The Chevrolet Malibu looks more contemporary than its bland predecessor, with more character and class. It also looks more substantial, giving the impression it's a more expensive car than it is. And it is, indeed, more substantial, slightly wider than the model it replaces.The front features a chrome bar across the full-width of the car, with the familiar Chevy bowtie in gold in the center. The bar along, along with Malibu's squinty headlamps, attempts to invoke a family resemblance to Chevy trucks, which have been highly successful in the marketplace, but the design execution didn't work as well on this mid-size car. The rear of the sedan resembles the upright rears of European cars. And indeed, the Malibu shares its structure with the highly successful German Opel Vectra and the Swedish Saab 9-3. Malibu is built on GM's new Epsilon global platform, a front-wheel-drive architecture developed by a team of American, German and Swedish engineers. Epsilon is also being used for the new Pontiac G6. The bottom line is that the Epsilon platform provided good bones for a new Malibu sedan. From the center post of its roof forward, Malibu Maxx is identical to the sedan. From there back, however, Maxx is a different and more innovative vehicle. Maxx isn't larger than the sedan, but it is proportioned differently. At 106.3 inches, the wheelbase of the Malibu sedan stands at the small end of the mid-size spectrum. Maxx rides a wheelbase that's six inches longer, stretching 112.3 inches. Yet in overall length the Maxx is a half-inch shorter than the sedan (187.8 inches vs. 188.3). That gives the Maxx very short overhangs, a good thing. Maxx is a half-inch taller than the sedan. Its roof is longer, its trunk shorter, increasing space for rear-seat passengers.
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