We were in our Honda Odyssey last Saturday, transport our dog to a canine special event 20 miles from our house, when the magnificent 2016 Mazda6 has been taken from our house and a Chevrolet Malibu was backed into the driveway.
Not the ninth generation of Malibu, a car that caught my ire in a review of TTAC last spring. This is the all-new 2016 Chevrolet Malibu, monitoring of the ninth generation of short car chronically underperformed despite rapid response (and insufficient) GM early critics.
I am certainly not different from many of you. I predisposed to hating Malibus, not because of inexplicable inner bias or a distaste for Bowtie or a penchant for Honda Accord, but because the Malibu has spent much of the past two decades sucking. The eighth generation car, which GM sold 08 to 2012, was an exception, but his two immediate predecessors were sad examples of the breed of medium size. The 2013-2015 Malibu was a step back. Consequently, the Malibu name evokes memories of the wooden dynamic, hard interiors, strange noises, and a pitiful style.
Yet every day of his stay in GCBC Towers, I am constantly finding more and more things as on the new 2016 Chevrolet Malibu.
What is happening to me?
Maybe 2016 Chevrolet Malibu is less likely to reveal additional defects that the week ahead simply because many of his blunders are abundantly evident from the moment you open the driver's door, to quickly review the cab waiting, and adjust your rear end in the decidedly unbolstered seat.
This is not a first-class interior. It is not pleasant. In fact, I do not get the impression that General Motors has tried to make beautiful cabin. GM seems to have invested few resources following the welcome trend to traditional interiors appear Premium
Say what you will about the importance that auto writers on surfaces of dashtop sponge -. Personally, I'm not terribly concerned - but the driver's door 2016 Chevrolet Malibu LT should be touchable without inflicting pain. No. Do not let your left arm on the door. Do not wear shorts and allow your left knee to make contact with the door.
No class!
GM's desire to get rubbery surfaces to a flying close to you here is obvious, too, that in this example, it gets worse. This is not the typical high-trim tester press car, but a heavily optioned LT. Consequently, there is a couple rubbery switching blanks resting near your left thumb for the duration of your own Malibu experience.
Sad! 
Manual mode shifter is engaged via the +/- switch on the lever itself, a GM afterthought who managed to prevail for too long. In an attempt to give weight to certain controls, the volume knob apparently does not find its triggers. A hilarious amount finger torque is required.
Bad decision!
A-pillars of the new Malibu is thick, very thick at the bottom, and raked in a way to further limit visibility.
We need to see what happens
All these are false front and center !; so obvious that you can not miss' em. Recognizing these facts, I began my first drive in the new Malibu with some disappointment, struggling to understand how GM could recognize that the ninth generation of Malibu was a flop and a new Malibu was urgently needed, make the successor look pretty good but not put in a full effort.
And yet it is in conduct 2016 Chevrolet Malibu 1.5T you will gain a real appreciation of the car.
Sure, there are other things GM the right. evocative climate controls are a nice touch when some rivals claim that you crawl through the submenus of an infotainment unit to change the fan speed. The touch screen, carplay consistent, climbed up and quick to respond to inputs. The seats have a wide range of movement, although much too flat for my lanky body and ways to drive enthusiasts, and the steering wheel is ready to reach way out to meet me. Rear seat space is now competitive class.
Who would have thunk that despite disappointments and inside everything the Malibu nameplate represented a generation that never thought of that when they heard the mentioned model 2016 Malibu would be bought by a call on the road?
The 163 horsepower 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder is not central, but it is only responsible for motivating a book of 3100 midsize sedan, a featherweight relative. Off the line, the 1.5T is mediocre and slightly buzzing, but the mid range punch - 184 lb-ft of torque plates to 2500 rpm - is quite sufficient. More importantly, the 2016 Malibu sends power through a six-speed automatic - not a CVT, not anti-lag of nine speeds Chrysler 0 automatic. The transmission of Malibu is forgettable as the automatic transmission of a midsize sedan should be.
The lightweight structure pays greater dividends when winding roads appear before your eyes. GM chassis gurus have managed to create a 16-foot-long sedan that feels light on its toes when appropriate and agile, but planted and composed when you need to Malibu to be mature and stable. This does not very communicative and always athletic Mazda6, but 2016 Malibu handles just about as well and offers far superior ride quality and much less the road, wind and tire noise. Brake feel is spot on. The steering is quick to respond to inputs without recalcitrance and none of this artificial stature too many modern cars have instead of feel.
My desire to drive the Malibu feels strange in the same way my desire to eat McNuggets or fascination with watching Brexit debate is strange. I like healthy food, watching hockey, and CAD $ 31.980 midsize sedans (about $ 28,000 in the US) with wannabe-premium interiors.
Nevertheless, I like 2016 Chevrolet Malibu more today than yesterday, and I'm pretty sure I'll like it more tomorrow than I am today. In addition, more and more chips BBC.
Apologize?
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net , who is obsessed with the free and frequent publication of US and Canadian sales figures auto. Follow us on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and Facebook .
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