Chevy Impala 2004 Redesign - READ ONLY

233 messages, Last post on Sep 10, 2003 at 7:13 PM

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What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Impala, Sedan

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#104 of 233 02LSsport by atbear Feb 26, 2003 (10:05 pm)
The speed limiter is set at 108mph!
#105 of 233 by regfootball Feb 26, 2003 (10:50 pm)
so are you finally done saying your car is a world beater when indeed you can see its merely another speck on the wall? At a minimum just admit its middle of the road status. "The Impala is bigger and weighs a little more too so its a trade off." It weighs more because the engine is a dated design that needs much more displacement just to equal that of a pedestrian Accord. Its bigger because the engine is bigger than it should be and therefore they have to bloat the size of the car to find enough space to put the engine. "I don't think anyone will be greatly disappointed with the very good acceleration off the line you will get with the S/C 3800 motor" True, however, they had to blow the darn thing to get it to that power level. Kind of an add on or band aid to get the hp when it would seem to make more sense to redesign the thing with modern tech and maybe they wouldn't have to resort to a blower to make it above average. "To bad the engines (Nissan) aren't as reliable." This is a completely fabricated statement that has absolutely no factual basis behind it. Not one shred of any kind of proof to stand behind the statement. Nissans and Maximas in particular have reputations of very high reliability. Meanwhile, more and more supposedly bulletproof 3800's going into shop with manifold problems and frustrated customers doling out major bucks to fix something on an engine that it wasn't supposed to happen to. My 77 y.o. father in law is one of those and says next time (after a lifetime of GM vehicles) he's going elsewhere (between the manifold and tranny he's 3100 dollars poorer). Go look on some of the other message boards and you will see the same stories with the manifold problems. Alpha, post 97, "why so many fans"? I dunno.....I think part of it is 'homerism' and the other part is that for a long time that a lot of folks became accustomed to GM powerplants destructing prematurely and when GM finally put out one that had respectable reliability, well, some folks viewed that as a major advance in the autotmotive world when in fact all GM really did is begin to approach the level of reliability that more discriminating buyers have thought as second nature in cars like Hondas, etc. "I know people with completely stock GTPs who ran 14.4's in the 1/4 mile!!" Who? and where? -NISSAN MAXIMA 0-60 mph in 8.2 sec. 1/4-mile in 16.5 sec.- that must be a pre 2001 test mule.....the Maxima engine was enlarged for thr 2002 model year from 3.0 litres to 3.5 (which is STILL less than the 3800). "Ford Taurus (Mazda6 is based on this engine) 0-60 mph in 8.9 sec. 1/4-mile in 16.9 sec." Yes, based loosely on it. The 6 has added variable valve timing, etc. and is rated with 20 more hp. go to car and driver and look for Impala road tests. Preview test for a 2000 Imp. go to page two and see the comment at the end...and also note that this article is from JUNE 1999....."Well, somewhere there's an SS badge and a supercharged 3800 V-6 just waiting for a home behind the bow tie." And now its almost 4 years later and we still wait..........I think Honda redesigned its Accord a couple of times in those four years. Not saying the Imp is a bad car....its not. The Imp has a lot to offer and is a really good value and a solid car. I just think GM's sedans would be that much better if they would not rely on that 3800 as their torch bearer.......keep it in the lineup for those whose tastes aren't that discriminating. But at least offer the rest of something a little higher and newer on the automotive food chain. And no bruhaha about GM developing this and that, and this will be out soon....is it out now? NO! It takes 4 years to put a blower on the cars they already have. I could not find a recent test of an automatic Maxima from 2002 or 2003 but here was some C/D numbers I found for the manual version. 6.0 seconds to 60, 15.7 to 100, and 14.7 seconds at 97 mph over the quarter-mile. Couldnt find any info on Altima. It would be fun to see Nissan stroke out the maxima to 3.8 litres and put a blower on it. Then, it may do a sub 5 second run.
#106 of 233 DUDE! by atbear Feb 26, 2003 (11:29 pm)
"It weighs more because the engine is a dated design that needs much more displacement just to equal that of a pedestrian Accord. Its bigger because the engine is bigger than it should be and therefore they have to bloat the size of the car to find enough space to put the engine." DOHC engines are much bigger than Pushrod engines, and they weigh MORE! There goes your argument! Do a little research! "True, however, they had to blow the darn thing to get it to that power level. Kind of an add on or band aid to get the hp when it would seem to make more sense to redesign the thing with modern tech and maybe they wouldn't have to resort to a blower to make it above average." Why don't you realize that it takes a little engineering to supercharge an engine at the factory and still offer the warranty and have it fully reliable (remember, this is a roots blower, not a turbo, CSC). "Nissans and Maximas in particular have reputations of very high reliability." I have friends who drive Maxima's and that particular Nissan engine needs to be in the shop every couple of months. It's documented too, go look. ""I know people with completely stock GTPs who ran 14.4's in the 1/4 mile!!" Who? and where?" Go to www.ClubGP.com "a lot of folks became accustomed to GM powerplants destructing prematurely and when GM finally put out one that had respectable reliability" Are you crazy man... if anything, this is backwards.... GM's quality was sky high from the 40s-early 80s.. late 80s-early 90s it slipped.. that's where you come in. It's back. Did you know the 3800 is based off the late 1970s Buick 231ci block? It's been refined to what it is now. Funny how nobody I know.. nor anybody I know with a Grand Prix has this manifold problem.. it's not a large issue, it's scattered. "It takes 4 years to put a blower on the cars they already have." The engine's been out since 1995 dude... what was Honda and Nissan doing then? huh? The 3800 puts out 265HP/295TQ now, and that's tops buddy... what other car beats that? And finally, do a little research on DOHC engines... learn something..
#107 of 233 by atbear Feb 26, 2003 (11:55 pm)
And, no I don't think the 3800 is the best engine in the world, or the most powerful in the world... but it's damn good.. super reliable, and very torquey, and that's what I want. It's a fine engine and it's so good, it's held it's own for more than a dacade.... and that's what we're trying to get across....
#108 of 233 Speed Limiter by 02lssport Feb 27, 2003 (4:52 am)
Hmm, maybe it was 105. I only glanced at the speedometer quickly. Ya know I was watching the road! lol That DHP PCM wll fix the limiter yes? Well that could be a bad thing for me. Atbear check the radio secion. I want to ask you something about your new rear speakers.
#109 of 233 atbear by alpha01 Feb 27, 2003 (5:25 am)
more than a decade? I remember reading a Car and Driver article for the Intrigue, I beleive, stating that the 3800's basic architecture dates back to 1962. I'll try and find the exact exact issue at home tonight. After 40 years, it should be reliable. ~alpha
#110 of 233 by atbear Feb 27, 2003 (8:44 am)
I believe it's back to 1978, but not sure about that exact date. The 3800 used today is based off the Buick 231 block. It's gone through many revisions...
#111 of 233 regfootball et al. by formersuver1 Feb 27, 2003 (10:20 am)
I've just finished over 3 years with the 3.5l. dohc in the Intrigue--never had a problem with the car itself, almost 40,000 miles. I've had Acura Legends (Sterling), Volvo, Mercedes turbo diesel, Camry, etc. etc. I've now gone to the Buick Regal, largely because of the 3.8 engine. It's very torquey, utterly reliable (I've no idea where you get the alleged manifold problems--GM did have a problem, according to my brother-in-law for part of the 1999 model run, with the sealant used in the gasket installation, but that was relatively limited and quickly fixed, although I suppose some could still be showing up--usually happens at around 15-20,000 miles (my brother-in-law is a service manager at a large Buick-Pontiac dealership). He said the very few problems he's ever seen have happened because people paid no attention to coolant level....anyway, I prefer the pushrod because of it's very flat torque curve. I do a lot of merging from around 30 mph and need to get up to speed (around 50-60) fairly quickly. The 3.8 is a nice even strong pull-- The dohc would do it, but only when I stomped on it. If I wanted to accelerate from 75 mph to 85 mph, dohc wins hands down--but let me count the times I ever wanted to do that....never! Remember, it could be a lot worse, we could have bought a Taurus!!
#112 of 233 this topic by vcjumper Feb 27, 2003 (6:10 pm)
Isn't it kind of obsolete since the only "redesign" is sticking the 97-03 GTP motor in the 04 Impala? Whats all this engine talk? There is always going to be a small vocal minority of people who prefer large displacement pushrod engines just as there are people who prefer cruising in Harleys over zipping around on a crotch rocket. Is flooring an automatic car and driving in a straight line the complete measure of car's performance? What about the twisties!
#113 of 233 by atbear Feb 27, 2003 (6:28 pm)
You are correct on all points, vcjumper.