2014 Chevy Impala an ugly duckling no more

Posted by hpayne on May 22, 2014

The 2014 Impala is new from the ground up, with muscular design elements that provide a nod to the past while embracing Chevy’s modern styling. (Henry Payne / The Detroit News)

Remember when the most memorable thing about a Chevy Impala was its elegant logo of a leaping impala? It was like Shrek modeling a Rolex watch. Or a frog wearing a bejeweled crown.

Well, the frog has been kissed by a princess.

Improbably, Chevy has transformed the perennial bane of the rental car lot into a handsome prince. At last, the Impala deserves the logo that has always graced its skin. The result is a big, graceful sedan that deserves to headline the Chevy brand.

“Corvette and Impala clearly embody what we want to be,” Chevy’s global marketing guru Tim Mahoney said when describing the brand’s touchstones of design and performance technology. Get out the smelling salts. Did he just mention Corvette and Impala in the same breath? Get used to it. Impala is that good.

While GM recall woes are a reminder of The General’s haphazard past, Chevy’s cornucopia of 2014 product show the promise of its future. If the elegant Cadillac CTS (The Detroit News 2013 Vehicle of the Year) and the cute Chevy Spark are proof that GM can compete at the high and low ends of the market, then the Impala is evidence that the company is serious about its flabby middle.

Impala is the answer to the long-asked question: Why can’t Chevy translate the sex appeal of its smoldering Corvette and Camaro sports cars to its sedans?

The big sedan’s head-turning grille and surly rear shoulders are unmistakable echoes of the Camaro. Impala designers gave it the pony car’s simple, elegant grille line — while smartly resisting the deep-set cowl that gives the Camaro a touch of menace. Add LED lights along the front lip and the visage commands immediate respect in your rear view mirror.

The attention to detail continues along the big animal’s flanks with aerodynamic touches that reduce the car’s drag coefficient to a slippery .29. Where the Impala’s sweeping greenhouse and strong shoulders taper into a square back, small winglets sprout from the corner taillights to separate laminar flow, making for less rear turbulence. Better for sprinting across the Serengeti.

Where the old Impala was ignore-me vanilla, the 2014 is lick-me double chocolate fudge swirl. This sudden obsession with style may seem out of place in a large midsize sedan market traditionally catering to stodgy seniors. But this ain’t your grandfather’s midsize sedan market.

The 30-40 grand neighborhood has become an open grassland of eager predators from all-wheel drive Fusions, to loaded Chrysler 200s to base Audi A2s. If the traditional herd of large sedans don’t evolve, they’ll be eaten. Impala was not the first to adapt to this new ecosystem, but it’s at the front of the pack. It joins the Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300 and Ford Taurus SHO in bringing swagger to the segment. They make a stark contrast to the modestly competent Toyota Avalon-Hyundai Azera-Kia Cadenza.

It’s nice to see boldness rewarded.

The Impala has done a complete flip-flop in market appeal. Where 78 percent of its sales used to go to rental fleets, now 70 percent of its sales are retail customers. Consumer Reports gave Impala its highest rating — 95 — of all sedans. Indeed, it placed third among all vehicles behind the luxurious Tesla Model S (99 score) and BMW 1-series coupe (97). That’s heady company.

“No other domestic car has topped the sedans ratings since we began tracking scores in that fashion over 20 years ago,” reports the consumer group. The same outfit judged the outgoing Impala as “a woefully uncompetitive and outdated model that was to be avoided even as a free upgrade at the rental-car company.”

What a difference a year makes.

The extreme makeover continues under the skin where the Impala’s haunches sit on GM’s front-wheel drive Epsilon chassis architecture featuring improved shock and suspension tuning. The result is a nimble, 3,800-pound athlete that turns into corners without panic and withstands g-loads without keeling over like a yacht in a windstorm. The looks and handling add class to what big sedans do best: Size and power.

The Impala packs 105 cubic feet of room, including best-in-class front legroom and a trunk that could hide Godzilla. The base Impala comes with an adequate 4-banger, but the 3.6-liter, direct injection V6 is the engine of choice for hauling this sleek beast. And, despite its girth, the V6-powered chariot returns a competitive 23 mpg fuel economy.

Big shoulders. Best-in-class-horsepower. Fast-back. If all that sounds like an advertisement for male testosterone, you’re right. Sales skew 65-35 male. I stuck a couple petite gal pals in the Impala and they instantly commented on its size and daunting rear blind spots. That roomy fast back architecture may look good on the outside, but from the driver’s seat it’s a narrow-windowed turret.

That’s where Chevy’s portfolio gets interesting, because right across the showroom is an Impala on stilts. The Traverse SUV shares the Impala’s handsome front fascia while affording smaller drivers a more commanding view of the surrounding landscape. The Traverse’s higher, 47 percent female demographic nicely complements the Impala. Want rear-wheel drive power? The big Chevy SS offers Impala-like room and a 6.2-liter Corvette engine. Want better fuel economy? Let me show you the Chevy Malibu.

It’s an impressive toy cabinet — though, ahem, the SS and Malibu could benefit from the Impala/Traverse’s design cues.

The Impala’s interior is as plush as it is roomy with a stitched dash, aluminum accents and wood inlays surrounding Chevy’s competent MyLink infotainment system. Pay 35 grand and you get leather seats (no, not Impala hide). As on the exterior, the Impala team has thrown out the old rent-a-bucket template with a new standard of detail. Press the center console, and it opens to reveal a secret space for storing valuables. The automatic gearshift operates like butter, and Impala brings crash imminent braking to the segment. This nifty, radar-controlled safety technology — usually found on pricier vehicles — will hit the binders to avoid a crash if driver’s reflexes are too slow.

How confident is Chevy about the Impala? They gave the NASCAR badge to the sporty SS. Let Fusion and Camry pretend to be 200 mph sports sedans on the steep bankings of Daytona. The Impala is so secure in its new skin, it figures its buyers will find it anyway.

Heck, they’ll be demanding it at the Hertz counter.

2014 Chevrolet Impala

Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger sedan
Price: $27,510 base ($39,245 as tested)
Power plant: 3.6-liter, direct-injection, V6 engine
Power: 305 horsepower, 264 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.0 seconds (Car & Driver); 149 mph top speed
Weight: 3,800 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 19 mpg city/29 mpg highway
Report card

Highs: Head-turning looks; leg-fitting room
Lows: High trunk = low visibility; How about a turbo 4-banger?
Overall:★★★★

 

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