2014 Chevrolet Impala In Depth

Enterprise Retail: Does this Chevy Flagship Have What it Takes to Drive Past Rental Lots?







From the September, 2012 issue of Motor Trend
By Todd Lassa






Chevrolet Impalas of the 1960s were immensely popular cars, for good reason. They combined youthful design with a graceful elegance that embodied the brand's promise of offering more than you'd expect for "low-priced three" money. The car that preceded the Impala seen here was nothing like the swingin' '60s model, even if it looked old enough to be designed from a rejected drawing discovered in Bill Mitchell's sock drawer.

After a close look at and a short drive of the new Impala, it's easy to predict commercial success with sales at about one-third of what they were last year.








Huh? Besides being a Fleet Queen, the Lame Duck Impala was sold with the kinds of cash incentives you'd find in the trunk of Walter White's Pontiac Aztek, if it had one. The old Impala competed with Chevy's own Malibu instead of the Ford Taurus, Toyota Avalon, and Hyundai Azera. Calendar 2011 Impala sales totaled 171,434 to the Malibu's 204,808 and the Taurus' segment-normal 63,526. For 2014, Chevrolet has substantially upped the Impala's game in its look, features, and premium interior quality. As Chevy's flagship, it should command much higher average transaction prices, with the resulting margins helping to offset inevitably lower sales volumes.








It will be available with lane-departure control, adaptive cruise control, a heated steering wheel, heated and cooled seats, and an infotainment system that's pretty much the same as the new Cadillac User Experience (CUE). Impala LTZ stickers north of $40,000 will seem reasonable. The popular mid-level Impala LT trim looks like it could be a top-of-the-range LTZ, and the LTZ's decor is rich enough to be in a Buick LaCrosse.

The design is what makes it look more premium, though. Interior design director Crystal Windham says she and her team were going for a good mix of sport and luxury with the Impala's interior. The Impala gets a very stylish Corvette-inspired dual cockpit, with rich-looking padding covering the gauge cluster cowl and part of the dash. The dash material extends to the tops of the front doors. The Impala LS comes with cloth seats, while the LT has leather-look vinyl with suedelike inserts repeated in the door panels.





"It's all about getting more excitement and color into the LT model," Windham says. Three trim levels will offer nine interior combinations.

Outside, the new Impala draws on "heritage" for pre-1980s expressiveness, explains Mike Pevovar, GM's global Epsilon design manager for North America. "The Impala has a heritage of its own," he adds, though his team assiduously avoided nostalgia.








If there's any specific heritage in the car, Pevovar continues, it's '67 Impala-inspired, though to this writer's eyes, the deep draw beltline crease and Coke-bottle profile meeting at the Camaro-esque nose suggest the "fuselage"-look '69 Impala. Pevovar's design theme gives depth to the car, so you'll see something new on second or third examination.

Chevrolet becomes the first brand to offer a conventional naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine in the full-size sedan class. The Impala also will be available with the 2.4-liter eAssist four that's standard in the Buick LaCrosse. Both engine options will be offered soon after the early '13 launch with the familiar 303-hp, 3.6-liter direct-injected V-6. All three engines will be available across all trim levels.

My brief first drive was in an early-build engineering-development LTZ with the 3.6, which I followed with a turn at the wheel of a $40,000-plus 2013 Ford Taurus Limited powered by the 288-hp 3.5-liter. Being a handbuilt preproduction car, the '14 Impala doesn't have the body rigidity expected of factory-built autos. So with all such developmental drives, mental adjustments must be made.








Still, compared with the Taurus, the Impala is quieter overall. The Chevy's electronic power steering is lighter and more direct, with none of the Ford's slight initial understeer at turn-in. The light steering is appropriate for a big family car, and provided good feedback from road imperfections. The Taurus' chassis is busier over patched and repatched pavement, and the large Chevy gets around moderately fast country road corners with well-controlled body roll for a two-ton full-size sedan while smoothing out those bumps better. Chevrolet got the big family car's ride-handling balance right. The Impala simply feels sleeker and more buttoned-down than the nearly crossover-tall Taurus.

The 3.6 remains one of GM's best engines, and it doesn't disappoint in the Impala. It feels quicker than the base Taurus, and its six-speed automatic snicks off upshifts smoothly and quietly. The four-banger ought to be more than a curiosity in this car. I drove a 2013 Malibu with the new, 195-hp engine, and it's smooth, quiet, and powerful in that lighter sedan.

This short drive of the Impala leaves several unanswered questions, such as whether it will remain Chevy's "flagship" when the RWD SuperSport goes on sale a half year after the Impala. One thing for certain is that Impala versus SuperSport will work better for Chevrolet, and for us, than did Impala versus Malibu.








<TABLE class=insettxt border=1 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%"><STYLE type=text/css>.hdr {color:#ffffff;font:bold 12px verdana,arial,helvetica;background-color:#343434;} .hdr1 {color:#000000;font:bold 09px verdana,arial,helvetica;background-color:#aba9a9;} .hdr2 {color:#000000;font:09px verdana,arial,helvetica;background-color:#dddddd;} .hdr3 {color:#000000;font:09px verdana,arial,helvetica;background-color:#FFFFFF;}</STYLE><TBODY><TR class=hdr><TD colSpan=2 align=center>2014 CHEVROLET IMPALA </TD></TR><TR class=hdr2><TD>BASE PRICE </TD><TD>$26,000-$32,000 (MT est) </TD></TR><TR class=hdr3><TD>VEHICLE LAYOUT </TD><TD>Front-engine, FWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan </TD></TR><TR class=hdr2><TD>ENGINES </TD><TD>2.4L/182-hp/172-lb-ft DOHC 16-valve I-4 plus 15-hp/110-lb-ft electric motor; 2.5L/195-hp/190-lb-ft DOHC 16-valve I-4; 3.6L/303-hp/264-lb-ft DOHC 24-valve V-6 </TD></TR><TR class=hdr3><TD>TRANSMISSION </TD><TD>6-speed automatic </TD></TR><TR class=hdr2><TD>CURB WEIGHT </TD><TD>3800-3950 (mfr est) </TD></TR><TR class=hdr3><TD>WHEELBASE </TD><TD>111.7 in </TD></TR><TR class=hdr2><TD>LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT </TD><TD>201.3 x 73.0 x 58.9 in </TD></TR><TR class=hdr3><TD>0-60 MPH </TD><TD>7.5-8.5 sec (MT est) </TD></TR><TR class=hdr2><TD>EPA CITY/HWY FUEL ECON </TD><TD>18/28 (mfr est) </TD></TR><TR class=hdr3><TD>ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY </TD><TD>187/120 mpg (est) </TD></TR><TR class=hdr2><TD>CO2 EMISSIONS </TD><TD>0.90 kW-hrs/100 mi (est) </TD></TR><TR class=hdr3><TD>ON SALE IN U.S. </TD><TD>Spring 2013 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


** Member's, would you ever buy one ? Post your comments & let us know & GM know what you think `Ok....thanks

 

I think that GM did a good job revampimg the Impala (it was long overdue) but with all the new technology they introduced with it I think I'd hold off a year or two purchasing one until all the bugs (no doubt a few will arise) get worked out.

 

Thanks `Mike for your post & comments.
I think that the bugs should be worked `out before they put them on the market The customer's should not have to be the test pilots & have to take time from their life to take it in for repairs.

Examples of cutting corners (The U bend on the Monte Carlo) it should have not been there..and things like the steering shaft etc...They need to produce rides that have been tested and proven before they are release...(I think, therefore I am, I think)

 

I agree 'Space, but even with all the R&D that goes into these cars there's bound to be a quirk or two that won't show up until it is put into service in the real world. I have a feeling though that even if they produced the 'perfect' car it wouldn't take long for a gearhead to come up with a way to improve on things.

 

It looks like a pretty nice car. I like the looks of the front end, it's very camaro looking.

 

Itll look good on Enterprises lots i just think there is better options out there, its a nice car but deff not for me