2014 Impala first impressions:

[asiancivicmaniac]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
It looks like a fat Accord with a Chevy badge.


I would have to agree. But at least the Accord is not an ugly car to many!


Compared to the Malibu and some of the other things that has been coming out of Chevy, I think the Impala looks good.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
It looks like a fat Accord with a Chevy badge.


I would have to agree. But at least the Accord is not an ugly car to many!


Depends on the year, the 2008-2012 Accord is one of the ugliest cars on the road.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
It looks like a fat Accord with a Chevy badge.


I would have to agree. But at least the Accord is not an ugly car to many!


Depends on the year, the 2008-2012 Accord is one of the ugliest cars on the road.


Honda seems to have this thing where they have a generation of decent looking cars and then a generation of meh-ugly looking cars and then back to decent looking. The 1994-1997 Accords were pretty good looking, the 1998-2002 were meh, the 2003-2007 were decent (the coupe was good), and the 2008-2012 sedans were blah. I like the 2013.

 

[4x4chevydude]

Proper maintanence can be a big issue in ppls opinions of cars I have had many vehicles that ppl thought were junk vehicles last a long time because of good maintanence on them.....just saying I think the impalas are solid cars and know alot of them that got abused and still lasted to 200k

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Tzu
No they didn't. That part doesn't bother me. Granted our Impala is 13 years old, but I think they had a nice look in 2000, especially with the spoiler and sun roof options. This new one seems to be a little overstyled compared to the much mocked 2012's, hence the reason for a new Impala. The interior looks great, but the exterior just seems "busy".
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Did they switch to a RWD platform?


Completely incorrect. RWD!

 

[Tzu]

Is it my understanding the 2014 Impala is now RWD? I thought the upcoming SS was RWD, the Camaro is RWD and every other car they make is front wheel drive? Maybe I have been wrong all along? If that is the case, the next Impala is truly something special..
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: Tzu
No they didn't. That part doesn't bother me. Granted our Impala is 13 years old, but I think they had a nice look in 2000, especially with the spoiler and sun roof options. This new one seems to be a little overstyled compared to the much mocked 2012's, hence the reason for a new Impala. The interior looks great, but the exterior just seems "busy".
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Did they switch to a RWD platform?


Completely incorrect. RWD!

 

[apwillard1986]

For those of us on the GM dealer side I can tell you we are all well pleased they finally retired the old one. It was the last holdout of our old lineup… They are selling very well out on the sales floor. Every one we have gotten has been sold immediately. They are HUGE comparable to the old one and drive exceptionally well. I was apathetic about the car’s arrival until I drove it.

I am glad the style is polarizing people. I have learned that the more disparate the opinions of the “love it” and “hate it” camp, the larger the percentage of the “love it” camp that buys the car.

They are FWD. If you are looking for a big car in RWD we will soon have the SS...

 

[Hokiefyd]

Yes, the 2014 Impala is definitely FWD. It's built on the Epsilon II platform, shared with the Cadillac XTS, new Chevy Malibu, Buick LaCrosse, etc.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Sorry, my bad. I was referring to the 6.2 liter police pursuit car.

 

[SteveSRT8]

And I cannot find ANYTHING to confirm one way or the other?

 

[Hokiefyd]

To confirm whether the 2014 Impala is front- or rear-wheel drive?

Chevrolet.com tells us:

http://www.chevrolet.com/impala-sports-sedan/specs/powertrain.html

Quote:
Drivetrain Front Wheel Drive

 

[Tzu]

Thankyou. That's what I thought all along.
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
To confirm whether the 2014 Impala is front- or rear-wheel drive?

Chevrolet.com tells us:

http://www.chevrolet.com/impala-sports-sedan/specs/powertrain.html

Quote:
Drivetrain Front Wheel Drive

 

[cchase]

It will be a cold day before Chevy makes a RWD non-purely enthusiast vehicle. It's simply not worth it for them.

 

[Benzadmiral]

More and more as I see the spots on TV (I have yet to see one on the road), I like the styling. GM hardly ever uses a dark car in their ads, it seems -- the LaCrosse spos all feature one in mid-gray or in white. I like the combo of Buick body + Camaro nose.

 

[Nick R]

Speaking of the new impala, saw this on youtube today. Looks pretty quick.

 

[dwcopple]

One of the main problems GM has is, it takes a car like the Camaro, then clones all of its sedans to look or take cues from the Camaro's styling, which dumbs down the Camaro and takes away its appeal. They need to realize their lineup needs distinct looks for each model, not a bunch of copies of the one that gets the most press...

 

[Tzu]

I agree totally. Although the Camaro looks like a life sized match-box car, I don't know why they just couldn't leave it as it's own instead of making each of their models resembe it in some way. I like and have driven Chevys my whole life, but I don't see why the Camaro has to be the inspiration for their lineup. If the new Malibu could loose the Camaro rear end treatment, I know alot of people say it would be a HUGE improvement to the car. I do like the new Impala front end (I take Camaro influenced...), but the rest of the car looks like a Buick LaCrosse to me. Personally, I think Chevy's best era for any of their vehicle design would be 2000-2005 and with the 2008 Malibu model thrown in.
Originally Posted By: dwcopple
One of the main problems GM has is, it takes a car like the Camaro, then clones all of its sedans to look or take cues from the Camaro's styling, which dumbs down the Camaro and takes away its appeal. They need to realize their lineup needs distinct looks for each model, not a bunch of copies of the one that gets the most press...