Review Roundup: 2006 Chevrolet Impala

We had a big debate here at Cars! Cars! Cars! global headquarters over which car to choose for this week's Review Roundup:

Simon: Impala!
Mr. Peterson: Civic!
Web Peon: Alison Krauss! I get the first test drive! Uh, what we votin' on again?

Actually, we were standing in the middle of Grand Army Plaza and a pretty sweet ride blew past us (eh, it was stuck at a traffic light but "sweet ride blew past us" sounds far cooler). It was all black and had a decent shape. Crap! It's a Chevy! Crap!! It's a friggin' Impala. So, that sealed the deal. If we can be tricked into thinking "sweet ride" we'll pick it for the Review Roundup.

The 2006 Chevrolet Impala is all-new for 2006. And, in all seriousness, we picked the Impala in an effort to be timely because, at the time of publication, GM was running another discount program dealie (we think it's called a Red Tag sale). The new prices might be tempting if you are looking for a car that's bigger than the Camry/Accord world. But is the car a true competitor? Let's see if the experts are Diggin' It, Lukewarm or if they Be Hatin'.

About.com
2006 Chevrolet Impala LTZ
Chevy Returns To Its Car Roots
Rating: Diggin' It

It seems Chevrolet's engineers had one target to beat when they set out to make over the Impala for 2006: Toyota's Camry. And, believe it or not, they've succeeded in building a car that's as good as the current Camry. ... While the Impala's exterior can perhaps most charitably described as mature, I was very impressed with its new interior. The dash is simple and uncluttered. The instrument panel is well laid out and the gauges easy to read. The seats are well shaped and firm ? much more supportive than the last generation Impala seats. ... For most the last decade and a half, however, the lion's share of its R&D money has been directed to light trucks. Passenger car development was virtually ignored. This began to change in 2001 but the changes haven't yet gained any real traction. A good example, however, of traction is the 2006 Impala. The interior is top-notch and its engine is excellent with good fuel economy (passing power is excellent as well as acceleration from a dead stop).

Colin has almost no complaints about the Impala and that certainly opened our eyes. But, Colin does point out something very important to remember:

You see, the problem with how Chevrolet makes its cars is that while the '06 Impala is as good as the current Camry, it will almost certainly not be as good as the next generation Camry. I'm having a hard time seeing how Chevy will re-assert its position of top dog if they'll always be one step behind the competition.

Full disclosure: We are friends with Colin Hefferon and we still do work with About Cars (this blog gig ain't payin' for bail each time we steal Natalie Portman's head shaver).

The Car Connection
2006 Chevrolet Impala
Chevrolet improves its version of the stealth fighter
Rating: Diggin' It

Now comes this new Impala looking better (though not that different) than the old one and surpassing it (and most everything else in its class) in virtually every way. ... "Our goal was to build on the previous car's success and move it upmarket a bit," said Impala Lead Exterior Designer Louis "Chip" Thole. Mission accomplished, we think. Perceived quality inside and out, judging by fits, gaps and materials, is much improved and competitive. ... It's no Audi inside but (like most Audis) simple in design and well executed with IP plastics hard to the touch but nicely textured. The only real controversy, as always, is the faux wood in most models. Some will like it, we don't. Brushed metal-look trim is optional, but we like the SS's carbon-fiber-like panels. There's good passenger room front and rear, and flip-and-fold rear seats provide a choice of recessed cargo bins or a carpeted flat floor with pass-through to the trunk. Nice! ... It was clear at elevated speeds that much attention has been paid to interior quietness in both cabin isolation and at-the-source noise reduction.

Man, Mr. Witzenburg went on and on. We could have copied the whole friggin' article (uh, we almost did) and it would have been a big ol' load of praise.

The Detroit News
2006 Chevrolet Impala SS
Fresh Impala offers room, performance
Rating: Lukewarm
Crap, we picked one of them wacky He Said/She Said dealies. And there's not even any Kevin Bacon.

SHE: ... we were able to park next to last year's Impala for an impromptu nose-to-nose comparison. The differences were telling. The new model looks more expensive. So it passed the parking lot test. But as far as being a great road companion, I would only give it average marks. The low point for me came when I had to ball up my sweat shirt and put it behind my back on the ride home because the driver's seat had such poor lumbar support. HE: You're tough. In fact, I loved driving the new Impala SS, which is quite a different beast from the last, rear-wheel-drive edition. This one adds a 5.3-liter V-8 and four-speed automatic to GM's midsize, front-drive chassis, and the combination is pretty entertaining, to say the least. SHE: Frankly, you were eating way too much fudge or maybe smoking something funny because I can't believe you gave this car four stars. There were just too many things that seemed unfinished or struck the wrong chord. Even though they redesigned it, I didn't feel like the cabin was all that inviting or user-friendly. HE: Forgive me for defending Chevy, but there's an awful lot to like about the new Impala. The cabin has been updated, with greatly improved quality, and is still really roomy for families or older adults who want a little extra space, but don't want to drive a land yacht. For under $30,000, there are few competitors that offer this much room and performance.

Ugh, why did we pick this review? We are glad that SHE pointed out the crappy gas mileage of the SS: 19 mpg on their trip. That's crappola. SHE rated it a 3 and HE rated it a 4 so we gave it a Lukewarm because Elizabeth Perkins never returned out calls.

Edmunds.com
2006 Chevrolet Impala SS
Return of the Real Impala
Rating: Diggin' It

It stacks up well, both on the road and on paper. Although a fully loaded Impala SS can break the $31,000 mark ... In the age of the $29,000 V6 Camry, we think that makes the SS a good value. ... The operation of GM's Displacement on Demand (DoD) system is nearly impossible to detect. Despite the cylinder shut-off system, however, this is no economy car. During driving heavily weighted to freeway cruising, it returned just 18.6 mpg. In heavier stop-and-go traffic mileage slipped down to 14.7 mpg. ... The new Impala SS doesn't drive like an old Impala SS. Instead it drives a lot like the 2003 Cadillac Seville STS, which is another GM front-driver powered by a V8 and four-speed automatic transaxle. And that's not feint praise. Like the Caddy, the Impala SS feels solid and substantial. ... Off the test track, the Impala can't match the Charger's chassis balance or responsiveness to steering input and the car's natural tendency to understeer at the limit can't be overcome with throttle. But it rides better, is slightly quieter and is completely confident in everyday use.

We thought this review was going to be all peaches and cream until we got to:

Still, the interior isn't perfect. ... the controversial interior element is how little room there is for a car this size. The Impala stretches 9.3 inches longer than an Accord sedan on a 2.6-inch-longer wheelbase but offers 0.3 inch less front legroom and only 0.8 inch more rear legroom. In its favor the Impala has more hip- and shoulder room than the Accord and its 18.6 cubic feet of trunk volume eclipses the Honda's meager 14 cubic feet, but this is a big car and a big car ought to have more stretching room.

OK, so here's the deal:

Diggin' It: 3
Lukewarm: 1 (because of the SHE)
Hatin': 0

We really wanted to have 5 or 6 reviews but we couldn't find any other complete reviews (Hey, Chevy, get the car into the press fleet!). But a 75% approval rating and if you count the 1 Lukewarm into two pieces (there were two people reviewing), we're up near 90% Diggin' It.

Anyway, we are pretty impressed. The comments in these reviews are, we feel, fair and honest. The car is: big, put together competently, comfortable and handles well. We included two reviews of the SS version and the complaints about that were pretty obvious from the start: it's front-wheel-drive so "purists" were going to hate it from the get-go and it gets bad gas mileage. We're a bit miffed that one common element in the reivews was the car wasn't as big on the inside as it was on the outside... What's that about?

So, what do these reviews say about the 2006 Chevrolet Impala? It says Chevy is building a decent full-sized car. Who knew they could still do that? Since sales of the 2005 Impala are off by 17% (end of October 2005) we bet the 2006 Impala doesn't have a hard time breaking that goal. Will it beat Camry and Accord? No. Our prediction: 2006 models will outsell 2005 models by 20% or more and GM will hail it as a future of what is to come. But, remember, that's not fair because sales are already off 17% for 2005 models (compared to 2004). We also think the 2006 Impala will steal sales from Ford's 500 but we wouldn't be surprised if some sales came from other GM divisions like Pontiac and Buick.

Images from Chevy and are not part of our CCL.

Comments

[Jeff]

Need a good laugh, read "Chad Magnussen" comment below. My guess is that he is either having buyers remorse because he bought a Camery or he is still pissed off at the world because he was born with a little winky.

[Luc Lecompte]

I bought an Impala LS 2006 in June 2007. I really like it. I like the look, I like to drive it, I like its power. OK, it's not a Porche or a Corvette but with its 211 HP, it fast enough. I live in Canada in Ottawa and we had 2 feets of snow 2 days ago. It's good. No problems so far. I was not a GM fan before but the more I drive the car, the more I like it. I also received a lot of good comment about its look. Hey I can even put my 4 kids, my wife and a demi dozen of friens in the trunk!

[jason]

I have a 2006 Impala with the Flex Fuel engine. I have had it in the shop 3 times for repair. New only 2000 miles on it. 14 MPG is what I get right now and the check engine light is on (code is Engine fuel system control malfunction.) and the service traction control system lights up on the dash. I have had the dealership reset computer and re-calibrate the fuel system. This requires the E85 gas to be emptied from the tank and new unleaded gas run through to do the calibration. I also have had the key FOB stop working and needed to be reprogramed twice. Now I am having the same problems happening again. There should be an investigation on this since I have heard from GM corporate through the grapevine that there is an increasing number of people having similar issues. I have been told the workaround for the problem is to drive at least 10 miles after a fill-up of gas to have the car learn the new gas. I can't imagine all of us saving the environment with this type of car.

[charles]

I have just bought my impala the I have had it for about a litte more than a week and I have had a lot of problem out of it. It a 2006 impala LS. The problem I have had is that gas hand stopped working for a while and then after I put gas in the it started back working and then later this week I have problem with the check engine light comming on and the gas had register empty after I put some gas in it 11 gallon the gas have moved to full. I had drove the car around 90 miles in two days and the gas milage is very bad and I had to put put eleven gallon of gas in it. I had all of these problems after with the impala after having the car for about a week.

[Mitch]

I liked the car that is the 2006 SS it drove great I went into it thinking that wasnt going to be the car I picked for my company car to drive day in and day out. But the car had great power felt solid and looks were good alot beter than the same old camry Its good to have a American Car come back, and pass the others in its class and I mean pass them!!

[Chad Magnussen]

I have no idea as to the Impala's quality, but I am sure about one thing: the Impala is ugly. Maybe not butt-ugly, but nonetheless--ugly.

As far as I am concerned, the Impala is a dinosaur that should have died years ago.

It's so sad that a giant meteor from outer space didn't land on a few Chevrolet plants. One giant meteor killed the dinosaurs, but no such luck with the Impala and especially the Chevrolet Caprice.

General Motors is wasting precious few dollars and resources on a car that has a very, very, very limited market.

We all know the Impala is not going to be a hot car.

General Motors deserves bankruptcy. Incompetent management, ugly cars, and changing demograhpics will be the inscription on GM's tombstone.

Chad

[Jay]

The Impala seems to be an okay car, but I liked the styling better when Dodge put it on the Stratus for 2001.