Chevrolet Impala reviews

2004 Chevrolet Impala Driving Impressions

The 2004 Chevrolet Impala feels like a big luxury car, even compared to a Ford Crown Victoria or Toyota Avalon. The Crown Vic seems unrefined when you drive it back-to-back with the Impala. The Toyota Avalon feels bland by comparison.

The view out of the Impala is good, helped particularly by the small quarter windows that split the rear pillars. The creases on the hood are useful for judging just where the front of the car is, which in turn is handy for parking a big car in compact spaces. The rear deck lid seems high, however, so care is required when backing up.

Handling is surprisingly quick and sharp. This is not the wallowing, live-axle barge from the 1960s. Yet the ride is well-damped and does a good job of filtering noise, vibration and harshness. One reason is the Impala's extruded aluminum engine-cradle subframe, which isolates vibration while allowing for a more rigid structure. A monster dashboard bulkhead made of light and strong magnesium further enhances to the Impala's rigidity, giving the car a robust feel. The engine cradle and dashboard structure lock the steering shaft down tightly, so there are no excess wiggly movements. Chevy says a novel link between the steering column and the steering gear contributes to better on-center feel at the wheel. All Impala models benefit from anti-roll bars front and rear, hardware associated with sports sedans.

On the road, the steering provides good feedback, better than the Toyota Avalon's steering. The LS we tested felt particularly precise, with its quicker steering ratio.

Likewise, the brake pedal feels firm and responsive. Braking is smooth and steady, and we applaud Chevy's decision to use discs at all four wheels, even on the base model.

Acceleration is brisk, especially with the more powerful 3.8-liter engine. Chevy claims the Impala LS can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 7.7 seconds, quick for this class. There's just enough torque steer, felt as a slight tug on the steering wheel whenever you stomp on the gas pedal, to remind you that this is a front-wheel-drive car.

The Impala is used for police duty and the police package includes higher-ratio gearing from the Pontiac Grand Prix for quicker acceleration.

The Impala SS is quicker, but we weren't all that impressed with the acceleration. The supercharger on this engine is a positive-displacement unit, which means that it pumps a fixed volume of air for each engine rotation; so there's no throttle lag, and performance does not drop off rapidly at low speed, as is often the case with a turbocharger or centrifugal supercharger. The Impala SS develops its peak torque of 280 pounds-feet at 3600 rpm. To handle that increased power and torque, the SS comes with powder-metal (rather than cast) connecting rods and a heavier-duty four-speed automatic transmission.

Compared to garden-variety Impalas, the SS also rides on stiffer springs, stiffer anti-roll bars, even stiffer mounts for the rear suspension. And of course its tires are wider, with lower and stiffer sidewalls. Even so, the SS suspension is well damped and filters out vibration and harshness. Overall, though, the Impala SS feels like the big, heavy car that it is, and I managed to heat up the brakes while driving hard on a twisting back road.