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2006 Chevrolet Impala

3634 messages,  Last post on Mar 10, 2013 at 12:24 PM

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What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Impala, Sedan

    

Messages Page 17 of 364

#156 of 3634 2006 ss/hammen2 by charts2

Feb 02, 2005 (10:06 am)

Robert: thanks for replying back. I know a few years back Chevy was testing v8 engines for the Monte Carlo/Impala.....The Fleet/police indicated in 2001/2002 that the police Impala was underpowered for certain applications...Chevy tried certain v8s in testing including (I believe the 4.3 V8?) and they also made a 5.7 V8 black Impala SS that they had on display at the Oshawa assembly plant back in 2002 in their front office lobby, I don't know if you remember that?. It drew a lot of attention and chevy canned the idea because it was extremely hard to fit the engine and other complications including cost....I don't remember back 4 or 5 years testing the small block 5.3 V8 that you had mentioned....I know that this was originally developed for their truck lines. The first that I heard of the 5.3 V8 for the Impala was about 18 months ago.....this original small block goes back to 1955 the first v8 that chevy developed that went into the Corvette and Belair models back in 55'.

#157 of 3634 by kirstie_h HOST

Feb 02, 2005 (10:43 am)

Relax... we're not going to start a civil war over info about a vehicle that's not yet available. Posting with a less challenging "tone" and extraneous punctuation is more likely to result in a reasoned response to questions. Thanks!

#159 of 3634 Re: 2006 impala ss/ jpstax1 [charts2] by jpstax1

Feb 02, 2005 (1:34 pm)

Replying to: charts2 (Feb 02, 2005 9:16 am)
My apologies. I thought it was you that slammed me for the RWD instead of FWD reply to my post. It was actually a member named "batista" over in the Chevrolet Impala forum. I didn't appreciate the way he replied to me. Anyway, someone else was concerned that the FWD tranny in the Impala SS wouldn't last too long because of the huge torque generated by the 5300 engine. I merely pointed out that Pontiac is planning on using this same engine/tranny combo for their new GXP, and that the Chevrolet and Pontiac engineers apparently know what they're doing.

#161 of 3634 by kirstie_h HOST

Feb 02, 2005 (2:05 pm)

Saw it. Everyone's happy. Shake virtual hands, and it's all behind us

#162 of 3634 Re: 2006 ss/hammen2 [charts2] by jpstax1

Feb 02, 2005 (2:18 pm)

Replying to: charts2 (Feb 02, 2005 10:06 am)
I've seen a few '55 "Bel Air" cars with the 265 CID engine at shows. Was the 265 the standard used for other future small blocks (283, 327, and 350 CID)? I imagine they had to do a little more than just a bore and stroke job to increase CID. Plus carburetors, cams, and exhaust systems had to be improved over the years to increase performance. Those old cars are real lookers.

#163 of 3634 small block V8 265/jpstax1 by charts2

Feb 02, 2005 (7:06 pm)

Your right, in 1955 the 265 Cubic Inch V8 was rushed into production. In 1955 Chevrolet only had two models. The Corvette and full sized chevrolet..(at that time the Belair was the top of the line full size chevrolet like the Impala is today) because Ford and Chrysler at that time had V8's as well as other GM division cars, performance was heating up just like it is now....Nascar racing was becoming very important to manufacturers and factory sponsored drag racing...(Win on Sunday Sell on Monday) ...Chevrolet was now very competive in racing...Chevrolet found that after 2 years the 265 was not powerful enough and the engine was enlarged to 283 CID.. 1958 found its way into the first Impala..Chevrolet Impala won the Daytona 500 in 1959 but with their larger 348 V8 engine. From the late 1950's until 1963 chevrolet won many Nascar races and several drag racing titles with their Belairs/Impalas ....the 283 V8 was carried on into the early 60's but again was also bored out to 327 which is currently the 5300 (325.1)in a way of speaking. ...later on became the 350 (5.7) 1994- 1996 Impala SS....and Corvettes, and is now the full version 6.0 L V8 in the 400 hp C5 Corvette.....The new C6 Corvette 7.0 Litre 427 is a different engine altogether....This is the 50th anniversary of this small block 5300 V8 design. Great improvements have been made over the years, lighter stronger metals, more electrical components instead of mechanical, and huge improvements in reliability and longevity of engine components......back in the 60s your new car warranty was 12 months or 12000 miles with no extended warranty! we have come a long way!

#164 of 3634 FWD V8s by turboshadow

Feb 03, 2005 (7:26 am)

For what its worth, Chevy has been experimenting with V8s in FWD platforms since the 80s. IIRC, they specifically used a SBC and a Japanese quad cam V-8 in the Beretta platform to test the suitability of FWD for a Camaro replacement that never came about. Also the LT-1 and LS-1 were tried in the Impala as far back as the mid 90s as a continuation of the Impala SS. This never came about, so I heard, because it couldn't meet crash standards.
 
Turboshadow

#165 of 3634 Re: FWD V8s [turboshadow] by jpstax1

Feb 03, 2005 (1:28 pm)

Replying to: turboshadow (Feb 03, 2005 7:26 am)
I think I read the same thing about it failing some of their crash tests. In the same article, I think they said the LS1 had to be shoehorned into the engine bay, leaving very little room for routine maintenance work. I imagine most mechanics wouldn't enjoy working on a car like that. Lots of scrapped knuckles. However, it looks like they solved that problem by using the 5300 engine.

Messages Page 17 of 364

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