The Asphalt Jungle: The multi-time champ stumbles, while the o

Surprise No. 1: With the tire dust settled and the votes tabulated, General Motors was the winner of Motor Trend's 2008 Car of the Year award.

Surprise No. 2: Honda wasn't.

I'll admit it: I went into this year's Motor Trend Car of the Year competition fully expecting the all-new 2008 Honda Accord to walk away with the Golden Calipers trophy. After all, that's what Hondas do: They delight with their careful detailing and savvy ergonomics, they wow with their road manners and enthusiast-tuned responsiveness, they impress with their value-for-dollar...they beguile journalists and win awards. Based solely on the company's incomparable track record (I hadn't yet driven the new Accord), I figured Honda would continue its streak.

Ah, but that's why COTY is a hands-on competition, not a fortune-telling routine. Mind you, the new Accord is impressive. It's huge-the rear seat is so big you expect to find mood lights and a champagne cooler back there. It's responsive. It's comfortable. It's solid. Honda will sell hundreds of thousands. But my colleagues and I also noted myriad, un-Honda-like quirks. The headlamps balloon out strangely and the bodywork sports some truly bizarre curves (Accords have never been style-setters, but the new sedan is...not pretty). The Acura-like center console is as bloated with buttons and switches as the flight deck of a Concorde-what happened to that trademark Honda simplicity? Discerning drivers will detect the engine shifting in and out of partial-cylinder economy mode. Several interior panels fit poorly. The ride borders on harsh. Even with these glitches, though, the Accord might still have won-if not for the appearance of some new, stiff competition from a visibly reawakened GM.

Enter the new, 2008 Chevrolet Malibu. It's a handsome piece-striking, even-and easily the best-looking of its Epsilon-platform siblings (Saturn Aura, Pontiac G6). The interior is classy and simple (hey, didn't that used to be Honda's line?), with some real design flair (such as the chic two-tone materials and bold twin-cockpit contours). The ride is plush, the cabin quiet. The new Malibu looks and feels world-class.

Technical director Frank Markus and I each did brisk back-to-back runs with the Accord EX and Malibu LTZ on the COTY test-track's handling course. Post-drive, engines off, I looked at Frank. He looked at me. "I think the Malibu handles better," I said. "Me, too," said Frank. We also agreed that the Malibu was simply more fun-for instance, you can shift its six-speed automatic with steering-wheel pushbuttons. In contrast, the Honda offers only a conventional console-mounted shift lever (it lacks any sport-shift function and, in fact, its notch-free design may have many drivers accidentally cruising along in D3).

Our test gear also preferred the Malibu: Compared with the Accord, it's quicker, stops better, and wins every objective handling test. On a just-for-fun comparison chart that Markus cooked up, which normalized the performance results for each car in this year's COTY competition, the Malibu finished sixth overall in handling. The Accord: 10th. Can it be? Is the new Malibu not just better than the vaunted Accord on a car-for-the-money basis but actually better in many ways than the Accord-period? The answer is an unqualified "yes."

Of course, good as it is, the Chevy Malibu isn't our Car of the Year winner. Another 2008 machine from reborn GM that pushed the excellence envelope further still -- the Cadillac CTS, Motor Trend's 2008 Car of the Year.