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'94-'96 Impala SS
How would you feel about the SS returning in the future? Motor Trend is predicting an Impala, with a 4.2 liter V-8 (making about 270-280 horsepower), will be marketed in 2003. They don't say whether it will be FWD, but I suspect it will be. They also don't say whether it will be based on the current design, or a totally new one. The 4.2 liter engine will most likely be the one being developed for the Buick LaCrosse concept car.
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http://community.webtv.net/dman4ford/00IMPALALS
http://www.holden.com.au/sc02_vehicle_showroom/sc02_3_commodore/
Dave
It's a shame they stopped making them, but I have to agree that it really helps the value and preserves the uniqueness of the existing cars.
-Tim
My car is the common black one. With your mods, I'm guessing you're in the same ballpark (300hp flywheel.) AS&Ms are the better flowing headers available...but accessing the valvecovers is a pain. They typically add 16hp to the wheels. The intake and exhaust should pick you up about 20-25hp combined. The larger Throttle bodies haven't impressed me much..and I don't see a lot of gains in them...regardless of marketing. The engine only ingests 'x' amount of air...regardless if the butterflies are slightly larger that the stock unit. The intake itself is a set diameter. The air intake itself helps because it remove bends, baffles, and straightens the airflow...making it less restrictive and thus more HP. A good modification is swapping the knock sensor module located in the PCM to the Corvette LT4 unit. It basically 'ignores' noise and allows a bit more timing advance..making more HP. Its cheap $28 I think and works. The Hypertech is a good unit to calibrate speedos, etc..but check out the Ed Wright Programming...you'll pick up 8-10hp alone, and the car will come to life. Trust me. I run a competitor, Z-Industries, and am very happy..but the guy is difficult to get a hold of. Ed is service oriented and excellent. $250-$300 I think..not cheap..but well worth it!
Hope this helps a bit.
Dave
I'll look into the LT4 knock sensor module. Sounds like a winner especially for the price. How hard is it to change out. Although my car has 18,300 miles, my engine only has about 5,000 miles on it (it was replaced under warranty for a knocking sound before I bought it). I've been taking it easy on the engine since I know it's fairly new, but I figure it must be broken in by now.
As for the headers...the PCM is always watching the fuel mixture..adjusting it endlessly. Headers should have little effect on a 'lean' condition since the PCM will adjust mixture continuously. You want to run a little 'lean' anyway. At WOT, the PCM kicks in a much richer mix to burn, however.
With 5K miles on your engine...its 'broken' in...and will only get faster with more mileage :-). My car, bought new by me...has 48K miles (bought 12/95) and gets faster as the miles click by!
Dave
altitude of 7300 ft. (which means I'm minus 15-20% of the power, but so is everyone else here), and my car still feels damn strong. When I bought it in Atlanta, GA and drove it back it felt very noticeably stronger at lower altitude. The difference in pressure is right around 3 psi less than sea level (which is like installing an intercooled mini-supercharger relative to here). I was amazed at how easy it was to pass. The car went from 65 to 90 in what felt like zero seconds.
I'm hoping to get back to the low altitudes some day (my family is in Ohio).
would do the trick, unfortunately that's not in my budget at this point.
I'm hoping I never have to sell mine, but if I do, you're right, the stock ones will be worth more.
I, too, bought mine to drive, though also to save. I prefer driving the car as it was designed and built rather than as I might have designed or built her. Even with all of the admitted foibles as you describe, she's still a lot of fun in an unmodified state. (Hope your storage area doesn't burn down, get broken into and stolen, or your wife divorces you and gets the parts. Stored parts can become separated from any vehicle over time.)
plants, is from Australia. He has lots of
relatives back there. A cousin told him that he
read where Holden (GM) is thinking of exporting some of their performance sedans to the US either
late this year, or early next. He would love to
buy a Commodore SS, with the LS1. I'll try to keep everyone posted with any news from him.
Dave
Hate to say it, but my LS is the far superior car. Both have about same top speed, but LS will out brake, out handle, etc. The fully independent suspension makes a world of difference. However, the SS is much better looking and will slightly out accelerate. Plus it is roomier. (My only real gripe with SS is the headrests. I'm 6'2" and they just don't go up high enough.)
Dave
It's one of the biggest wonders of the car. 120 ft is actually less than a Mustang and not too far behind a Corvette.
As they put, "Hands down, the Impala SS is the best value her...simply delivers the most car for the money...it outhandled and outaccelerated the Mercedes, and equaled the big Benz's remarkable braking performance. It also eats up highway miles just as effortlessly...the driving experience here is as good as it gets for anything less than the $91,495 demanded for the Benz." Now that is one heck of a compliment!
It's also just an awesome looking car. I've had people at work who didn't know anything about the Impala SS come up to me and make remarks like "Hey, nice car, did you get a huge raise or something?" not realizing that they're less expensive than a new Grand Am (it's just finding them that's the hard part). Even brand new, it was only $26K. It was and still is one of the best deals in automotive history, IMHO.
-Tim
But here are my thoughts remembered from a short time 'poking around' on the showroom floor and a quick test drive. It probably was 1995, not really sure about that.
The interior is cheap, cheap, cheep. Bad-lookin plastic covers the doors. No vinyl or cloth on there. The carpet seemed only slightly better than indoor/outdoor variety.
Exterior styling - Chevy did improve it, but it still is the basic upside down bathtub look of those years' Caprice. Somewhat reminds me of the 1957 Rambler American look.
Speed - it did move out pretty good. But there was a lot of noise and a feeling of having to move a whole lot of iron.
I was in a 1991 Taurus SHO at the time. It's interior was beautiful compariatively, and it looked much better outside.
And the jerk salesman gave me that 'what would it take to get you into it this afternoon' line. And when I said 'A large discount.', he lanched into a talk about how they were getting list or over list for them. And they had 4 on the lot and showroom floor.....
The styling and inferior interior was my biggest hangup.
Dave
Dave
Due to its primitive rear suspension, she wasn't designed to, nor can she, handle like a BWM 540i or Lincoln LS8 on curvy or bumpy roads, but she costs about $15,000 cheaper. Are the interior materials up to the $40K price range? Absolutely not. And since they were '94-'96 issue GM they really weren't that hot to begin with. Over almost 5 years and only 17,000 miles, my interior has held up well.
My only big grip involves the seats. Seats lack good headrests and aren't really sport seats.
But to appreciate how good she really was (and still is) for the money, check out other chat sites. I love to get on the Lincoln LS chat group. I've own both my '96 Impala SS and my '00 Lincoln LS8 Sport (3.9L DOHC 32 valve V-8 taking 91 octane premium). LS8 had a window sticker of $34,400. The LS chat group also routinely bemoans the poor subjective quality of the interior materials, usually comparing to BMW or Jaguar (and coming up short as they are too Sableish).
My Impala is bigger, heavier, and roomier. It is quicker, has similar top speed, and gets better fuel economy. Go figure. Drives those guys nuts. But even the LS engineers will quietly admit they envy what Chevy did with the lowly Caprice. Some posters are waiting for the upcoming Mercury Marauder. I am, too! Could be the next Impala SS.
http://www.9c1.com/pictures/ls1_impala/index.htm
I think it looks sharp and aggressive. If it were offered for sale, I think it would be in BIG demand by collectors, just like the '94-'96 cars are today. Just my 2 cents.
Dave
Part of me is glad they don't go forward with a FWD chassis. RWD platform is inherently superior. No matter how hard Cadillac tries with its DeVille, 300 hp is just to much to expect a FWDer to handle. Good but not great.
Now if Ford goes ahead with Blackhawk and Marauder, maybe GM will have to respond? Either could work off European Cadillac Catera chassis or go with Australian chassis.
"that some...1996 Chevrolet Impala and Caprice models, equipped with a 5.7L V-8 engine, may experience a condition where the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) Valve may fail due to corrosion of the internal diaphragm plate. This will cause the emission system to not function properly ... Do not take your vehicle to your Chevrolet dealer as a result of this letter unless you believe that your vehicle has the condition as described above ... If this condition occurs on your...1996 Impala or Caprice model vehicle within 10 years of the date your vehicle was originally placed in service or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first, the condition will be repaired for you at no charge."
Can't believe you actually say nice things about the 3.8L FWD Impala. Seems like a most unimpressive cop car. Doesn't the police package in the new Impala include Krispy Kreme donuts? Just kidding.
I own a Jag and also own a 95 caprice with the LT1. I wish it was the impala SS.
These are great cars and have very good throttle response and with a new air intake system and less restrictive mufflers, they have nearly 300hp. What a blast of a car.
here is a good website for info
www.gmforums.com
they cover all gms and not just the imps.
(Tim)ratchetmaster
2. Car & Driver periodically does tests on cop cars. Within past 5 years think I've seen them write up large reports on Crown Vic two or three times, once on Impala, and once on Tahoe. Think they initially panned Crown Vic but Ford has taken some steps to improve. Also had some panning for FWD Impala. Forgot about Tahoe, other than it was so expensive for a force to buy.
I finally took her out of garage a couple weeks ago and started driving her again. I garage her every winter. Fuelled up today. Drove 431.1 miles using 19.785 gallons (87 octane), for a 21.79 mpg average. Not bad. Took her to a touchless place to shine her up and even splurged on some premium (accidently, out of habit as my '00 Lincoln LS8 Sport requires premium).
She's a big, bad beauty, but she's now all mine!!! Yes, Yes, Yes!
At least there is a tach, floor shift, different seats, and fog lights. Marauder won't make some of the same mistakes as the '94-'95 Impala SS.
http://www.edmunds.com/news/?id=lin9031
Mr. Shiftright
Host
Anyone have the exact link to a story or pic of this car?
My intrigue is being turned in on monday and i have rekindled my interest in the impala ss.
The resale values on these cars is completely off the charts. I am talking $18,000 dollars for a good example and $27,000 for cars with almost no miles and in perfect condition.
I am trying to figure out how to afford one of these cars and the payments are pretty steep because it is a used car.
It seems like the they are more out of reach everyday vs. becoming more affordable.
And When you run across one cheaper, it is because they have piles of mileage on them or the owners don't know what they have.
Could someone sell a mint car with 0 miles on it for $27K? Yeah, maybe, but that's not the market, that's something way out of the ordinary.
You bring me a check for $22K and I'll put a very nice Impala SS at your front door and make a tidy profit, too.