In 1964, Chevrolet introduced a mid-level car, the Chevelle, and the top model in the series was named Malibu, which was named after the beach of the same name in California, USA. More than 10 years later, due to the good performance of the market, Malibu replaced the Chevelle as a separate model, and has now developed into the ninth generation of the product.
In order to be able to sell the two generations in the same house, General Motors named the ninth-generation Malibu XL in China, and now the Malibu has been discontinued, and the Malibu XL continues to be sold. The body size and space of the Malibu XL have increased significantly, and the guide price has also returned to the normal range of the B class, but the market positioning of the previous generation Malibu still has an impact on it, and its price reduction in the mid-size car is still very large.
The biggest change in the current Malibu is the tail mark, which is 530T, 535 and 530H according to the total power composition, and the first digit "5" represents the medium-sized car; The second "3" represents the peak torque of the engine between 250-300Nm; The third digit represents power, with high work being 5 and low work being 0; Finally, there is a T for a turbocharged engine, an H for a hybrid, and nothing is naturally aspirated.
After the 2019 facelift, Malibu has made major changes in the powertrain, canceling the previous combination of 1.5T with 6AT, 1.5T with 7DCT and 2.5L naturally aspirated with 6AT, and even the hybrid version was discontinued, replaced by two powertrains with 1.3T with CVT and 2.0T with 9AT.
The combination of 1.3T with CVT gearbox is the first time to appear on the Chevrolet model, the engine performance is very similar to the Buick model, and the shake is rarely felt when driving at idle speed and constant speed, but there will still be shake in high load conditions, such as slope start, low-speed rapid acceleration, and deep throttle at high speed, and some shake will be felt from the accelerator pedal and steering wheel, but the overall is still acceptable.
In terms of power, GM's power tuning of this three-cylinder engine is more aggressive, 165 horsepower is completely enough for a medium-sized car, but at high speeds, especially after 100km/h, there will be some inadequacy in speeding up, and it will be more obvious if it is fully loaded. A three-cylinder engine may seem more fuel-efficient with one less cylinder, but there is no direct correlation between energy conservation and increased fuel consumption as the power tuning becomes more aggressive.
GM's CVT gearbox has a good performance in terms of smoothness, but there will be a slow response, after pressing the accelerator pedal, the engine will first pull the speed, and then to the gearbox transmission, the process in the middle will be clearly felt, the action is slower than Honda's CVT gearbox.
The high-end model adopts a new 2.0T engine, which belongs to the eighth generation of GM's Ecotec engine, equipped with a 35Mpa high-pressure direct injection system, ATM active thermal management system, electric air release valve turbocharger, and intelligent active electronically controlled carbon canister pump, the most important function is that it can achieve cylinder closure in specific working conditions, and the cylinder closure work has no impact on the driving experience, and the official claim that the cylinder closure technology can reduce fuel consumption by 15%.
The engine is tuned to produce 241 hp, so you don't have to worry about power delivery. The gearbox uses 9T50, it can be praised for its performance on the 2.0T model, the ride and power response are very good, but the gear ratio between 2, 3 and 4 is too dense, if you often drive at low speed in the city, the gear shift action will be too frequent, which will affect the driving experience to a certain extent, which is not as good as Artez's 6AT.
The stiffer suspension tuning makes the Malibu XL not very good at dealing with bumps, and the driver and passengers feel the vibrations more obviously, but it is good to be supportive, the roll is controlled in a small range, and the chassis performs very well. The lowest-spec models are already equipped with cruise control, but only the top-of-the-line models will have a series of configurations such as adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, lane keeping lane departure warning, pedestrian detection, automatic high beams, and automatic parking.
The interior of Malibu XL is very simple, but it is at the same level as Sonata and K5, and its positioning is slightly lower than that of Buick Regal, which is also a medium-sized car under General Motors, and the interior materials of Malibu XL are not as good as Buick Regal. In this price range, the central control multimedia system used by Malibu XL is a great plus, and the new generation MyLink system operates smoothly, mainly because it supports Carplay and CarLife, which will significantly improve the user experience in daily driving.
Although the interior workmanship is average, Malibu XL is very complete in other configurations, starting from the sub-low-end model, there is already a panoramic sunroof, and it also supports keyless entry and keyless start, remote start, and is also equipped with some active closed grilles that will only be available on luxury models.
The wheelbase of the Malibu XL is 2830mm, and the body length, width and height are 4923mm, 1854mm and 1466mm respectively, which is 68mm longer than the domestic facelift model of the previous generation Malibu. The rear space performance of the previous generation Malibu was actually at the level of a compact car, but this generation has improved in terms of space, and the headroom and legroom are not spacious, but they are completely adequate.
The rear seats are generally good, with comfortable backrest angles and moderate padding, with the only drawback being the short seat cushions and the lack of effective support for the thighs.
Malibu used to be a car with a high failure rate, and its performance in the United States has picked up in recent years, and complaints in China have mainly appeared in the gearbox, especially the previous dual-clutch transmission. American cars have always given a rugged feel in the details, and this generation of Malibu XL has improved a lot in the details of the workmanship, but its actual durability will still need time to prove.
In terms of safety, this generation of Malibu was awarded the highest safety level (TSP) in IIHS in 2016, and TSP in 2017 and 2018, but after the IIHS added the co-pilot small-area crash test, Malibu only received Marginal (average) in this project, and the headlights were only Poor (worst).
Chevrolet Malibu XL test report