HispanicBusiness

Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid The best thing about the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid is that it's a Malibu. That it's also an electric hybrid is icing on the cake.

The 2008 Malibu is simply without equal amongst General Motors midsize sedans. It springs from the Saturn Aura which in turn was sired by the Opel Vectra in Europe.

Bigger is better, as well. The new Malibu is six inches longer between front and back axles than its predecessor. Yet it's only three inches longer overall.

This puts the wheels at the corners for more handling feedback. There isn't much to feedback. Malibu understeers (wants to go straight) on curves, but tracks around fairly accurately.

Malibu isn't a sports car and does nothing to encourage tackling the swifties with a bone in your teeth. It's a very comfortable family sedan with a serene ride over good pavement. It cruises effortlessly at 75 mph.

Acceleration of 10.7 seconds to 60 mph is in the same ballpark as other four cylinder hybrids.

Inside, there's stretch-out room up front and a good driving position that's hampered by the lack of a power driver's seat.

Perhaps that's to save weight like the elimination of a spare tire. Instead there's a tire sealant can, inflator kit and the best wishes of all.

The steering wheel has only a manual adjustment. Still, left elbows hunt for a resting spot. The door armrest is too low, the windowsill too narrow.

Outside the Malibu styling lends a racy look to the sedan. The mesh grille is bisected by a body colored bar with the Chevrolet bow tie emblem. The rear evokes the Monte Carlo with a sculptured trunk.

The hybrid is a semi-hybrid, a near hybrid, a hybrid wannabe. It's not unlike GM's first venture into widespread fuel injection--"throttle body" fi that was technically fuel injection but not totally. That's kind of what's there with the hybrid.

What's also there is a more manageable price tag of $22,140.

The hybrid adds just 2 mpg more to fuel economy--a negligible amount compared to a full-time hybrid. The tipoff that the Malibu is a hybrid-lite comes from a city mpg of 24 and highway of 32. In true hybrids, the city fuel economy is better than the highway because the electric motor is on more.

In the Malibu, the gasoline engine shuts off at stoplights and starts when the accelerator is pushed. That's the same arrangement GM came with last year in pickup trucks.

Yet it's a good start and the system just enhances (well, a little) the virtues of the Malibu--the best midsize family sedan from GM since the Oldsmobile Cutlass.

Scion XB •Engine: 2.4L I-4s hybrid •Dimensions: 112.3" wheelbase; 191.8" length. •Base price: $22,140/tested $22,790 •Fuel economy: 24/32 mpg.