dam, these things are kinda fast. pulls hard off the line and at speed. butt dyno says it's faster than my max, but that's just my a$$.
it can't corner worth a damn tho. hella body lean and the stock tires break loose too easily. if it didn't have traction control, this thing would be all over the place. nice cruiser tho. H rated tires are quiet. really soft ride (bouncy).
can't wait to get my max back from the shop. miss her.

 

gotta love american cars... drive like boats

 

MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm BBBBBBOOOOOOOOATS

 

i don't care how 'sporty' or fast that chevy is, i still feel like a grandma behind it's wheel.

 

Thats good ole american pushrod torque.. Ya my moms 95 windstar FELT fast off the line, faster than my max infact Too bad her engine blew up

Adam

 

I drove one of those boats for six months and they do not pull harder than the Max unless there is some special engine beyond that stock 200hp weakling that is in the one I drove.

Butt Dyno needs to be recalibrated me thinks.

 

I rented a base Impala out in Cali last February and drove the crap out of it. All over the Riverside area and also San Diego up to San Fran and back to March AB.

For 180 horses I thought it was a pretty decent car. Very comfy, in fact WAY more comfy than any Max. I thought it cornered pretty well for a big car also. Didn't have the top end passing power of my Max but wasn't a slug either.

If I ever decide to buy an American car, the Impala would be on my list WAY before any Ford or Chrysler. In fact I rented a 01 Monte LS in Orlando a few weeks back and would take the Impala over the Monte. Just was a more comfortable car.

Life isn't always about being the first one to get a ticket

 

ooooh, thats a 5-0 car. now you can test it out and see if you can out run and out corner it

 

I am driving a ford taurus SE until next friday I floor the thing at 65 or 70, the car's suspension dips and the engine sounds like it's about to explode... I look down at the speedo and it is barely crawling to 75... your Butt dyno is thrown off by the soft suspension....

 

140hp?160?

 

feels like less

 

i dont like cars that have that gear box thing next to the wheel. i like it in the center console thing like the max.

 

yeah.... the gear shift on the steering column sucks! I always reach down to change gears out of force of habit...

 

i have a 5spd

 

want cookie?

 

 

I used to have a chevy beretta with the 3.1 liter v-6 engine. About 165 hp but 180 tq. Great torque off the line but the car just died at about 4000 rpms. I think max tq was at 2500 rpms.

That much torque down low makes a car feel real fast - much faster than it really is. That's typical of the chevy v-6.

 

Neutral drop!

 

Not surprised. Its large displacement pushrod motor is at its best at low end & midrange rpm's but most likely runs out of breath as the revs climb. By comparison to your Max's tire and suspension mods, make the Imp's (base?) tire & suspension package better suited to a handling comparison against a boat in a heavy sea. More air especially in the front tires will help - it's about all you can do (and something I always do with rentals anyway just to trick them into cornering above a crawl speed, and it doesn't hurt the ride that much either).

Norm

 

Hey here's some info for you.

0-50 mph (in reverse) 10.5 sec
Lateral Skidpad rating (in a cornfield) .55 g

Aren't rental cars fun??

 

There is a simple reason that most American cars 'feel' fast off the line, the accelerator pedal spring is WAY harder than other cars (I think that Nissan got the 4th gens spring perfect), so that you have a really hard time feathering the pedal from a stop in order to get smooth acceleration.

 

Ummm, nonlinear throttle movement is more to blame here. To some extent this is unavoidable, but some mfr's intentionally exaggerate this for the very reason of providing a "peppy" feel. The first 20% of pedal motion may give you 40% or 50% throttle plate movement. Easy to do, almost nobody suspects that they are really stepping [EDIT]into it that much deeper[/EDIT] than the pedal motion suggests, and yes, it's a bit of trickery going on. And it's also part of the reason why the last 20% of gas pedal motion gives you almost nothing more out of the engine (that you can feel, except perhaps at high rpm's), because the throttle plate(s) is/are already way ahead of the pedal and have relatively little motion left.

Norm

 

Quit stealing off of my idea...

 

Better now that it doesn't sound like I'm referring to pedal return spring stiffness?

Norm

 

I got into an accident early Sunday morning and now I'm stuck with a Impala rental as well. There is no doudt in my mind that my max would blow the doors off this car. I'm somewhat disappointed in the acceleration, low/topend whatever, this car just doesn't compare. The ride is so floaty it cracks me up but the comfort level is a nice change. The one thing that I do appreciate the the front bench seat

I miss my Max!!!!

 

whats with all of us getting into wrecks and getting sucky rentals? Sorry to hear it man

 

Thanks Nauman. This is my 1st and only accident to date in 10 years of driving. When it happened I just sat there in complete shock. While it was happening I just remember thinking NO...not my Max! Lady driver decided to slam the brakes during a sharp turn. My attempt to avoid her resulted in me loosing grip and hitting the curb. My driver side front end suspension is shot. When the guy put it on a lift, the wheel just dangles there as if supported by a string Should be like 2 weeks to repair and $3,500 in damage. I miss her man.

 

wow...that sucks... glad you weren't hurt. Mine should be done next friday hopefully.... since your suspension is shot, any plans for aftermarket springs/struts?

 

Thats coo, you must be excited. They're replacing with authentic Nissan parts. Further tweaking of my vehicle will be done in the spring. I don't want to be a snow plow Then again I might be moving to Cali soon so sunny days here I come!

 

cool.... once I get mine back, I was going to do the springs as soon as I got the struts that I ordered... maybe I'll hold off til spring though... you never know how much snow we will get...

 

Just be grateful that none of YOU were attacked by a damn duck!!

 

 

this is true... sorry about your duck attack also

 

thanks

 

What rental company rents Impalas? You guys got me wanting to go rent one so that I can feel the difference. I keep seeing that Impala commercial on TV where this guy goes for a 2 inch test drive in the Impala and they brag about the 200 hp engine. What's that car weigh. It must weigh 3600 lbs or more.

 

Lots of them rent Impalas -
I know of atleast National and Avis.

Seen a few on Alamo lots as well.

My best bet would be National - I've literally seen tonnes of them.

Impala is nice - upto about 85 or so - to get it from there to 100 or so is a lot of work !
Tall gearing - nice mileage - that's it

 

Rented the one I'm using @Enterprise. Paying a buck a day, insurance takes care of the other 30 beans. I honestly dont think its anything special but my girl now calls me Captin' Remy

 

What? What happended?

 

Fabio says he feels your pain! (Re: the duck, that is)

 

You can also find them at Hertz in MAJOR tourist spots like Orlando and Las Vegas etc.

Like I said before, I rented one in Cali last Feb and drove the pi$$ our that thing all over that place. I had no prob with keeping up in traffic with the 3.4

Now that I avg almost 850-900 mile per week commuting, performance needs to take a back seat to comfort, not to mention the better gas mileage. I really liked the Imp..big comfy seats and it really isn't a slouch at all performance wise...I mean...how fast do you need to go

I must have entered old fartdom at 37....anyhow....as far as American cars go, its a lot better choice than any Ford or Chrysler product in that price range(even though its built in Canada)

Going to seriously look at one before my body falls apart in my Max