2006 Chevrolet Malibu LTZ

1964: the Beatles hit Sullivan. Dr. Strangelove hits the screen. And the Malibu hits Chevy showrooms. After a brief hiatus (1983 - 1997), Malibu reemerged as Chevy's midsize offering, but without the pizzazz of the original. Now the 2006 Chevrolet Malibu LTZ is here, with a list price of $24,205 ($25,880 as tested) and GM's 3 year/36,000 mile warranty. Malibu hopes to regain some of that early sparkle, against heavy competition. Can it be like 1964 all over again?

First Glance: Rental-car chic

Maybe it's not fair to hold a car's success in the rental market against it -- but when I see a Malibu, I see a rental car. The lines are stodgy and generic, not unattractive but certainly not memorable. The most successful design flourish is the rear quarter panel, where the back of the wheel well flares out and joins the lower part of the panel. It's a nice bit of metalwork.

The Malibu overhangs its wheels a bit both front and rear, giving it an unbalanced look. Body colored front and rear bumpers do their part to make the car look a little smaller than it is, but it still looks longer and bulkier than the competition. I'm not a big fan of body side molding, but given the fact that Malibu will probably spend a lot of time as a mall-runner and grocery-getter, it can use the protection to avoid getting dinged up. Tasteful adornment with splashes of chrome add some visual interest front and rear.

Fit and finish on the exterior are okay; paint quality is average though seams and gaps are tight and even. Malibu is about as ordinary-looking a car as you're going to find. If you hate to stand out in a crowd, this is the car for you. My Silverstone Metallic test car never drew so much as a glance in traffic.

Scroll down for more...

In the Driver's Seat: Design by committee

Sometimes one feature on a car will tell the whole story. On the Malibu's dashboard, the car's trouble is writ large right at the top of the center stack. With the best of intentions, Chevy engineers put four large air-conditioning vents front and center, two right on top of another pair. The bottom two vents open and close by manipulating the louvers -- snap them down, and the vent is closed. It's kind of a clever, simple design. The top two vents, however, are opened and closed by the dial method -- dial up to open, down to close. It's much more of a parts bin approach, clunky and ineffective. The effect of having these two controls so close together, yet so completely different in design and application is that the Malibu's dash looks thrown together by committee. It just makes no sense.

The interior feels big and roomy. The LTZ does come with some good standard equipment, like heated front seats, AM/FM with CD, leather seats and a split folding rear seat. The seats are simply not comfortable; even with tilt and telescope adjustment for the steering wheel, I couldn't find a good driving position. A long trip would be torture for me -- I need a good, supportive driver's seat to make driving enjoyable.

Scroll down for more...

On the Road: Good mix of economy and power, but oh, those squeaks and rattles

Chevy offers three engine choices with Malibu: a 2.2 liter 4-cylinder in the LS and LT; a 3.9 liter V6 in the SS; and the 201 hp 3.5 liter V6 in the LTZ that pumps out 220 lb-ft of torque. I'm always looking for more power - the LTZ feels a little labored during freeway merges as the engine pulls the 3315 lb vehicle by its front wheels. But an excellent 22 mpg city/32 mpg highway rating by the EPA makes the modest power feel more than adequate.

Malibu's ride is average, with four-wheel independent suspension and four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes on the LTZ keeping things under control. Steering is a vague and floaty on the road, with remote road feel and more than average body roll through the corners. Malibu's a star in the parking lot, though, with a tight turning radius that makes maneuvering into a tight spot a piece of cake.

My big disappointment with my Malibu LTZ test car was an abundance of squeaks and rattles. I pulled off to the side of the road to check a squeak in the rear passenger door - I never was able to solve that one. There were constant squeaks and rattles in the dashboard, behind the dash and deep in the body. Not only were the noises annoying, they caused me to question the quality of the whole vehicle.

Journey's End: It ain't like the old days

I don't envy Chevy. They left the mid-size segment to other makers for so long that now Malibu can do nothing but play catch up, and that's not a strong position for an auto manufacturer. Malibu is several steps behind in terms of performance and quality, yet is priced very close to the competition.

Toyota owns the field with Camry, the best-selling passenger car in America; its new-for-2007 iteration puts Malibu even further behind. Honda's Accord is a very nice car as well, a little pricier than Malibu but way more refined and elegant. The Nissan Altima has lots of fans, as does the sporty Mazda6. Ford's new Fusion is a stylish new entry to the field, along with stablemates Lincoln Zephyr and Mercury Milan. Hyundai's Sonata is well-equipped for the price. I'm a big fan of the Volkswagen Passat, too.

Back in 1964, American cars ruled American roads, and Malibu was a bright light in the Chevy firmament. With competition at a fever pitch these days, an ordinary car is just not good enough for the average buyer. Hopefully the big brains at Chevy will figure this out and apply some ingenuity to getting Malibu back on top of the list for buyers of mid-sized sedans.