2008 Chevrolet Malibu

Maybe we're just shallow. Could it be that despite our hard-nosed analytical approach to car testing and evaluation we really can be swayed by a pretty face? This car hints at the possibility. It's just a lowly Chevy, ferpetesake, but virtually the entire staff loves the way it looks -- especially in dark colors that make its bling pop. Inside and out, the new Malibu looks like a car designed by people taking their time, sweating details. It's a design they're rightly proud of and that was inspired by the four-door-Corvette-ish Chevrolet SS concept of 2003. Both share the round-cornered "island hood" and quad round taillamp graphics inspired by America's Sports Car, and the Malibu even gets a lower character line that wraps up and around the tail like the Vette's does. But will our first-sight infatuation with the Malibu penetrate its skin-deep beauty?

To find out, Chevy invited us down to Beale Street -- home address of the blues in Memphis, Tennessee -- to sample all trim levels and powertrain choices: Base 2.4-liter, four-cylinder/four-speed automatic, offered with or without mild-hybrid electric assistance; 2.4-liter six-speed automatic (due for a spring-special four-cylinder LTZ model release), and the flagship 3.6-liter quad-cam V-6/six-speed automatic. So confident is Chevy in this mid-sizer's power to impress that the company provided a Honda Accord, a Toyota Camry, and a Nissan Altima for comparison, each equipped in four-cylinder automatic midline trim levels (which are expected to account for 70 percent of Malibu sales).

Starting off in the three competitors revealed the Altima to be the quickest (thanks to its larger, torquier engine and continuously variable tranny) but its big-lunged 2.5-liter four seemed coarse and bit gravelly. The Honda had the sweetest engine note, and while the Toyota felt slowest and transmitted engine vibration through the steering wheel, it was also the quietest and its interior was the most pleasing. By comparison, the Malibu LT, driven last, very nearly matched the sound quality of the Honda (thanks in no small part to nine separate acoustic tuning chambers, five of which are incorporated in the plastic engine cover). And when paired with the forthcoming six-speed auto, it felt like it kept pace with the more powerful Accord LX. The Malibu's four-speed almost makes up for what it lacks in acceleration-boosting close ratios with its exceptional shift smoothness. (Expect a gradual phasing out of the four-speed as production of six-speeds ramps up.) The Hybrid model's acceleration, strangely enough, felt more lethargic than the plain four-cylinder's. The V-6 suffers no lethargy, banging off crisp quick paddle-shifts at its 6900-rpm redline and delivering what feels like Altima SE 3.5-challenging scoot.