It might be hard to believe, but this generation Impala has been on the market for 5 years now. The 10th generation was introduced in April 2012 at the New York Auto Show before hitting dealership lots nearly a year later in March 2013. Despite this design being technically 6 years old, I think it has aged well. It still looks modern, sleek and elegant, much unlike the generation that preceded it. It is easily among my favorite interior and exterior designs in the full-size sedan segment, right up there with the Buick Lacrosse and the Nissan Maxima. So, how does the Impala drive? Do the sharp lines on the exterior match how it performs on the road? Below are some of my driving impressions.
When you first get into the Impala, you notice that the interior feels nice and elegant. It’s not Mercedes Benz elegant of course, but it feels glitzy and luxurious enough to compete in the segment. The main touch points feel good, seats are comfortable and supportive, and the steering wheel has nice smooth leather. The only knock I give the interior is the large circumference steering wheel with the 4-spoke design. I don’t mind 4-spoke steering wheels, but the one in the Impala just looks a little dated and old school. Other than that, the interior suits the Impala really well. It feels every bit like a modern, American made full-size sedan.
The Impala is a big car, and it feels like a big car when you get it out on the road. You sit up a little higher, the front hood is large and imposing, side mirrors are massive, and you really feel the width and length of the car when you’re driving it. It’s not necessarily a bad thing if you don’t mind driving larger vehicles, but if you want something smaller and easier to park, the Impala might not be for you. That being said, the driving experience has all the strengths for a modern, luxurious, full-size American sedan. It’s not floaty like an old Buick, but it captures the same levels of comfort from those older American luxury sedans while providing a more intuitive and controlled driving experience. When you’re just driving along down the open road, the Impala feels smooth, solid, and buttoned down.
The steering in this car is kind of a mixed bag for me. It actually reminds me of the Toyota Avalon, in the way that it feels a bit loose and slow to react. I think the steering in this car definitely has more weight to it than the Avalon, and it feels slightly more predictable in its response, whereas the Avalon will give you a more of a mushy, Lexus-like feel. The on-center feel in this car is nice and controlled, and the steering provides a nice hefty weight that you don’t quite get in the smaller Chevrolet models like the Cruze or the Malibu. The leather is smooth to the touch, and the wheel has thick bolsters to give you that additional sense of control. The steering overall makes a good first impression. My gripes with the steering involve the fact that the initial turn in isn’t all that decisive in its response. Like I said, it’s somewhat reminiscent of an Avalon. It has that similar loose, mushy feeling when you start turning the wheel. The Impala doesn’t steer badly, though. Any ponderousness that you do feel around corners is decently subdued, and overall the steering in this car performs as advertised. It’s refined, predictable, and it keeps the vehicle on a steady course. The Impala isn’t designed to be a corner carver, so I can’t really knock it for feeling slightly lackluster in the steering feel.
Acceleration with the V6 feels about average for a V6 powered full-size sedan. It definitely gets out of its way when you put your foot down, but when you’re driving around town at normal speeds the acceleration feels decently quick, but not really powerful or exciting. It’s a smooth V6 engine with a linear power band. It makes an impressive 305 horsepower, which is 5 more than the Nissan Maxima. The engine has a pleasant, muted growl to it, and the torque comes on nicely. You really don’t have to really wring the engine out to keep up with traffic. You have the horses under the hood to pass and pull out into traffic quickly, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised just how quickly you can get up to speed on a freeway on ramp. When you go about half throttle, the power comes on in a smooth, connected, and refined fashion, and you can actually leave traffic far behind you when you really get on the gas. You always feel in complete control of the vehicle even under harder acceleration. However, that doesn’t mean you’ll be starting drag races in this car. The power band is linear and the torque can be felt pretty much immediately off the line, but the engine is slower to rev compared to sportier V6 powered sedans. The Impala feels designed more for comfort and refinement, and maybe the occasional quick merging or passing maneuver, than it does for all out spirited driving.
I like the smoothness of the 6-speed automatic, but I think this transmission holds the engine back. The transmission feels far laggier and slower to shift than I had originally anticipated, and it makes everything feel bogged down a little too much. The Impala’s transmission isn’t bad, it feels very refined and seems to do a good job at keeping the engine in its optimum rev range. That said, it has a definite tendency to lag, hunt for gears, and shift early for fuel efficiency. When you’re accelerating, you feel these long pauses in the engine’s power band as the transmission slowly upshifts through its gear set. I think the automatic in this car does feel better compared to the 4 cylinder cars like the Cruze and the Malibu, mainly due to the additional power and the more linear torque curve of the V6 engine, but the transmission still feels more stubborn than I would have liked it to be. It was also slow to downshift, and the transmission works hard to keep you out of the lower gears when it can help it. It takes more throttle input than necessary to get the tiniest downshifts, and even then it feels delayed and even a little clunky once it raises the revs and shifts itself into that lower gear. The actual shift quality is smooth and doesn’t disturb you, I just wish the shifts didn’t feel quite as hesitant as they turned out to be. When you do get those lower gears, the Impala accelerates and passes with nice authority, and the passing gears are drawn out for just the right amount of time. However, there is still somewhat of a learning curve with working the throttle and hitting that perfect synchronization between the engine and transmission before you can experience all that the engine has to offer.
I’m not the biggest fan of the throttle response in this car, either. The Impala’s throttle response feels more natural compared to some other GM vehicles that I’ve driven, in that the response is fairly immediate and there aren’t really any obvious dead zones, but I still found myself having to stand on the accelerator in order to get some power from the engine. There is a really long travel before the accelerator hits the floor, and you still need to kind of jam on it before the engine wakes up. Even at 1/4 throttle, the engine’s RPMs are kept very low and the transmission upshifts early in the rev range. It kind of ties in with my point at getting used to the car and hitting the right balance. I could probably get used to it, but I just didn’t like how the transmission and throttle response felt so heavily focused on efficiency rather than predictability and control. Just the general lack of enthusiasm between the transmission and the throttle response hold the engine back a little too much.
Handling is obviously not going to be a strength for a full-size vehicle focused on comfort, but the Impala doesn’t handle badly. It drives down the road with solidity and a nice balanced ride. It feels hunkered down when going in a straight line, but fairly light and composed for a full sizer when you take it into a corner. Very easy to maintain a constant speed and do whatever you need to do on your daily commute. The vehicle tracks nice and evenly with bends in the road, and overall you never really feel like you’re driving something massive or cumbersome. The Impala feels solid and comfortable at highway speeds as well. The vehicle doesn’t get floaty or lumbering like American full-size sedans of the past. The Impala is overall just a really easy car to drive, and the chassis doesn’t give you much drama no matter the type of road that you’re on. There is some body lean, and the Impala will get skittish if you start to drive it like a sports car, but that’s to be expected. The chassis definitely has its limitations, and the Impala feels a little heavier and slightly more sluggish compared to your typical midsize entry. While you won’t feel encouraged to drive it like you stole it, you still get a nice feeling of sturdiness and quality that you didn’t quite get from the previous generations.
Ride quality is silky smooth as well, just as you would expect. The Impala doesn’t necessarily “glide” over bumps and rough patches, and I don’t think it feels totally premium or expensive where the actual ride quality is concerned. That said, the suspension soaks everything up well and it does a good job at isolating you from poorly surfaced roads. The ride is a little stiffer compared to an Impala from 5-10 years ago, but in terms of actual ride comfort, everything feels about the same. The Impala overall has a good blend of polished ride quality and composed, linear handling. Everything is smooth, tuned in, and buttoned down. No bounciness, no clumsiness, no ungainliness.
Hushed road noise is also a notable strong suit of the Impala. You still hear some wind and road noise, but it’s all very isolated and never interrupts you. It’s not Rolls Royce quiet, but it feels nicely slotted in the class the Impala competes in.
The braking feel in this car is decent. The brake pedal feels stiff, and the stopping power is smooth and powerful. That said, I think the brake pedal is lacking in bite and predictability. Despite the brakes feeling solid and hefty, they’re also just somewhat vague and lean more towards the mushy side.
In terms of outward visibility, the Impala is definitely lacking in certain areas. Your frontward visibility is good, with a curvy yet relatively unobtrusive front hood and a slightly higher ride height compared to most smaller sedans. The side mirrors are gigantic and show you literally everything. That said, the rearward visibility in this car is among the worst I’ve ever seen, especially for a sedan. The back window is very narrow, the rear deck is high, the rearview mirror shows kind of an odd wavy/distorted projection, and overall it’s quite limiting. There were several occasions while driving where I couldn’t even see the entire road behind me. You can still see cars behind you, but their headlights are often cut off by the high rear deck. The Impala is still easy to drive, and the large side mirrors make up for whatever is lacking in your direct rearward visibility, but it was just a little odd and unexpected at how poor the rearward visibility was. You wouldn’t expect it from looking at the Impala from the outside.
Despite my opinions on the transmission, throttle response, and the visibility, I don’t think the Impala is a bad car to daily drive. The transmission performance is negligible for most buyers in this class anyway, and besides, the shifts are still smooth and composed, just how most people in this class prefer them to be. The Impala is generally a smooth and refined car, just like it has always been. You get good ride quality, quiet interior with subdued road noise, and a nice list of premium features. The Impala feels solid and stable when you’re driving down the road, and the V6 gives you smooth, plentiful amounts of power. The interior space and comfort is great, the infotainment is easy to use, and the material quality feels premium. The Impala has a general aura of a more expensive car. It feels like a really good vehicle for both long road trips and for daily commuting. I would highly recommend the Impala if you’re looking for a comfortable, practical, spacious daily driver.