH, which to many family-car buyers means just as much as raw horsepower, the Malibu’s 2.4 can easily hold its own next to the four-pot in the ’08 Accord, which says a lot. The four-speed comes with an “I” mode that holds gears a bit longer, albeit a bit too long in some cases. Want more gears? The LTZ trim level comes with a six-speed automatic, complete with steering-wheel-mounted shift paddles.

Perhaps the best thing about the Malibu’s driving dynamics, though, is its ride-and-handling balance. It’s still no Accord, but it's nonetheless competent while at the same time isolating the interior from vibrations, impacts, and road noise. The character of the electric power steering neither offends nor inspires, and overall grip is about average: 0.81 g on the skidpad. Sure, we’d love for Chevrolet to firm up the suspension even more, but among Malibu intenders, a smooth ride and a quiet cabin are an easy sell.

Now, is it enough to steal the top-dog sales title from the perennial Honda and Toyota mid-sizers? Probably not. But for the first time since Chevrolet revived the storied nameplate in 1997, it has enough of what it needs to sell in significant numbers to the public, not just rental fleets. Let’s hope there’s more of this good stuff to come.