http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/16/a...p-v6-for-2012/

We all knew the Impala was getting the 3.6L for 2012, but we didn't know how much power. 302HP, 1hp less that the last V8 Impala SS.

 

It's about time. The 3.5L V6 engine was anemic.

 

Awesome, I can see buyers (Enterprise) really flocking to Impala now.

 

Maybe they should have given the Cobalt a few more ponies instead of bothering with a redesign like the Cruze. I'm sure the sales results would have been similar with a lot less effort and R&D money required from GM, right?

 

They gave it the turbo ecotec and it didn't work, i think they only made 470 or so of my SS Cobalt sedans, they followed the SRT-4 plan and it failed. I don't know how many SS coupes they made but I haven't seen many of them either. Although for only having made 470 or so turbo sedans I actually saw 2 of them in the past week here in town. They made more GNX's than these things.

 

I think he was being facetious - pointing out that all they are doing is putting a new engine in a very old car in the Impala's case. "Why replace Cobalt when you could simply give it more power?"

474 Cobalt SS turbocharged sedans were built for 2009. 1105 coupes in 2008 and 2063 coupes for 2009. I've never been able to find 2010 production numbers.

So, they are pretty rare.

 

Oh ok, I missed the sarcasm, sorry. They're pretty rare but at the rate things keep breaking they will be even rarer. Unfortunately the rareness doesn't equate to more $ on resale. If it had better build quality and RWD it would have been a near perfect car.

 

They still make that thing?!? Who the hell besides rental car companies is buying them?

 

but at the same time.

 

I think it's mainly just fleet, but year to date Impala is Chevrolet's 3rd best selling car with 70,000+ units sold. Malibu is 73,000+ and Cruze 75,000+. And with such an old platform, that's likely pure profit.

 

The SS with the 5.3 was one of the best sleepers ever made, I almost bought one 4 years back but it was the same tranny that was in our old Comp G and I knew it wasn't gonna hold up even with their attempts to strengthen it. 0-60 in 5.6 seconds and under 14 flat in the quarter, not too bad!

 

It defiantly won't turn around sales like an all new car would. But with 302HP standard it will defiantly help it not look as dated on paper. Police departments should enjoy the new engine.

 

I didnt look into this at all, but I am guessing that the biggest reason behind the powertrain change for Impala is that the old one is being phased out across the GM lineup, and it'd be more cost effective to move Impala to the newer setup rather than keep them on the old?

 

Ding ding ding. The body production outlasted the engine that came with. I cant think of 1 other GM that uses a pushrod v6 and 4 speed trans anymore. Other than the 4.3 in the GM trucks, the pushrod V6 is dead at GM. Plus , this car still sells amazingly well for its age. So instead of killing it until the new large Epsilon Impala arrives, cherry pick an available powertrain combo and keep the fleets and traditionalist happy for a little longer at least.

 

Yes and no I'd think.

On the yes side, I'm sure the current Impala's sheetmetal and interior redesign was paid off within a year or 2, and the late 80s era chassis it's built on was paid off back when the paint was still wet on the Clinton presidency. So the question becomes "How much are they charging over production costs?". I'm sure it's not quite near the giveaway prices of the old GM. But I'm sure that it's not at the comparitively "no-deal" prices GM is charging on fleet sales of the Malibu.

Malibu still is sold to fleets and rental companies. But they aren't getting nearly the deal they get on Impalas. Let alone the Toyotas and Hyundais that have filled the rental fleet vacuum as Detroit automakers have back away from big fleet discounts.