The 2.0T Malibu XL, which can be purchased for less than 200,000 yuan, is more sporty than Mazda?

About 8 years ago, with the handsome look back at Tony Leung on the TV screen and the classic California Dreaming song from 1966, the Chevrolet Malibu met Chinese consumers for the first time.

Later, this American B-class car did get a good response in the market, but this was not because Tony Leung was so handsome, nor because everyone had a California sunshine dream, but because The price/performance ratio of this car among the joint venture B-class cars at that time was really outstanding.

Everyone knows the later story. People did not associate it with the beautiful Malibu beach. Instead, they called it the "Three Treasures of X Silk" together with the two Korean brothers. . As the prices of Japanese and German models of the same class continue to fall due to the squeeze from luxury brands, the era of the "three treasures" has passed, and the sales of these three models have also declined to varying degrees.

Two generations under one roof save sales

In order to save a wave of Malibu sales, Chevrolet also took advantage of the global replacement of Malibu to launch a " In the trick of "two generations under one roof", the old model is still called Malibu, while the new model is called Malibu XL (extended size?).

However, it turns out that not everyone can play two generations together as smoothly as the Nissan Sylphy. The two generations under one roof only brought endless internal friction to the Malibu. Before the model was discontinued, this once glorious joint venture B-class car had been reduced to competing with a number of A-class cars for the market.

In the end, in order to preserve the dignity of the name "Maibu", Chevrolet quickly axed the old model, and soon followed the pace of GM Group's product updates, launching the Malibu XL. Mid-term facelift model.

The mid-term facelift is like a rebirth

Before the mid-term facelift, it is not difficult to understand why the Malibu XL did not sell well. Although it looks young and sporty, whether it is 1.5T+ Whether it is dual-clutch, 1.8L hybrid or 2.5L+6AT power configuration, the performance of this B-class car can only be described as average.

However, after the mid-term facelift, GM replaced the Malibu XL with brand-new 1.3T+CVT and 2.0T+9AT power. At the same time, after listening to market opinions, in the latest 2021 In this model, the 1.3T three-cylinder engine that consumers disliked was replaced with a 1.5T four-cylinder + 9AT power, which suddenly made things interesting.

In addition, we have been hearing different media "boasting" how powerful the 2.0T version of this car is. In order to see the true strength of this B-class car, we recently borrowed it I bought the latest 2.0T version of Malibu XL and had an in-depth experience with it.

Talk about advantages: I heard that you like driving?

As an automotive media, we are exposed to a variety of new and old cars every day, but we still inevitably have some subjective emotions when evaluating them. For example, I generally prefer small hatchbacks to large cars. At the same time, I value the subjective driving experience. In my opinion, "easy to drive" and "fast" are obviously more important.

As a B-class car with a body length of nearly 5 meters, the Malibu XL was able to impress me as a "small car fan" in a small way - because it is really easy to drive.

The first is power. The 2.0T engine with variable cylinder technology currently used by GM in all series has a reported horsepower of 237 horses and a torque of 350 Nm. With the help of the 9AT gearbox, which is "the most shameful of the car", it can complete "breaking 100 times" in just over 7 seconds. In this era of rampant trams, such data may not seem dazzling, but it is enough to allow you to easily find a gap in overtaking among a large number of slow online ride-hailing cars, and even face the "Ghost Fire Boy" who has made fancy changes. You don’t need to have stage fright with the Fit and Civic.

However, I was still shocked when I saw the official recommendation to add 0w-20 oil to this engine.

Abundant power is only one aspect. In terms of steering feel and chassis support, Malibu XL also has a hint of a sports car. If we talk about extremely high chassis limits, there is the extremely high-spec Continental MC5. Thanks to the tires, the excellent steering feel should really be attributed entirely to Chevrolet's calibration engineers.

The steering of the Malibu XL is very sensitive, but not too "thief". The steering force increases with the angle just right, and the centering feel of the U-turn is also very natural. The only criticism is that Perhaps the slightly heavier assist may make you develop your unicorn arms when maneuvering around parking spaces in old cities, but this is completely acceptable for people who like to drive.

The lower swing arm with an "aluminum alloy" texture is actually made of coated steel. GM still has to be "cautious", but one principle I have always believed in is that it doesn't matter what you use. , it is really good when it drives well.

Talk about shortcomings: Why sales are not outstanding

“It’s started, it’s started! Brother Yiwai is boasting about an unpopular car again!” If you don’t like to see the advantages, then I can always talk about the disadvantages. Already?

I admit that because the subjective driving experience of this car is really great, this is undoubtedly a big plus for someone like me who likes to drive.

But after getting along with each other for a whole week, and after the initial "passion" slowly faded, I understood why the monthly sales volume of Malibu XL has remained around 5,000 units for a long time.

In China, what is the biggest reason for consumers to buy a B-class sedan? Let me sum it up: a family car that requires a comfortable and large space or a company for business reception.

Unfortunately...Maibu XL seems to have perfectly avoided these two "elements".

First of all, as a serious B-class car, the body measurements of Malibu XL are not small - the length, width and height of 4933/?1854/1476mm and the wheelbase of 2829mm should be It brings an excellent riding experience, but just like the tradition of American man-made cars, the rear riding experience of Malibu XL can only be said to be above average. Due to the fastback shape, the headroom in the rear row is Rather frustrating.

As for the interior... it is really lackluster in terms of design. Although it has all the functions it should have, the overall design does not have much highlights. What's weird is that, as a very sporty car to drive, the manual shifting function of the Malibu XL is set to the top of the gear handle.

There are indeed paddle shifters where the shift paddles should be, but they are used to control multimedia. You can imagine that when I was fully engaged in carving corners, I was constantly playing songs. Is it the dilemma of switching back and forth between passionate rock music and Teresa Teng?

At the same time, when I introduced the driving experience, I also said that the chassis of this car is really great during intense driving, and this also means that when you want to drive comfortably, The tight suspension and unsatisfactory sound insulation level may make the mother-in-law in the back frown.

The above means that it is destined to be difficult for it to be recognized by mainstream home buyers. As for business use, there is no need for me to mention it, right?

With these fierce front and rear headlights, black and red wheels, and red embellishments everywhere, are you sure you are not afraid that customers will think you drove your son’s car to pick him up?

Having said so much, is it worth buying?

First of all, in terms of both objective and subjective dimensions, Malibu XL is undoubtedly the best in the current ordinary brand B-class car market in terms of mechanical level and driving experience. And the only one that rivals it in terms of power is its sibling Buick's Regal GS.

Due to the difference in brand positioning, the terminal price of Malibu XL is much lower than that of Regal GS, which makes the price-performance ratio of this car particularly outstanding. Let’s put it this way, it is Like Redmi and Xiaomi in the mobile phone industry, I would like to call the 2.0T Malibu XL the "Regal GS Youth Edition".

Take the 2.0T top-end model we tested as an example. Although there are currently no terminal discounts in 2021, but referring to the price of the 2020 model before the facelift, it is really not a big problem to negotiate a discount of more than 40,000. , and the low-end and mid-range models can even reach a bare car price of about 150,000 to 160,000, why buy a Civic...

As for the facelifted 1.5T model, after dumping After getting rid of the burden of the three-cylinder, it can also re-enter the candidate list of many people. If the subsequent terminal discounts can keep up, then the Malibu XL may really become a "really fragrant" model.

Who is this car suitable for?

As an atypical B-class car, the Malibu XL is by no means a model for the mainstream crowd like the Camry, Magotan, and Accord, and it is precisely because of its own "character" that it It is difficult for it to compete with these models in terms of sales, but it does not matter, because I think it has opened up a new field like the Regal GS, that is, for those who love driving, but have to compromise for their families. offers a reliable choice.

In order to make the elderly people in the back seat comfortable, and in order to allow their wives to drive to buy groceries and pick up their children, they may have given up on the Golf GTI, the Lynk & Co 03+, and the manual hatchback Civic. I don’t even dare to mention it to my wife, but cars like the Malibu XL can make up for the unwillingness of those who compromise for their families.

Perhaps after buying a car, the car owner’s daily life is still crawling cautiously in the old city, or being stuck in the traffic flow to and from get off work, but at least he will know in his heart that as long as there is Chances are, this "fierce horse" under his crotch will be the most handsome boy on the street or even on the mountain road.

And such "thoughts" may be the only motivation to support a car fan's "996" work.

Written by Ethan point of view.