Chevrolet has always treated fuel efficiency as one of the most of important aspects of their vehicles and due to this the 2014 Chevrolet Malibu was tweaked to further improve its fuel consumption.
Based on the information that the US carmaker has shared with the public, the 2014 Chevrolet Malibu which will go on sale this fall is equipped with a new 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine that makes use of the new start-stop and the new intake valve technology. Chevrolet has also revealed that both of these technologies were used on the new engine so as to further improve its fuel economy.
Although the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA has not yet posted the official fuel economy ratings of the 2014 version of the Malibu, Chevrolet expects that this will achieve the ratings of 23 miles per gallon in the city and 35 miles per gallon on the highway. Such ratings are far better compared to the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu’s 22 miles per gallon in the city and 34 miles per gallon on the highway.
Many car experts believe that Chevrolet’s move to change the Malibu’s engine to improve the vehicle’s fuel consumption was most likely brought about by the ongoing fuel economy race that exists between the previous version of the Malibu and some of its closest competitors particularly the 2013 Honda Accord and the 2013 Hyundai Sonata.
Unfortunately, the fuel economy ratings posted by the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu were relatively lower than what the 2013 versions of the Accord and the Sonata. The 2013 Hyundai Sonata which is powered by a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine posted the EPA-estimated mileage ratings of 24 miles per gallon in the city and 35 miles per gallon on the highway. The 2013 Honda Accord which is equipped with the same engine posted the fuel economy ratings of 27 miles per gallon in the city and 36 miles per gallon on the highway.
Given the expected fuel economy ratings of the 2014 Chevrolet Malibu, it seems like the tweaks implemented by Chevrolet on the vehicle were not yet enough to beat the ratings posted by the 2013 Honda Accord and the 2013 Hyundai Sonata.
