2014 Chevrolet Impala First Drive

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Perhaps the first thing you need to know about this new gen-10 2014 Chevrolet Impala is that the General is so determined to rehabilitate its “Hertz-so-good” image that the unloved ninth-gen car (a Biscayne at heart, in terms of poshness) will continue to be produced in Oshawa through 2014 as the Impala Limited. Sales will be “limited” to fleet customers, freeing the new car to target retail buyersâ€"you know, living, breathing humans instead of faceless corporate purchasing drones. The latter have been perfectly satisfied with acres of egregious plastic and wouldn’t know “sueded microfiber” from mouse fur, but the former appreciate contrast stitching and soft-touch materials, and if they’ve ever rented an Impala, might need some persuading to give this big Chevy another look. Helping in that regard is the new car’s arresting exterior design, which drew nods of approval from the locals in southernmost California, where domestic cars are almost as exotic as taco trucks are in Detroit. The wind tunnel also approves, bequeathing a claimed 0.30 drag coefficient on the four-banger with grille shutters. Anyone hooked by the exterior style might be reeled in by a classy interior jam-packed with the level of luxury features that once separated Chevy’s range-topping Caprice from lesser full-size Chevys in the mid-‘60s, when the brand was moving more than a million B-bodies per year. Many of these features are controlled by a refreshingly intuitive 8-inch Chevrolet myLink screen (standard on all but the base LS), which supports iPad-like clicking, swiping, and dragging, and displays 3-D images of buildings in urban centers when equipped with navigation. It’s basically a re-branded Cadillac CUE system, and it can connect up to 10 Bluetooth devices and store 1000 contacts. The radio features 60 presets and supports Pandora streaming, and its screen functions just like a hotel-room safe: Open it, stash your valuables in the bin behind, type in a four-digit code and the “vault” locks, along with all your favorite places and contacts so a rogue valet can’t steal your car, navigate to your home, open your garage door, and take all your stuff. Leading-edge safety features include options such as forward collision alert, collision-mitigation braking, adaptive cruise with full stop-and-go functionality, plus the usual lane-departure, cross-traffic, and blind-zone alerts and 10 standard airbags. And because the new Impala is meant to primarily lure retail buyers (a 70/30 mix is eventually expected, reversing the current trend), its overall volume will be lowerâ€"we’re guessing 60,000 or so. So the need to limit model variation drove the decision to make things such as four-wheel Duralife disc brakes (they never rust) and an eight-way power seat standard across the line. Of course, ticking all the options brings an Impala to within $ 3800 of a front-drive Caddy XTS. (There’s way more overlap with the Impala’s Buick platform-mate, the LaCrosse.) Having spent several hours driving and riding in the front and rear seats, I can attest that this is a huge car inside, and it’s better packaged than its most direct competitor, the Ford Taurus. That car rides crossover-high, standing 1.8 inches taller and stretching 1.6 inches longer, yet the Chevy offers an additional 0.9 inch of front headroom, and a legroom advantage of 3.9 inches front, 1.7 rear. Taurus trumps it in trunk volume, however, with 20.1 to the Impala’s 18.8 cubes. The Hyundai Azera and Toyota Avalon both offer less interior and trunk space. The Impala also strikes me as a considerably quieter car. Many of Buick’s quiet-tuning tricks have been applied here, including acoustic laminated glass forward of the B-pillar and triple-sealed doors. Active noise cancelation will eliminate the booming noise caused by early converter lockup in the four-cylinder models that will follow the V-6 to market by a couple of months. (The mild-hybrid eAssist model arrives a few months after the 2.5.) The V-6-powered LT and LTZ models felt surprisingly agile in the hills east of San Diego. Hard cornering was met with minimal body lean, thanks in part to a clever analogue substitute for the Cadillac’s computerized Magnetic Ride Control. Chevy’s front struts employ “digressive” dampingâ€"firmer at low travel, softer at higher travelâ€"along with extra-tall (2.3-inch) progressive-rate rubber jounce bumpers and constant-rate rebound springs inside the struts. These features conspire to reduce roll in corners without exacting the head-toss penalty of a stiffer anti-roll bar in single-wheel bumps. The suspension also absorbs two-wheel impacts like speed bumps more comfortably than would be the case with stiffer or progressive-rate damping. I had the chance to sample all three tire/wheel combinations, from the base 18-inch Firestone Firehawks to the 19-inch Goodyear RS-As to the 20-inch Bridgestone Potenzas, and decided the sweet spot was the 19s. Frankly, all three hang on tighter in a corner than most Impala owners will dare push this big sedan, especially when it’s loaded with family. The 20s were noticeably noisier, and 18s (which are paired with their own, differently tuned front struts) didn’t afford any noticeable ride benefit. The 3.6-liter V-6 snarls delightfully under the whip, and hustles the Impala off the dime quickly. Its 305 hp trumps that of the last Impala SS V-8 (though torque is lower), so expect 0-60-mph sprints to take around 6 seconds. And don’t expect a V-8 version of this Impalaâ€"that market niche is now assigned to the rear-drive Chevrolet SS. Shifter paddles are not offered (radio control buttons occupy the back of the steering-wheel spokes, as in some Chryslers), but there is a manual gate and a +/- toggle on the shifter for selecting an appropriate degree of engine braking when descending a grade. Neither is there any sport-mode transmission programming (such things are now the SS’ bailiwick), and once or twice the six-speed became confused by my throttle work in the curves. Perhaps most important, the steering, brake, and throttle all help make this an easy car to drive smoothly. The light-effort helm never demands mid-corner correction or herding on a straight highwayâ€"the electric assist compensates for road crowns and crosswinds. The brake pedal engages near the top of its travel with linear action thereafter, and the throttle never feels jumpy. Big, strong, smooth, and stylish sound like 1960s values we can embrace today. Bring on the Impala-Galaxie, er, Taurus comparo!

2014 CHEVROLET IMPALA
BASE PRICE	$ 27,535-$ 34,555
VEHICLE LAYOUT	Front-engine, FWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan
ENGINES	2.4L/182-hp /172-lb-ft DOHC 16-valve I-4 plus 15-hp/79-lb-ft electric motor; 2.5L/195-hp /187-lb-ft DOHC 16-valve I-4; 3.6L/305-hp /264-lb-ft DOHC 24-valve V-6
TRANSMISSION	6-speed automatic
CURB WEIGHT	3650-3800 lb (mfr)
WHEELBASE	111.7 in
LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT	201.3 x 73.0 x 58.9 in
0-60 MPH	6.0-8.6 sec (MT est)
EPA CITY/HWY FUEL ECON	18-25/28-35 mpg
ENERGY CONSUMPTION, CITY/HWY	135-187 / 96-120 kW-hrs/100 miles
CO2 EMISSIONS	0.68-0.90 lb/mile
ON SALE IN U.S.	April, 2013

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