ArcaMax

Driving-wise, it's one of the best (if not the best) car in its class. If it only it got better gas mileage. Or cost less.

AT THE CURB

Chevy has been clumsy in the past as far as incorporating styling elements of its popular models into bread-and-butter models. A recent example of this being the cartoonishly over-large retro-round taillights grafted onto the tail end of the current FWD (and V-6) Impala to try to conjure up fond memories of the old RWD (and V-8) muscle car Impalas of the '60s. It didn't work because there was nothing in common between the two cars except the name. Square peg, round hole - or the reverse.

This is different. Chevy stylists took cues from the current Camaro and blended them into the Malibu; you'll see the DNA manifesting in the shape of gauge cluster and tail-lights, the semi-fastback rear glass, the overall hunky squat of the car. It's integrated - not a grafted-on afterthought.

No fault to find with the car's lines - or its insides. The cabin of the Eco I tested was everything the PR sheet said it would be - "premium," in car-biz lingo. Individually fitted panels (including the "toupee" over the gauge pod) covered in convincingly soft-touch leatherette material, with equally believable stitching buttoning it all up.. The chrome bits have a rich, deep, almost liquid look; the wood inserts aren't obvious plastic. That plus features and equipment the previous Malibu lacked - such as GPS and music streaming via the Internet - amount to a Great Leap Forward over the previous Malibu, which was a competent enough car but far from "premium."

It's also really quiet - Chevy says the quietest car it has ever made. I believe this, too.

One deficit relative to some of the competition is interior space. The Malibu's got 39 inches of front seat headroom and 42.1 inches of front seat legroom. This is not cramped - it's actually about the same as you'd get in the Ford Fusion (38.7 inches and 42.3 inches, respectively) and a bit more than you'd get in a Camry (38.8 inches and 41.6 inches).

But it's noticeably less spacious than the Hyundai Sonata's almost full-sized car accommodations: 40 inches of headroom and 45.5 inches of front seat legroom - that's 3.4 inches more than in the Chevy.

The Malibu does make up for this in the second row, which has 36.9 inches of legroom vs. the Hyundai's 34.6 inches (headroom in the second row is a dead heat between the two; 37.6 for the Malibu and 37.8 for the Hyundai).

Trunk space is 14.3 cubic feet - decent - but slightly less than the Sonata's 16.4 cubic foot trunk, the Camry's 15.4 cubic foot trunk and the Fusion's 16.5 cubic foot trunk.

THE REST

There's nothing objectionable about this car - other than the slightly awkward-to-use controller for changing gears manually, which is mounted on top of the shifter. To go up or down you have to move your thumb forward and back, pushing down to engage the + or the -. It's not very ergonomic. I'm also not a huge fan of the electrically-actuated parking brake my test car came equipped with. Sure, it's a neat gadget and it does free up space on the console that might otherwise be taken up by a manual pull-up parking brake.

But, two things: That electric actuator will probably cost a small fortune to fix when it fails. And eventually, it will fail. I'd rather have a simple, functional, manual-control cable. Also, note my use of the term, parking brake. What you don't have is an emergency brake. If a car has a pull-lever brake on the console, and there's a failure of the main braking system, you can use the emergency brake to slow the car down in a controlled manner. This is not possible with the electric parking brake, which cannot be modulated. It's either on - or off. Even if the system let you engage the parking brake while the car is moving (which it probably won't) the result be immediate wheel-lock and an uncontrolled skid. Not good.

So, give me the manual pull-up emergency brake every time. But, small potatoes. Overall, this is a really nice car. Premium look, feel and function.

THE BOTTOM LINE

I like this car - it's a good car - I'm just not sure whether I can recommend this car given what you can get, MPG-wise and otherwise, at a Hyundai, Kia or Toyota dealer for the same or less money. Chevy needs to figure out a way to get either the city or the highway MPGs into the 40s in order for the Eco to be competitive with what's on the market right now. And also what's on deck.

Ford has an updated 2013 Fusion coming in a few months - and it's sure to deliver even better mileage than the 2012 version. Which is going to make things that much rougher on the Chevy.

It will also be interesting to find out is whether the soon-to-be-here non-hybrid Malibu will be comparably quick - and comparably fuel-efficient - for less money than the $25,235 Malibu Eco. Chevy might end up undercutting itself, too.

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www.ericpetersautos.com or EPeters952@aol.com for comments.