Friday, April 11, 2014
Richmond Review · Page 15
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Welcome to the driver’s seat
The Impala is roomy inside with Business Class legroom in the rear — and the theme continues with the use of quality materials throughout. Keith Morgan
Impala leaps impressively to the top contemporary style favoured by The 2014 Chevrolet Impala is the many competitors. Its lines actubest domestic sedan ever, really? ally lean closer towards classy, That was the question front of rather than sporty. mind when I heard such a boast Let’s open the driver’s door. As its from a General Motors execuoutward appearance suggests, tive recently. Well, he’s paid to it is roomy inside with Business say that, I thought, but then he Class legroom in the rear! And the backed up the assertion with business class theme continues something that surprised me more. After spending a with the use of quality materials throughout. The hypercritical Consumer ReControls are logically placed ports organization had just given week in an Impala, I have to admit it and easy to operate with one the full-size sedan a 95-point score: No other domestic car had softened my cynicism exception. The standard infotainment system, which features an ever topped the sedans ratings to the point of almost eight-inch touch screen, is not in 20 years of rating cars by buying the hype. nearly as intuitive as I would like. bothsegment and style. And, just I would need to spend an hour to offer a bit more perspective to Keith Morgan with the manual to get it to perthis remarkable score: the fourform for me. The reason I don’t door was just behind the expendo that ahead of time is because I want to test sive Tesla Model S ultra-luxury hatchback with these systems against my iPad/iPod. Apple is 99 points and the BMW 1 Series coupe at 97. the benchmark. Get over it, guys! Mimic Apple After spending a week in an Impala, I have rather than try to reinvent the wheel and come to admit it softened my cynicism to the point up with a pale imitation. There’s a nifty secuof almost buying the hype. Explanation of my rity feature offered though that I must praise. continued reservations to follow. The screen emerges from the dash, revealing It wouldn’t take much imagination for designers a small storage bin that can be secured with a to turn out a more handsome Impala than its four-digit code. predecessor. But this long-looking car manages Let’s roll. The tester was equipped with a to look sharp and streamlined but not so overly 3.6-litre V6 DI with FlexFuel capability, including aggressive in stance, which is more often the
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welcome to the driver’s seat.
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variable valve timing, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. The two base engines available are a solid 2.4-litre four-cylinder and a 2.5 version, both of which are likely adequate for commuter use. I headed straight for Highway One and it positively purred along the long, clear stretches open to the daytime driver. Great acceleration in take-off and passing with limited lean and sway when cornering at speed. Back in urban madness, it offered a good view of fast encroaching vehicles from side streets and the rear. I mention this because I expected the sleek window profiles might hinder views, especially to the rear. Hence, it was also not as much of a beast to park at the supermarket as I had feared. Light steering also assisted in that manouevre. On the urban performance front, the transmission took the annoyance out of stop-go traffic. Have to think it was gulping gas though in smoothing out the urban trek. The Impala with the V6 starts at $32,945 (around $3,000 more than the 4-cylinder-equipped versions) but the test car options, which included rear park assist, rear vision camera, collision and lane departure alerts, premium audio, sunroof, added another $7,000. It will compete with the Dodge Charger and Ford Taurus domestically and a host of imports. Now to my reservations: the fuel economy for the V6 is 11.1/6.9L 100km (city/highway) and while that is not bad for a large car, it’s not the best in its segment. The four-cylinder eco version is impressive at 8.7/5.8L 100km (city/ highway). That said,I don’t think fuel economy will be a deal breaker for most people. My continued reservations really boil down to reliability. It’s a brand new car and we should wait a couple or three years before anointing this car as the best domestic sedan ever. That caution should not stop you from taking one for a spin. keith.morgan@drivewaybc.ca
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