It looks like this is a nicely done car. I think my least favorite feature is what I see as overdone

Living in Havana, Oregon suits us very well, but it s good to get out into the real world from time to time, including some contact with contemporary cars that we d never likely see here, let alone drive. A family event in Baltimore last week meant a rental car for the four of us, and as we were loading our luggage into a Nissan Altima at 11:30 PM after our flights, the very friendly Enterprise employee suddenly said out of the blue How would you like to take this brand new Impala we just got instead? It s a class above your car, but enjoy the upgrade on us. I think you ll like it . I do love Enterprise; and have since they started back in the late seventies. And he was right.
We grabbed our bags out of the Altima, handed back the keys, and followed him across the aisle where this handsome big buff guy was sitting. I haven t generally been a big fan of Chevrolet s styling trends in recent years, w hotel new orleans except for the prior generation Malibu (minus its big bass mouth). w hotel new orleans And I m not going to say the new Impala bowls me over, since its still a bit too self-consciously bold and dramatic , especially on its front end. But then I still haven t quite gotten over Audi s switch from its delicate little grilles to giant storm sewer grates. Is it really necessary to have that chrome detail down in the corner of its front valance? And of course, the bowtie is still way too big.
Ok; I get it; we re not exactly living w hotel new orleans in understated times. And the Impala s expressive front end is a substantial improvement over Chevy s Audi-aping gaping maws of the recent past. In the context of the times, which is really the only relevant point of view, the Impala fits right in; a bit better than average even. Design is fashion; w hotel new orleans comparing the new Impala to one from decades ago is a lost cause. It has a decided presence, one that comes across better in the flesh than in pictures.
Speaking of fitting in, our four bags were practically lost in the Impala s trunk. And in this case, the word cavernous truly applies, as it s very long, deep and dark. And huge, in case that wasn t clear. Almost w hotel new orleans startlingly so; are the rear seats folded down way up in there?
If the trunk was a preview of coming interior room attractions, it was a very successful one. The Impala is very generous inside. I don t get a lot seat time in new cars, and the last time we all flew to Baltimore, we had a 2010 Camry rental (review here ). The overwhelming impression w hotel new orleans was how roomy, quiet, and comfortable w hotel new orleans it was. The Impala has it beat in every category, but then that s a bit of an unfair comparison, since it s in a price and size class above the Camry.
For a bunch of country bumpkins like us, you might have thought we were getting into a big new Jaguar or Acura or some other car costing a lot more. Whoa; this is nice and big and nicely put together Oddly, in the blazing sunlight, my camera makes the interior look tan or light brown. It was actually charcoal black; weird.
The back seat has superb amounts w hotel new orleans of leg room; the front seat was all the way back here, and then I got in behind it and there was still a very healthy gap between my knees and the seat back (I m 6 4 ). Luxurious. As a point of comparison, rear leg room is 5.7 more generous than the antiquated W-Body Impala of yesterday and yore. But then any comparisons with that living relic are pretty irrelevant at this point; it was about a decade past its sell-by date. Rear headroom was a bit less generous, but the flowing roofs of modern cars almost guarantee that.
My washed-out shots of the dusty IP aren t going to do it any favors, and like the exterior and other recent Chevy dashes, it s a bit busy. But it grew on me, and it was easy enough to drive off after a late flight, and reach the closest big knob to adjust the air conditioning. And the quality of its materials w hotel new orleans and assembly was better than expected.
Just don t ask me anything about the Impala s center screen and functions. I m a total idiot when it comes to modern car controls, and I had no use for it anyway. What I was looking w hotel new orleans for was a quiet drive after a long day in noisy jets. And the Impala exceeded my expectations in that regard, and then some. But I sure would have liked it to show me the view out back when I parallel parked it, with some trepidation. The camera is optional, but standard on the top-line LTZ.
The doors close with a nice kathunkk , and then one might as well have been sitting in a mausoleum, including once under way; this is an exceptionally quiet car, thanks to a lot of attention to acoustic details. I m lacking the regular exposure w hotel new orleans to other new cars to make informed comparisons, but I don t think I ve ever been in a quieter car. The 18 tires make themselves heard only as the delicate patter of distant feet on expansion gaps, but otherwise there s a kind of hush al l over the Impala tonight as we make our way to Towson.
The Baltimore Beltway w hotel new orleans isn t exactly the place to wring out a new car, but from the moment we head off, its clear that the Impala has excellent dynamic qualities. The ride is very comfortable; w hotel new orleans Chevrolet has attained luxury car levels, without having to resort to the sophisticated suspension (Hiper-struts) used on its platform stablemates, the Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac XTS. Yet the Impala w hotel new orleans digs eagerly into on-ramps, and although the electric steering doesn t provide the kind of genuine steering feel I prefer, w hotel new orleans it s gotten to a pretty acceptable level.
The 305 hp 3.6L V6 and six-speed automatic are about as eager to please as the Enterprise w hotel new orleans folks, and I wasn t able to catch the transmission in any serious lapses of judgement. There s certainly plenty of motivation; in such a quiet car, the biggest problem at least for me is keeping the speed down. Fuel economy? w hotel new orleans Beats me.
I m not really w hotel new orleans qualified to compare the new Impala to its competition, seeing that I haven t driven it. What exactly is its competition anyway? The Buick LaCrosse? Well, the Impala undoubtedly is more dynamic than it, and a better deal in the bargain (prices start at about $30k). A little bit of inter-brand competition, eh? And of course there are cars like the Azera, the Avalon, Chrysler 300, Maxima, and others.
On arriving back home, our pile of mail included the latest Consumer Reports, w hotel new orleans with a test of the Impala. I d already heard about them giving w hotel new orleans it the highest rating of any current cars in it class, but then there s this line: Overall, the Impala is competitive with cars that cost $20,000 more, including the Acura RLX and Jaguar XF . I guess we really did score a good upgrade.
Everything I read about these cars is positive. For the first time in a long time, I m thinking I could do without another Pontiac in the driveway. w hotel new orleans As much as I d like to have a Caddy (before I m too old to enjoy it), this car may change my mind.
Same here. It photographs terribly, the proportions of the car are extreme, and taking it out of context of it s size by seeing it in pictures makes it look much worse. But in person it is simply HUGE, and looks pretty prestigious IMO. I couldn t tell what it was when I saw the first one on the road, but it looked pricey. Never had that opinion of a domestic, mainstream brand sedan, ever. Sat in one at a car show, very nice. I wouldn t mind driving one at all.
It looks like this is a nicely done car. I think my least favorite feature is what I see as overdone styling of the car and the dash, but not everyone will agree with me on that. There are too many swoops and lines, and I prefer a simpler look.
That said, this car looks to be (more) bad news for the Taurus. Not just the oodles of room inside, but I have to believe that a powertrain that is as smooth as you describe will be much easier to live with than the Ecoboost system in the Ford. Smooth torque beats a turbo in my book almost every time, particularly for a car in this class.
Taurus w hotel new orleans may not be the underdog for long; it s rumored that it will be all-new for the 2015 model year, moving to a larger version of the Fusion platform, which has been well received in the motoring press and is selling so well that Ford is looking for ways to increase plant capacity.
Ironically, this new Impala is on the same Epsilon II platform shared with the smaller Malibu (among others), so I can only hope that Ford achieves the same successful result by basically following the same tactic. It certainly can t hurt, as the current Taurus is a bloated pig with a cramped interior and I m usually a fan of Fords.
Impressive car on the outside, a little busy but looks good! That dash is too wacky for my tastes though and I don t think I d get one with a gray interior w hotel new orleans if I had a choice. I d also hate to be in that back seat on a long trip with the army bunker windows. Other than that it s a real improvement and I m looking forward to see what else GM comes up with. Does anyone see a resemblance to the early 90 s Lumina in the front end between the horizontal grille bars and hood creasing?
These are the most photos I ve seen of the car now, and I have some quibbles. But I m not going to express them. I hope nobody else does here, either. Because the truth is, this car looks to be incredibly competitive, and I say good job GM for getting it this right.
Anyway, I m actually quite happy with my 2012 LTZ antiquated W-body. It s worlds apart from my old 2004, and perhaps w hotel new orleans the LTZ trim was greatly improved over previous w hotel new orleans editions, as it handles so much better than my old Impala. Much more solid-feeling, w hotel new orleans too, not to mention so much better-looking (my opinion). After all, Chevy deemed it worthy of adding a sidescript as all cars used to have. I added my own on mine with the Impala emblem. Really makes the car stand out.
Zackman, I am liking the look of this too over my 2005 Impala w hotel new orleans LS. But not enough to spend over $30k on one right now as I just bought a house and my Impala has 103k on it. Still plenty of life left! Also, your additions to your car dress it up so much!
Impala has over 55 years of distinctive styling, some years