Chevy sedan shakes off rental-car stigma

“You’re driving an Impala this week, eh? Yeah, I rented one of those on my last vacation/business trip/etc.,” said everyone I ran into (not like that) when testing the 2014 Chevrolet Impala LT2 this week. It seems that everyone I know has rented one, but no one actually knows anyone that owns one. This experience is anecdotal, of course, but it certainly isn’t a good thing for the classic American nameplate.

For 2014, the Impala reaches the market with a new look and a new high-tech message that I think is a big step in the right direction. There’s nothing dull about the the Impala’s new angry face and the muscular proportions inject the nameplate with a healthy dose of machismo that’s been missing since the Impala was neutered switched to a FF platform back in 2000.

Parked side-by-side at a local strip mall, the 2014 Impala is more memorable than the Camry or Accord, more menacing than the Mazda6 and Taurus. Stylistically speaking, this comeback is off to a very good start.

New generation MyLink infotainment Dating back to 1958, the Impala is Chevrolet’s second-oldest nameplate (preceded only by the Corvette), so I find it amusing that it is the model that ushers in the newest generation of Chevrolet’s MyLink infotainment technology.

This 8-inch touch-screen cabin tech package checks many of the right boxes where connectivity and customization are concerned and even leaves a lot of room for expansion down the line. For example, the icons… [Read more]