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Chevrolet Impala Performance Upgrades?

22 messages,  Last post on Jan 17, 2010 at 7:15 PM

You are in the Chevrolet Impala Forum.

What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Impala, Performance Mods, Sedan

Messages Page 1 of 3

#1 of 22 Performance Upgrades? by flyinlow35

Mar 08, 2007 (7:35 pm)

Hey everyone! As of March 6 I am now a proud new owner of a 06 Laser Blue Metallic Impala ss. Doea anyone know if there will be performance chip uprades available? I like the deep sounds of the exhaust, is there a set of mufflers besides headers that will enhance this?

#2 of 22 Performance upgrades....???????????? by mymitties

Mar 09, 2007 (4:04 am)

Hi there flyinlow35..
 
Welcome to the family and congratulations on your new arrival..!!
You've definately got quite a beauty machine there.
I know that we all have our personal tastes ,so I do have to be carefull here because the last thing I would want to do is hurt your feelings ..BUT, good grief man, WHAT IS YOUR THINKING HERE %%%%%%%%!!!!!
The stock 5.3 SS exhaust note is one of the best sounding exhaust notes around in my opinion. Ya, sure there are louder Mufflers/ systems in various degrees i.e Dynomax, Magnaflow, Flowmaster, Borla, etc. etc. But remember , that sometimes louder can make it sound very cheap especially on an automatic. BE carefull here. My 2 cents...I would not go there at this point. Be content with the great rumble you currently have!! I'm quite sure that all the other SS guys (Ron, Bryan, Rob, etc.) will give you their input also once they read your post. As far as chips and headers are concerned..Ya there some around for the impalas..Look on ebay and some other impala sites. Some guys have changed their chips ,headers, and also intakes. Personally, I am just not confident that the so called perfomance chip gives the 25-35 horsepower gain as advertised. Anyway, keep us posted....
      Later....
       Frank

#3 of 22 Re: Performance upgrades....???????????? [mymitties] by colchester47

Mar 09, 2007 (4:26 am)

Replying to: mymitties (Mar 09, 2007 4:04 am)
Mornin everyone,....Flyinlow,....I'm Bryan and I own a 5.3 SS also...Congrats on your new SS......I can't see where you'd want to play around with these machines...I mean, 5.7 in 0-60....101 in a 1/4 mile and top speed of 154 not fast enough?....Plus you risk voiding out your warranty with modifications and upgrades!!...Be careful.......As it is , with your new SS you'll be changing your handle in here to...."Flyinhigh".......well, thats my 2 cents....Good Luck with your new machine....we'll talk soon.............bryan

#4 of 22 Re: Performance upgrades....???????????? [colchester47] by mymitties

Mar 09, 2007 (4:50 am)

Replying to: colchester47 (Mar 09, 2007 4:26 am)
Hey flyinlow,
  You know, Bryan has made very excellent point here that I totally forgot about while making my emotional plea to you.. Thanks Bryan, and good morning to you to !! It's much warmer and sunny here in Toronto for a change. OH ,OH..carefull Frank. Flyinlow, Yes,..There would be absoleutely A HUGE warrantee issues here...!!!My experience with this is that you would be ok with only some changes after the cat. converter and sensors (i.e. ok to change mufflers, pipes, tips). But any mods ahead of that
i.e performance headers, after market chips, intake manifolds etc. would be a BIG, BIG, issue with GM and warrantee coverage. Gee in some situations just the K & N filter can get you into trouble...Ya, be carefull
 
            Later......
             Frank

#5 of 22 Re: Performance upgrades....???????????? [mymitties] by quietpro

Mar 09, 2007 (8:26 am)

Replying to: mymitties (Mar 09, 2007 4:50 am)
flyinlow,
  Aside from Frank's concern about ruining an already beautiful song by messing with the exhaust and all of our concerns over voiding a warranty, I would be careful because I believe the 5.3L has been detuned for use in the Impala because of drivetrain limitations. The same engine has a lot more power and torque in truck applications (RWD) so I think GM decided on the numbers we have based on long term reliability. My strong assumption is that if you do up the power, which I think can be done easily, you may cause problems with your tranny either sooner or more likely later.
 
I like maxing out power as much as the next guy but don't want to give up reliability. Imagine going to a secluded stretch of road to test out your new enhancements and then being stranded when something breaks. Worse yet, you call OnStar to come to your rescue and after towing you home, they refuse to cover the cost because you've been tinkering under the hood. I don't know that it would go down like that (with my luck, it would) but it sure would suck.
 
That said, it's your car and your decision. If you do go for it, we'll all be eagerly awaiting your report on your results. Good luck whichever way you go.
 
Later...
Ron

#6 of 22 Re: Performance upgrades....???????????? [quietpro] by cnw

Mar 09, 2007 (9:59 am)

Replying to: quietpro (Mar 09, 2007 8:26 am)
Ron--You bring up an interesting point as you talk about OnStar and the monitoring capability. You also seem to have extensive understanding and knowledge of many issues. Here's a question, situation for clarification or verification. I've been told that Onboard Diagnostics III (OBDIII) gives the capability for manufacturer to not only diagnose on the fly, but also gives them the ability to disable the ignition; same capability as opening a locked car, tracking a stolen vehicle and disabling it, etc. My concern--if monitoring reveals performance capability, or speeds, or whatever else "big brother" doesn't like--doesn't that also give them the ability to disable the vehicle. (PS--I'm also a retired zoomie.) Clark

#7 of 22 Re: Performance upgrades....???????????? [cnw] by quietpro

Mar 09, 2007 (5:47 pm)

Replying to: cnw (Mar 09, 2007 9:59 am)
Clark,
  Well, they'd never advertise it but I'd guess they have those abilities although (hopefully) not set up to work in a hostile way. In other words, they probably have the capabilities they'd need to know if you'd installed a performance chip by getting readings of fuel/air ratio, speed through direct uplink or through GPS, and they've been reporting lately about the "black boxes" on newer cars that store the last 10 seconds or so of vehicle data. I say they aren't set up to use this in a hostile way, as in shutting your car down for speeding or because your spouse is mad at you, because I think the public backlash would really hurt GM and other OnStar equipped sales. But, the capability is almost certainly there. It's a little scary when you think about it in today's world.
 
You got me thinking...I wonder why the cops haven't started using OnStar's capability to limit those high-speed car chases?
 
How long have you been retired? I'm a newbie...only since 1 Jan.

#8 of 22 Re: Performance upgrades....???????????? [quietpro] by cnw

Mar 09, 2007 (6:42 pm)

Replying to: quietpro (Mar 09, 2007 5:47 pm)
Regarding OBDIII--someone told me they had capability of monitoring for emissions controls and it got me thinking about the extended possibilities. Scary thought if we lived in a police state; civil liberties grant us a lot of personal choices. Thankfully.
 
I retired in July '94. Just short of 27 years.
 
Clark

#9 of 22 Re: Performance upgrades....???????????? [quietpro] by martin22

Mar 10, 2007 (12:29 pm)

Replying to: quietpro (Mar 09, 2007 8:26 am)
Your talk regarding exhaust mods reminds me of the disappointment my stepson experienced when he modified his Dodge Charger R/T. The standard set up was very quiet and his aim was to get a good V8 rumble. He succeeded in that respect.
He was not so pleased though with the sound when it switched to 4 cyl mode. Yuck!

#10 of 22 Re: Performance upgrades....???????????? [martin22] by quietpro

Mar 10, 2007 (3:37 pm)

Replying to: martin22 (Mar 10, 2007 12:29 pm)
Yeah, loud isn't always good. Some would argue it's never really good. When the Impala switches to 4 cylinder mode, it kind of sounds like two Japanese V-twin motorcycles are riding alongside. Of course, the Impala only goes to 4 cylinders when you are on light throttle so you really have to be listening for it. Strangely, the only time it remained in 4 cyl under moderate throttle was when I was driving uphill through the mountains between NC and TN. It isn't that sweet V-8 sound but it wasn't a bad sound either. GM really put their time in when they were tuning this exhaust. I really have no complaints. It's loud enough to hear it when you want and still not so loud that you can drive through the neighborhood without annoying the neighbors.
 
I may have to drive a Charger again now so that I can compare the two.

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