i found a November 1995 issue of Motor Trend. on the cover, it says 'AMERICA'S MOST POWERFUL' and list of cars..

this list includes Dodge Viper RT-10, Corvette Grand Sport, Z28 SS, Mustang Cobra, TransAM WS6.....and Impala SS....btw..the Impala SS was the least powerful car of this list @ 260HP, 0-60 time of 7.3 seconds, 1/4 in 15.6sec @ 90.1mph and lateral G of pathetic 0.77g...

too bad we didn't have our Maxima back then..otherwise we've had kicked some Impalas' A$$~!!

go out and kick some butt!

 

Well, that was the year the 4th Gen debuted and with a 0-60 of 6.6sec per MT. So it did kick some ***... enough to garner Motor Trend's 1995 Import of the Year Award, a major coup for Nissan. Unfortunately, Nissan hasn't won many awards since and have seen the Max drop out of C&D's 10 BEST list for many consecutive years. I am hoping '02/'03 with be Nissan's breakout year. Already Altima has won Car of the Year from the press and hopefully, 350Z and the G35 will put Nissan back on top.

 

I'd rather have a 96 Impala SS than a 5th gen....

 

You're not kidding. When I saw the maxima SE in late 1994 I was like OMFG is that thing sweet. It only had 15" back then! When I first considered Maxima it was going for over 21k USED with about 15-18k miles. People barely wanna pay 21k these days new!!

 

I had my heart set on an 96 impala SS before i bought the maxima. Until I drove the thing... wow that was a hunmongous car, I couldnt deal with it. But looking back, I shoulda went impala SS. At least it would have good resale and is back wheel drive with good aftermarket support unlike my current vehicle....

 

 

[drool]impala ss[/drool]

 

Oh ya.. chevys built better than nissans too?

 

Infiniti Q45 Touring?
During the same years (94-96), the Q costs less.
278HP, 292ft-lb vs 260HP, 330ft-lb for the SS.
300+lb weight advantage to the Q.

Didn't they use the 300ZX TT engine in the Q body in Japan?

 

obviously they cant drive...(i've seen 6.6 0-60 published on the SS)
my dads 96 impala ss ran 15 flat stock...w/ lots of tire spin.
and now runs a 13.0 ALL MOTOR...
he's had a Paxton S/C on it with Nitrous at one time and he (as well as I) beat the snot out of it...
6 yrs later it still runs great, never had any problems (other than blowing trannys...probably due to the 450+hp it puts down)...

yes the car is big, but it is BAD ***...
and at only $20k brand new, i'm sure he could still get $17k easy.

 

I love the SS.. but when I drove it.. it was huge.. too big for my taste....

 

OK, and if you want to sell your $57K Q45t today you will get $24K if you are lucky. Want to sell your $25K Impala SS? $22-24K

Can't beat that resale value. And don't get me started on modding that SS......

 

<---not an impala fan. Detuned LT1 in a big fat caprice with 18s. Gimme my Maxima any day.

 

Why do you think I have a 3rd gen instead of a SS?

 

I left an Impala SS in the dust a while back, we raced all the way to 110 and I had 3 car lengths on him. I personally think it's pathetic that a "big bad a$$ V8 Chevy" got smoked by a Maxima, which isn't even really marketed "super high performance" like that car was. HAHA....people just dont know...

 

whaaa..where u get that number Randy? come on..the new Q's depreciation isn't all that bad..yeah, it's worse than LS430/400 but u can't compare a limited production car to a mass production one.
that's just not fair...

i really like Impala SS..it's a huge car with lots of mussle(gotta love'em with LT1s)..but unfortunately, Chevy should have put them on strict diet..the car's too heavy!! it's a great sleeper car but it's not all that fast...

and uh...4DSC must be the first guy to say..'Motortrend guys can't drive!!'

 

Those #'s are everywhere Hoon. Who said anything about fair? hehe

Maxima's are not all that fast either.



T

 

I kinda like that Impala SS. I never seriously thought about getting one, but I like its equipment (LT1, 255 tires, etc). Kinda like the old days of big musclecar sedans, except better handling.

I got a chance to drive my uncle's Buick Roadmaster on the highway at one time. That LT1, even detuned as it is, is an awesome motor! Lots of V8 torque, tons of thrust at all speeds (even for a 4500lb battleship), and that deep V8 growl when it revs up... kinda sounds like a Corvette buried under 10 tons of pillows. I decided two things: nothing beats driving a V8 in a straight-line, and that car is WAAAAY too huge! That's the primary reason why I never really considered the SS.

BTW, I used to really like MotorTrend. They used to test drive all these tricked out cars (like the Stillen 300ZX) and do "bang-for-your-buck" comparo tests - a real "enthusiast's" magazine! Can't remember for the life of me why I stopped reading though... Do they still do stuff like that?

 

He's right, I've been looking for an Impala for a long time. People really can get away with charging 20 grand for an Impala SS.

 

That's part of my point...
Comparing 1994-1996 model years, if you want to buy one of those cars _now_, the limited production Impala SS costs more and offers what exactly over a Q45a besides the SS "mystique"? The Q45 isn't exactly a vanilla car.

Don't get me wrong, the SS is a bad-@ss car, and I love the idea, but for the money they go for, it's too much.

If I had $25K to buy a (cool) large car now, the Q45a's tough to beat at 50% of budget.
For that cost difference ($8k - $12k?!?!), once you start modding, that's a lot of dough to use. I'd research dropping that 300ZX TT engine in it, and then start modding. The new Q engine (340HP/333Ft-lb) will show up in a salvage soon enough. Maybe I'll just settle on 2 Qs(!!!)