Auto Car | Chevrolet Impala SS in 2009 | Estimated fuel-efficient vehicle fuel economy is 18 mpg city, 28 highway. Since 1961, Camaro, Chevelles, Novas, El Caminos and other models, including the Impala, this wear badge.Back coveted in the 60s, has a SS model means you have the tools to do battle at a red light and the drag strip.
Liability concerns, high insurance rates and the energy crisis emasculated the performance and desirability of muscle cars during the late 60s and early 70s. In fact, the last Impala SS of the muscle car era was the 1969 SS427 big block. The 80s saw “performance” versions of “muscle cars” from American manufacturers that with a few exceptions were mere shadows of their former selves.Fast forward to 1994, the year Chevrolet decided to resurrect the Impala SS with a car worthy of wearing the vaunted moniker. The 1994-1996 Impala SS was a huge car, based on the rear wheel-drive (RWD) Impala/Caprice “B” platform popular with taxi cab, livery and police car fleets. But this was no pedestrian vehicle. Using police package mechanicals as its base, the Impala SS was outfitted with larger brakes, dual exhaust, increased cooling capacity, a high-output electrical system, suspension upgrades, and a limited slip differential. With a retuned Corvette/Camaro LT1 5.7-liter small block V8 as standard equipment, the SS made 260 horsepower and an impressive 330 pound-feet of torque.
Outside, the new Impala SS differed from its base stablemates with special paint and trim. Aluminum wheels with 255 section rubber gave the SS a hunkered down appearance. Interior treatments bearing the SS logo were also standard.It’s safe to say that GM had a huge hit on their hands with the SS. Starting modestly with just over 6,000 units sold in 1994, the SS model accounted for nearly 42,000 sales in 1996.
Then, in a decision that had many scratching their heads, Chevy parent General Motors pulled the plug on all of its B platform RWD models. The switch to front wheel-drive (FWD) was on. The new cars featured better packaging and fuel economy, but high-horsepower technology had not yet caught up to FWD platforms, so the Impala SS was dead again.That was until the introduction of the 2006 Impala SS. The new model marks the first use of GM’s Generation IV small block V8 in a front wheel drive Chevy. Making 303 horsepower, the new Impala SS moves out with the same authority that would make its ancestors proud.
Original Post : www.roadfly.com
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