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There've been numerous threads on TSN about how cars share platforms and that this can make for cars that are more and more alike. Not so, in my latest experience.
I just spent 5 days driving a new Chevy Malibu (only 6K miles on it) and can't think of too many cars I'd rather not rent again. The Malibu shares a platform with either the 9-3SS or the 9-5 (I forget which). But they are totally different cars.
I'd rented a Malibu about a year ago and thought it was OK, but I only drove it on big highways. This time I was only on two-lane rural roads with lots of twists and turns, and this showed up major weakenesses in the Malibu.
The steering is numb on center--zero feel--so you have to pay attention to actually steering the car rather than just pointing the car where you want it to go. It meant corrections even on straight roads making it rather tiring to drive. This combined with a soft ride to make the ride uncomfortable for my kids in the backseat--they said the car seemed to sway too much.
Worst of all were the brakes. There was a 9 mile downhill --about a 5-6% grade-- we drove about 8 times. Even light use of the brakes would heat the rotors so they would warp badly about 3/4 of the way down. They'd cool on the following long flat stretch, but it didn't create a lot of faith in the brakes. It happened about half the times we went down that hill. I used the tranny to ease the load on the brakes, which helped, but it wasn't encouraging.
Another annoyance is that if you are going, say 50, and lift off the gas to maintain following distance, the car takes about 1/4 mile before it begins to slow at all.
The trannny can be put into a semi-manual mode, but still shifts up when it wants to, not when you hit the up button.
This really showed how the platform has little to do the dynamics of a car. It's really how the suspension is done, how the steering works, how well the brakes work, etc.
We got home at 1 AM Sunday Morning and everyone was thrilled to get into the 9-5 wagon for the ride home. Obviously there is a huge price difference between a Malibu and a 9-5, but the stuff that is core to a car--brakes, suspension and steering--should not be so dramatically different, IMO.
The Malibu felt like what it is... a cheap Chevy. I think the Pontiac G6 shares the same platform, but is a much nicer car.
posted by 24.52.16...
, Wed, 7 Jun 2006 21:39:21, Sat, 10 Jun 2006 07:42:36
, Mon, 5 Jun 2006 11:21:38, Mon, 5 Jun 2006 11:36:36, Mon, 5 Jun 2006 16:51:22, Mon, 5 Jun 2006 17:53:21
, Sun, 4 Jun 2006 18:07:56, Tue, 6 Jun 2006 18:43:06, Sun, 4 Jun 2006 16:37:40
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