Chevrolet Malibu - A Surprisingly Taut Teuton

I noted a few posts back the recent opportunity I had to drive a 2009 Malibu 2LT www.chevrolet.com/malibu - in a way, Chevy's analog to Ford's Fusion www.fordvehicles.com/cars/fusion recently reviewed, equipped with a standard 2.4 liter inline four with variable valve timing mated to a six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters on the steering wheel. It wasn't long ago that one found six-speed paddle-shifting manumatics only on GT cars or exotics - to find them in a ubiquitous daily driver was a real treat. As was this car.

A drive through the rolling mountains of Virginia, the Carolinas and northern Georgia gave this sedan a fairly strenuous workout, but it never broke a sweat. The trip computer gave a wide array of constant, snapshot, or progressive feedback, and although this 1,500 mile plus trip included both urban and expressway routes, the car returned a surprising 33.1 mpg (3.1 gal per 100 miles) despite vigorous driving. The power remained constant and quiet, never wheezing or protesting, and the cruise control smoothly handled the sloping contours of I-77, I-95 and I-75.

Inside, fit and finish were top-notch, displaying an aura (not unlike its Epsilon-platform sister, the Saturn Aura http://www.saturn.com/) not commonly experienced in prior Malibu models. Svelte surfaces mated to satin finishes, well-matched colors from dashboard to console, right down to those oh-so-comfortable heated seats whose bolstering was just right for a long ride for a quick trip south and north again. The cabin was spacious and cozy at the same time - almost coddling - and the trunk is simpy huge. And the hush: This car is simply, purely, elegantly quiet.

Speaking of elegance, some might say the exterior seems a little bland, a little too Impala-like www.chevrolet.com/impala in presentation. However, one cannot size up the body of this sedan without realizing that it's simply handsome. Not sporty, not overbearing, not overdone - just handsome. Handling, too, is top notch for what used to be a bland and forgettable people mover. Kudos go to the GM www.gm.com designers and brass who realized just how good a platform they had in the Epsilon, which originally entered service in the German Opel Vectra and Signum, the Swedish Saab 9-3, and the European Cadillac BLS, as well as the Pontiac G6, Fiat Croma, and Saturn Aura, as well as the Chevrolet Malibu. The Epsilon II platform is destined to underpin a number of future GM products. Overall, the 2009 Chevrolet Malibu 2LT left me with a great impression - if the new GM is smart and capable of producing such a pleasing product, there's no reason it won't be here for the long haul. And that, as Martha Stewart http://www.marthastewart.com/ seems fond of saying, is a good thing.