Test Drive: 2008 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid

2008 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid. Click image to enlarge

Competitors Buyer’s Guide: 2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid Buyer’s Guide: 2008 Saturn Aura Green Line Buyer’s Guide: 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid Manufacturer’s web site General Motors Canada

Review and photos by Laurance Yap

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2008 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid

Toronto, Ontario – Funny thing about the trip computer on the new Chevy Malibu Hybrid. It’s not telling you the truth – or, at least, the truth as you’re expecting to see it. After a few days behind the wheel of this supposedly much more efficient version of the Malibu – which switches off the engine when you’re stopped at a light and uses an electric motor to provide a power boost to the four-cylinder engine under hard acceleration – I was more than a little disappointed with the fuel economy numbers I was reading on the dashboard. At an average of over 11 L/100 km, the Hybrid not only seemed to be thirsty for a hybrid, but it was also a thirstier than the V6-powered, six-speed automatic Malibu LTZ that I’d driven back in January.

2008 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid. Click image to enlarge

Such disappointment, however, didn’t last very long when I went to fill the car with fuel. After calculating how much fuel I’d used over the distance I’d driven to that point, I came up with a much better average of just over 7 L/100 km – an excellent number for a midsize family sedan and almost half of what the trip computer was reading. What gives?

Turns out that the Malibu Hybrid’s trip computer is the same one that’s used in the regular Malibu and the way it calculates the car’s average fuel economy is throwing off the reading a bit. The number displayed on the instrument cluster is actually only calculated when the engine is running – and much of the hybrid version’s fuel savings come from when the engine is shut off when sitting in traffic or at a stop. After resetting the trip computer, you can actually watch the average consumption get worse and worse when stopped with the engine off. Over time, with more kilometres between resets, the numbers stabilize a bit, but the meter always seems to read on the high side.

All of which is to say that the Malibu Hybrid is much more efficient than the trip computer might lead you to believe. While its hybrid system isn’t as powerful or as complicated as the one fitted to, say, a Toyota Camry or Nissan Altima, it returns similar fuel economy in real-world driving. Unlike those cars, which can move off under electric power alone in low-speed situations, the Malibu’s gas engine is going if the car is going, with the electric motor being used to provide an extra boost under acceleration or acting as a generator to charge up the batteries when slowing down. There’s no cool energy-distribution page on the trip computer to show whether the power’s coming from gasoline or electricity, just a smooth, seamless feel when you hit the gas.

2008 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid. Click image to enlarge

Simplicity can sometimes be an advantage. While both the Camry and Altima have a noticeable transition from electric to electric-plus-gas to gas-all-alone, the Malibu Hybrid goes about its business a lot more unobtrusively. The shifts from its four-speed automatic transmission are smooth (no fancy CVT here), the electric motor kicks in with a swell of torque but no juddering and the whole works shuts down with a sigh when you come to a stop. An intelligent “green” setting on the climate control keeps cool air pumping through the cabin without keeping the engine running, while the Malibu’s cabin is already quiet enough that the sudden silence isn’t a total shock.

Other than the workings of the hybrid system, the Malibu Hybrid is a lot like any other Malibu. It has a roomy, stylish, nicely-constructed cabin with comfortable seats, a fine stereo and high-quality materials. It has a big (though slightly smaller) trunk and plenty of practical storage spaces in the cabin. The overall level of refinement is excellent: wind and road noise are but a rustle and a rumble that seem very far away. Save for a couple of green Hybrid badges, smallish 16-inch wheels and tall-profile, low-rolling-resistance tires, the hybrid looks the same too, with chiseled good looks, thick pillars and a strong stance.

Those small wheels and balloon tires do give you a good indicator of how differently the Malibu Hybrid drives compared to other models in the lineup, however. While other Malibus – particularly the V6 models with the sporty 18-inch setup – are a hoot to steer around corners, the Hybrid’s tires’ tall, soft sidewalls make for cornering that’s far less enthusiastic. Body roll is more pronounced, there’s a pause before the steering reacts to inputs and it’s more difficult to place the car precisely. On the other hand, brake pedal feel is excellent, with none of the inconsistent on-off shudders that plague other hybrid cars, and the ride quality is superb, taking the edge off even huge potholes without feeling floaty or disconnected. Indeed, save for something like an S-class Mercedes or a 7-series BMW, the Malibu Hybrid may be the best-riding car I’ve driven in recent memory.

2008 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid. Click image to enlarge

It’s a smooth, competent, unassuming sort of hybrid, the Malibu. Other than the badges – check out the circuit-board pattern etched into the “H” – it doesn’t really advertise its green-machine status to the world. The way it does its hybrid thing, too, is quiet and unobtrusive. Like its simpler, lower-cost mild hybrid system, the whole car is uncomplicated but effective, not drawing attention to itself with winking dashboard displays, blue eco-rings around the speedometer or other gadgetry. But despite not being as fancy as its major competitors, the Malibu’s hybrid system works just as well, delivering equivalent fuel-economy gains without as substantial a price increase over the conventional four-cylinder version. At $26,995, the Malibu Hybrid is $4,000 more than the base Malibu and more than $5,000 less than a Camry Hybrid, while still coming with a great load of standard features.