MIKE MUELLER
LEAD DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER
A self-professed gearhead, Lead Development Engineer
Mike Mueller still has the Olds 4-4-2 he had as a teenager.
Years of working on cars have turned a onetime hobby into a
full-time obsession. So the next time you see a Malibu, think
of Mike. His passion is all over it:
“Compared to the previous-generation Malibu, we raised the
bar on the current model. We made a lot of refinements that
were performance-related. It’s quieter. It’s easier to drive.
It offers better fuel economy.
1
A lot of those things make the
Malibu different from the cars we’ve done in the past.”
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO ENGINES?
“So in the Malibu lineup, we have two engines. We have
an ECOTEC 4-cylinder and a V6. The major differences
between the two engines from a customer standpoint are
displacement and power. The 4-cylinder’s displacement is
smaller at 2.4 liters and the V6 has 3.6 liters. Both engines
have technologically advanced parts like Variable Valve
Timing to make them efficient. The V6 has more horsepower
by virtue of it having a larger displacement. Because of that,
the customer gets better acceleration and the ability to
enjoy a more spirited driving experience.”
HOW DO YOU MAKE A CAR RIDE AS SMOOTHLY AS A MALIBU?
“Ride is a subjective thing. What I like versus what you like
may be different. The thing that sets up ride and makes it work
correctly is the car’s structure. Once we’ve got that in place,
the next thing that happens is we talk to the development
engineers to give them a ‘definition’ of the car’s character.
Their whole task is to take all of the different parts of the
suspension and chassis and tune them to match the character.
So things like shock absorbers, front struts, springs, rubber
bushings, are all tunable pieces that allow us to get the ride
and handling a customer will experience.”
12.4L 4-cylinder: EPA-estimated 22 MPG city/33 highway. Available 3.6L V6:
EPA-estimated 17 MPG city/26 highway.
