I was pretty sure about the license number, but there was a few hours that passed between the time I saw it & the time I wrote about it here, so it's possible I transposed a number or 2.

Did that one have a gray interior and a navigation anntenna at the top of the rear window?

 

You're obviously thinking of a COMPLETELY different car. Maybe the Sunfire or Grand Am?
The newer impalas have a HUGE trunk. HUGE. The seats are great, and you can easily fit 5 people comfortably. Driving the car it feels like a nice big car, not like a "sport compact" by any means. It's a mid-size car, not compact in any sense of the word. The interior is well appointed, although it is afflicted by GM's "Plastic is High Class!" way of thinking, and the exterior is very nice, provided you have an LS model and the small spoiler on the back.

 

Excellent point. I think the 91 Caprice was far more unloved than the 2000 Impala when they each debuted, but now everyone remembers only the good things about the B bodies. Actually, the same goes for the original Impalas too. Everyone thought GM was desecrating a holy name when they resurrected the Impala moniker for 2000, but most people forget that the majority of the old Impys were slow, gutless family cars. Again, people only remember what they want to remember.

The only thing I don't like about the new SS are the tailights. I thought the original ones were just fine, but adding the plastic over them to reveal only the four lights looks like crap. It's almost like someone took some shelving paper, cut four holes, and applied it to the Impala's ****. Very amateurish, IMO, like something you'd buy at Pep Boys.

 

1) GM can't build Impalas fast enough now. Sales are terrific.

2) Glad GM did all that wonderful stuff to the Gen III - but it looks like they missed the real problem with the motor - the pistons.

3) GM's gonna sell every one of them they make.

4) Selling Impala SS's means good things for us.

5) I'm still a little bit confused about why the GTP got the extra 20hp and the Impala SS didn't. I'd be screaming bloody murder if I worked at Chevrolet.

 

5) I'm still a little bit confused about why the GTP got the extra 20hp and the Impala SS didn't. I'd be screaming bloody murder if I worked at Chevrolet. [/B][/QUOTE]

Because GM makes Pontiac it's excitement division and Chevy it's bread and butter division. if everyone wanted hp, they would be buying GTP's left and right, but that isn;t the case. hey you should be luckey it's only 20 hp, it use to be 40. but the 20 hp can easily be reversed with a few simple mods.

 

Yep - it was a fine example of how a few detail changes on a flagship model can change the whole personality of the line-up, and a lesson that one would have thought GM would have been smart enough to apply when the Wimpala was introduced for '00 (ya know, considering that stuffing one with GTP hardware would seem like a no-brainer).

Guess it takes them about fours years to relearn a lesson that isn't even a decade old yet.

 

Still doesn't make any sense. Amoritizing the changes over the GTP volume alone is silly, especially since the GTP volume itself isn't that high and the Buick and Chevrolet can help out.

Regardless of what Pontiac sells, Chevrolet will sell more. Might as well make more money rather than less in the case of these cars.

Now, if someone wants to argue that Corvette and the Cadillacs need some separation, fine - it makes sense. But trying to separate mid/large size, mid-priced sedans is taking this a bit too far.

 

I'm guessing the difference is something small, like a blower pulley - I'm sure it still isn't cheap by the time you run down two different paths of validation and certification.

I still can't see why they think that a minor difference in HP rating is a great way to differentiate the brands unless they still assume that us consumers are idiots; it's really quite a silly line of thought and damn frustrating if you decide that there's some feature of the Impala that really wins you over.

 

From all Corvettes are Red-

"Chevy's are for people who have trouble paying thier bills"...

 

I drove through my local Chevy dealer at lunch... they had 2 Impala SS's coming off the truck and 3 Monte Carlo Supercharged SS's already unloaded...

 

If I'm not mistaken, they are the same engine.

Just add a smaller pulley, or better yet, a different computer chip. Both cars are speed governed anyway, so may as well kill 2 birds with one stone.

 

The new GTP is debuting the 3800 Series III supercharged motor. The Monte Carlo SS and Impala SS get a revised 3800 Series II, which had parts changed so it could be built alongside the Series III. Maybe they could not or did not want to build enough Series III motors to be able to put them in the Impala.

 

I saw one at Super Chevy New England this past Saturday. I didnt like the tail light section either. I cant believe Chevy is selling every one they make but they are. I dont really like the looks of them either and dont think I would buy one. I'm just waiting and hoping that they make them rear wheel drive again. But if they are making a killing on the way they are now..why would they switch back?

 

Which brings up my suspicion that the RWD sedan in 2007 may wear a different name, while Impala continues as a revised FWD "mid-lux".

 

here is the SLP page for the Impala SS, if anyone cares (I know it has been posted before)

http://www.slpeng.com/vehicles/impala/index.shtml