Test drive Chevrolet Malibu 1996 - 2003 sedan
Car for every day
Everything, time to retire, I thought, getting out of the Chevrolet Malibu. Twice to make a mistake in the same car - this has not happened to me yet. However, about everything in order ...It so happened that the first time I traveled to the Chevrolet Malibu almost six months before the dough, on the show of American cars organized by the company Yukolaservice. There, these cars were used as combat in competitions in automobile maneuvering. However, this is difficult to call this competition, but this is not the point. Having stayed at the wheel for about five minutes and having driven literally a hundred meters with a unit on the checkpoint selector, I, of course, could not really feel the car, but, frankly, was not particularly impressed. Perhaps that is why our second, closer date surprised me very much. You cannot judge the car only by appearance or according to data in the catalog. Literally after the first kilometer of the journey, I realized that I was very mistaken, counting this car in absentia. No, you don’t think that Malibu, like a BMW M5, turned out to be a wolf in sheep's skin and struck me with accelerated dynamics or reference control. Rather, the matter is different - I finally fully realized that the Americans put convenience into the concept of convenience. Driving Malibu after the operation of some European or Japanese work gives rise to the feeling of being akin to what you experience after a busy working day spent on your feet when you come home and finally put on your favorite home slippers. There is no shortcut of the famous master, but few people are interested in, the main thing is that you are comfortable in them.
Malibu is the same - no negative emotions or stress both in appearance and in character. He sat down, drove, went - everything is so convenient that it seems, he would have drove and rode, regardless of the direction and duration of the trip. If someday our compatriots still choose a car on the basis of its functionality and amenities, the Chevrolet Malibu will immediately become the bestseller of the market, for this he has everything necessary. The salon is spacious, the quality is good, and the fitness to our conditions is generally just excellent. I think that of all foreign cars, it is the American ones that are most suitable for driving along our prairies, and I will explain why. The engine with a low degree of forcing, firstly, is designed for 92nd gasoline, which, unlike the 95th, so beloved by the Germans and the Japanese, is almost everywhere, and secondly, for the same reason its motorcycle resource, and reliability In general, much higher. Although it was not limited to one engine. The suspension may seem a little harsh, but it copes with all the hardships that can meet on the path of our motorist. High -profile tires of the fifteenth size from the same series.
The harmonious appearance of Malibu very successfully hides its true size. From afar, the car can easily be confused with Toyota Corolla, although the American is almost a meter longer. Moreover (now you will laugh) - Malibu is longer than the eyes of the eyes of Mercedes E. Yes, you can imagine - according to the European classification, this is a business class car, with all the ensuing. And during the test, still considering him a middle peasant, I grinned sarcastically sitting from behind, saying: well, how, there are enough legs for legs? It would still not be enough, some models of this class successfully play the role of a representative sedan. True, we have an almost five -meter car in America and are two very big differences. If in Europe, such models buy mainly solid, rather wealthy people aged, then the Malibu ocean is content with the role of an ordinary family car, which is to a large extent contributes to its retail price. In general, the Yankees are lucky with this: for that money we can only count on a golf class car, and not the most powerful.
Under the hood of Malibu stood a 2.4-liter 152-horsepower four, but a 3.1-liter V6 can be put on order. It is unclear, however, what is the point of paying money for excess volume if both versions have the same power. Of course, the six will be more burdensome on the bottoms, but for dynamic driving is enough that the standard engine issues. Suffice it to say that despite my rather sharp driving style, with frequent accelerations and braking, the tachometer arrow never reached the red zone. The car weighs almost one and a half tons, but it accelerates as easily as if the engineers of the quietly came up with a device that can reduce the influence of energy. Even with five passengers on board, acceleration occurs very imperceptibly, without a strained moor of the motor, as if eight cylinders were located under the hood. About this thought flashed with me when for the first time I pressed well on the pedal. You know, such a typical American engine is not very powerful, but erupting Niagar torque.
Although I failed to twist the engine to ringing, I do not regret it at all. A four -speed automatic gearbox, while others are not installed on Malibu, is very successful with this engine. Switching, even in Kick Dawn mode, occurs almost imperceptibly, and your passengers can find out about this only by the changed engine sound. Speaking of a kik-dow, if you need to sharply increase the speed, try not to push the pedal to the floor so as not to provoke its inclusion. The maximum value of the torque falls on the average revolutions, so the car is already accelerated very well, and if you still press on the gas, then several seconds so necessary at this moment are spent on switching down, after which the need for this very sharp acceleration may already disappear , and fuel consumption in general will be much higher.
For organizing the workplace of the driver of the ji-um specialists in ergonomics, one could safely put a solid five, if not for some small flaws. For example, a very convenient carrier of the automatic gearbox when turning on 1 is almost completely hidden behind the stand-on central armrest, and if something is also worth it in the cup holder there, then it’s difficult to get to the lever. Otherwise, everything is fine. Maybe the interior is slightly boring, but in terms of convenience of use, and in terms of quality of execution too, everything is just at a height. I really liked the All -Westerwords with a radio - exactly the same, at least outwardly, stood on Tahoe and Astro. The most powerful bass seemed to be able to make the car jump to the beat of music, and if something serious plays, Metallica for example, then it is better not to turn on the full volume at all.
It is felt that the Chevrolet Malibu was originally designed as a citizen - a low window line that makes the car almost transparent, and convenient rear -view mirrors help a lot to maneuver in a dense city stream. The right external mirror is also made increasing, which allows you to capture cars that go to the right and almost nearby, they are no longer visible in a regular mirror, and each time casting a look over the right shoulder is more expensive. The advantages include the fact that the driver is visible the edge of the trunk - it means that he will no longer have to park by hearing. Parked, by the way, is very easy. From the place of the driver Malibu, a golf class still seems to be a positive factor.
In addition to the main advantages that we talked about, Chevrolet Malibu has another, in my opinion, very important. Such a car, who nights under the window, is unlikely to attract the attention of robbers or hijackers, and this is again saving funds and nerve cells, which, as you know, are not restored. The driver of Malibu automatically gets rid of the need to drive the car every evening for parking. Thus, a modest appearance, which is perceived by some individuals as a disadvantage, plays on hand in everyday operation. However, how many people, so many opinions. We had a car of the 1997 model year on the test, the Amodel 2001, which is currently for sale, looks much more solid and more expensive, so there is a choice.
Pavel Kozlovsky
Source: "Avtogazeta"
