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Sedans Chevrolet Impala 2007 Chevrolet Impala Owner Experiences
170 messages, Last post on Nov 23, 2009 at 4:53 PM
You are in the Chevrolet Impala Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: zedo6 (Jan 24, 2008 1:14 pm) Naturally, I test drove it during a warm spell with dry roads, so I didn't learn about this car's downside until lately. I was hoping it was a problem related specifically to something on my car, but hearing you have a similar problem with a different model, I'm wondering if this is a shortcoming for all Impalas. If I would have known this earlier, I don't think I would have bought an Impala. I'm seriously thinking of trying a different brand of tires, but am cringing at the cost. Anybody else have this problem?
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Replying to: kenwrench (Jan 25, 2008 2:59 am)
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Replying to: zedo6 (Jan 25, 2008 7:29 am) The Federal Government has mandated that all vehicles have a stability control system as standard equipment by 2012, and starting in 2009 must be in 55% of all new vehicles. GM isn't adding Stabilitrak because of a flaw in the Impala's handling, they are doing it to remain competitive with other manufacturers and to start meeting Federal requirements. When Car and Driver tested an Impala SS, they made specific comments about the suspension and they way it goes about doing it's job. They said in June 2006: "Part of the reason the Impala SS feels so uncomfortable with the V-8’s power is that it doesn’t benefit from all the chassis tweaks bestowed on the Grand Prix GXP. Opt for the Chevy, and you don’t get the Pontiac’s wider front wheels and sticky Bridgestone tires, Bilstein shocks, and larger brakes. Although the SS’s chassis gets its own special anti-roll bars, bushings, and shock and spring rates, the suspension simply monkeys around too much. Any sporting input is foiled by a mess of undamped and uncontrolled body motions. Dive, squat, and roll control could be described as nautical. Hit the firm, easily modulated brake pedal hard, and the SS’s nose dives toward the pavement. A stop from 70 mph used up only 172 feet, a couple of feet better than the larger-braked GXP could muster."
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Replying to: ryster (Jan 25, 2008 10:56 am) in the snow. I don't believe that GM put Stabilitrac on the SS due to competition or gov mandate. It's is my opinion that the handling goes off due to the transfer of engine torque. It wobbles and when you introduce snow, it amplifies the problem. In my opinion, Stabilitrac was added to help cure the problems that I write.
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Replying to: zedo6 (Jan 28, 2008 8:10 am) If the handling of the car was truly that dangerous in the snow, Chevrolet would either be voluntarily recalling all Impalas to address the "problem" or they would be required by the Government to recall and fix any "problem". GM has added it purely to meet Federal Government requirements, GM even states such on their own website: "The government will require electronic stability control on all new cars and trucks by 2012. GM will have StabiliTrak standard on nearly all vehicles sold to retail customers by the end of 2010." While I agree that tautness of the suspension on the Impala degrades quickly, I would not consider it a problem. The Impala is what it is, a family sedan more intended for long distance cruising than canyon carving. It sounds like you may be trying to get more out of it than it is ultimately intended for. Your plan to enhance the suspension may be the answer you to your concern. It could be a simple strut tower brace, and some better tires, would solve your issues.
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Replying to: ryster (Jan 28, 2008 9:00 am) |
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Replying to: zedo6 (Jan 28, 2008 1:34 pm)
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Replying to: zedo6 (Jan 28, 2008 1:34 pm) The Car and Driver article I quoted actually supported your concern and merely pointed out that what you are noticing with your SS has been noticed by others. What you are noticing is not necessarily unique. I suggested to you both a strut tower brace and new tires. The strut tower brace will minimize the body roll you are experiencing. The Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires that come on the SS are not the best tires. I have had them on cars I have owned and they are not the performance tires they pretend to be. They ride too much on the soft side, which will soften up your ride. A strut tower brace and some ultra high performance tires (with stiffer sidewalls than the RS-A's) will go a long way toward making your SS handle tighter.
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I have a 2007 Impala LS with the 3.5L V-6. Overall it has been a good car but still has its niggling problems. I bought it in April 07 as a fleet vehicle. It had 18000 miles on it with no Onstar and no folding rear bench... in other words no extras. I do have decent gas mileage though if I am on the highway. Straight city in winter 15 mpg, in summer 18 mpg, highway only as high as 39 mpg indicated on the computer (Not really that high at gas pump) when it used straight gas and not 10% alcohol. Right now with a mix plus some hillyness I am getting between 26 and 28 mpg. I do have the Integrity tires but hate them as the spin easy when starting off on wet or snowy roads. Once up to speed they work great. I keep mine at 32 psi though instead of the indicated 30 psi for each. The number 1 problem I am most frustrated with is the tranny. When trying to start out slowly to keep its fuel mileage up and to keep from spinning the tires I find the tranny shifts into second gear too soon. This causes a drop of the rpms to idle speed as it shifts to second. This causes the engine to bog and me to get heated. I might as well just put it in second at every stop. According to my GM dealer its working as its supposed to. If you are on the gas it works fine but if you try to start out slowly forget it. Number 2 on the list is there is no light in the trunk. This is so frustrating when you are unloading a deep trunk like in this car. Was a light offered in the normal cars?? Number 3 is a real annoyance that just started happening. When I plug in something to the accessory power ports and they are first charging up i.e. IPOD with a dead battery and then go to start the car I get nothing at all. The second time I turn the key it starts fine. But every time I plug in the accessory this happens unless there is very little draw on the accessory port. Like when it finally charges completely. If nothing is plugged in then all is fine. Had it to the shop and all worked normal for them neither of us knew about the accessory drain. Going in today with a note for them to check the accessory port trick with my drained IPOD. We will see what happens. I wouldn't have thought an IPOD or bluetooth device would have enough of a drain to kill the electrical system of a battery with how many cca? I mean there isn't any clicks at all but the lights go dim and the fan shuts off and everything dies. Turn the key again and all is normal. This is the last GM I buy. I have had an Olds that had a bad distributor from day one for years. Talk about torque steer. It was a fun car but not reliable at all. I had a Chevy Monte Carlo with a Carb and Choke problem, I have had a Jeep Cherokee Sport (rear diff was bad at 36000 miles), Grand Cherokee (Had every problem in book), Brother has a 96 Ford F150 (Front wheel bearing and axle bad at 30000 miles) and he doesn't off road it, had a Sonoma extended cab (Never had traction, front shock was bad, bad seat release lever, blew the valve cover gasket and burned oil like crazy all within 20000 miles), had an 01 Blazer 4X4 4-door (You name it it happened to this vehicle, Wheel bearings, upper and lower ball joints, oil cooler lines blew, shocks gone, springs shot, ate gas filters, brakes always smelled liked they were burning but the culprit never found, had a wild shake above 65 that no one could find, brake dust shields rusted out twice in less than 50000 miles, a bad battery), and now this one. Oh I forgot to mention that this Impala also suffers from the dreaded paint chipping problem that almost all the reds cars and some other color cars have. At least with Honda the workers seem to have pride in making their cars. I still have problems thinking of a high school graduate making $27 a hour or more just to turn one screw on every car taht goes by on the assembly line all day long. That job may not exist anymore but the price some of the union workers are getting paid are a little unreasonable. No wonder GM and Ford have to keep cutting costs, taking short cuts, and raising prices.
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| I meant my brother has a 2006 Ford F150 with those front end problems and his tires are almost worn out to boot because of the severness of the wheel bearing and axle problem the front end was out of alignment. | |
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