[Rich-L79]

Could probably use a better driver though!

 

[SSR71]

Still eyeing getting one myself.

 

[Rich-L79]

Still eyeing getting one myself.

If you get a good one, you will not be disappointed. But beware, they are just old enough and inexpensive enough that many of them have been ridden hard and put away wet.

 

[billdini]

I was really excited to buy the new Impala SS with that power train but the dealers decided to over price them and went with a 2012 300 SRT. I ran that 300 at Orlando speedway and scored a 12.87 at 112mph and it was 95f degrees. My under hood was over 150 and I still took out a 2012 GT Stang .

 

[SSR71]

If you get a good one, you will not be disappointed. But beware, they are just old enough and inexpensive enough that many of them have been ridden hard and put away wet.

Yeah, whenever I see cars with cold air intakes mentions of cams, tunes, and whatever, you can safely guess it was thrashed on the 1/8 / 1/4 mile. Those I'll pass over - unless it's really cheap.

I was really excited to buy the new Impala SS with that power train but the dealers decided to over price them and went with a 2012 300 SRT. I ran that 300 at Orlando speedway and scored a 12.87 at 112mph and it was 95f degrees. My under hood was over 150 and I still took out a 2012 GT Stang .

If you're referring to the 2014-2017 sedan, it's not an Impala in any way. It's just "SS". It is a Holden VF/VF2 Commodore. No "real" Holden shared any body structure with US domestic production other than the drivetrain. That is until 2018... but they were so hated by the Aussies that GM finally threw in the towel last year.

 

[Rich-L79]

What I'm impressed with is that this car weighs nearly 4,000 pounds is stuck with 3.46 gears and the only modifications to the engine are long tube headers, high flow cats, catback exhaust, underdrive crank pulley, 1.8 ratio rockers and a FAST 102 intake along with a cold air intake and of course a computer tune. Traction is hard to come by so a set of drag radials helped me get deeper into the 12s. Some guys have gotten these cars into the 12s completely stock on street tires, I'm just not a good enough driver to pull that off. But if the car is capable of 12.8 with ME driving, it is capable of a good bit more in more capable hands.

It is a very unfussy car, supremely comfortable and is a solid platform for performance or just cruising with just a few upgraded bushings in the suspension.

 

[billdini]

Yeah, whenever I see cars with cold air intakes mentions of cams, tunes, and whatever, you can safely guess it was thrashed on the 1/8 / 1/4 mile. Those I'll pass over - unless it's really cheap.


If you're referring to the 2014-2017 sedan, it's not an Impala in any way. It's just "SS". It is a Holden VF/VF2 Commodore. No "real" Holden shared any body structure with US domestic production other than the drivetrain. That is until 2018... but they were so hated by the Aussies that GM finally threw in the towel last year.

I had a 2014 300 SRT as well after Chrysler gave me a new 2014 to replace the earlier 2012 that had rust issues early on. Could have sworn it was before 2014. I bought my GT500 in 2014 and the SS was already out I thought. In any case GM blew it when they marked it up thousands because it would have been in my driveway for sure. Why did the Aussies hate that car?

 

[SSR71]

I had a 2014 300 SRT as well after Chrysler gave me a new 2014 to replace the earlier 2012 that had rust issues early on. Could have sworn it was before 2014. I bought my GT500 in 2014 and the SS was already out I thought. In any case GM blew it when they marked it up thousands because it would have been in my driveway for sure. Why did the Aussies hate that car?

The Aussies hated the v6 only FWD "ZB" replacement that they got after their domestic production was shut down in '17. It was basically just a rebadged Opel/Buick. Here are pics of all 3. No real difference other than the grille. How would we feel if GM brought back the Chevelle name on some import car that had no lineage (even remotely) to the original? Remember the Ford Probe? That was originally supposed to be the next generation Mustang.

 

[Derek69SS]

My wife's 2008 G8 GT went 13.003 @ 109mph with just a cam and tune through stock exhaust manifolds, stock torque converter, and 2.93 gears. It needs a stall converter and a used Camaro 3.42 diff would put it in the mid-12s pretty easily, at 4200 lbs w/ driver.

My '06 Z06 should run very-low 11s whenever I get that to the track... that car really amazes me. I've never driven anything with IRS that puts the power down like that car.

Modern cars are too easy to go fast in.

 

[billdini]

The Aussies hated the v6 only FWD "ZB" replacement that they got after their domestic production was shut down in '17. It was basically just a rebadged Opel/Buick. Here are pics of all 3. No real difference other than the grille. How would we feel if GM brought back the Chevelle name on some import car that had no lineage (even remotely) to the original? Remember the Ford Probe? That was originally supposed to be the next generation Mustang.
View attachment 708972 View attachment 708973 View attachment 708974

We kept GM going through the 70's & 80's when the foreign cars were chewing on their asses but when everything went FWD we slowed down with GM and switched to Ford with a few Chrysler products like the Charger and my 300 SRT. Although one of my all time favorites was my 94 Impala SS. Quality still sucked but it was a really good driver for the times. Today we are Ford all the way if you don't include my 68 Chevelle and 71 Camaro SS.

 

[68Chevele]

My good friend had the blue '04 GTO and his son ran 13.65 bone stock with it that had an automatic.

 

[Hotwire]

What I'm impressed with is that this car weighs nearly 4,000 pounds is stuck with 3.46 gears and the only modifications to the engine are long tube headers, high flow cats, catback exhaust, underdrive crank pulley, 1.8 ratio rockers and a FAST 102 intake along with a cold air intake and of course a computer tune. Traction is hard to come by so a set of drag radials helped me get deeper into the 12s. Some guys have gotten these cars into the 12s completely stock on street tires, I'm just not a good enough driver to pull that off. But if the car is capable of 12.8 with ME driving, it is capable of a good bit more in more capable hands.

It is a very unfussy car, supremely comfortable and is a solid platform for performance or just cruising with just a few upgraded bushings in the suspension.

Imagine that drivetrain plopped into a 64 Chevelle, that's how I'm living. Swapping the cam will blow your mind, it's amazing how much these stock heads can flow.

I have the T56 out of an 05 GTO (TUET2066) and am in love with the gear ratios, just puts you right into the powerband on every gear.