Back in 2001 I bought myself a brand new Z28, hence my name, and boy do I miss that car. Once I got married, I unloaded it for an 04 F150 which has been a nice, versatile vehicle, but no fun. I'm looking to trade in the truck for an 06 Impala SS but I have a few questions about them.

1. Can anyone give me real world gas mileage ratings for them. I promised my wife I'd buy a car that was better on gas which shouldn't be too hard considering my F150 gets 12 MPG and costs 75 bucks tro fill. Does that "displacement on demand" feature help?????

2. Is $21,877 for an 06 demo with 7900 miles on it as good of a deal as I think, or should I try to go down more.

3. Any impressions from those who drive them or any other 5.3 V8 cars (Impala SS, Monte SS, GXP).

4. Anyone familiar with trade in values, can I use National American Dealers Association (NADA.com) as a good guide.

5. What would folks prefer from a performance standpoint?
A. Impala SS
B. Pontiac Grand Prix GTP (3.8L SC)
C. Nissan Altima (3.5L V6)
These are the 3 cars I'm interested in listed in the order of interest. I'd be interested in an 05 GXP if the price was right but the few I've seen are still hovering around $25,000.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

I can only speak for the powertrain. Never even rode in an Impala SS. But the LS4 is a fun engine, tons of low and midrange torque plus plenty of top end horsepower. Take one for a test drive and you will probably be hooked, 5 minutes into driving a GXP I told the dealer "Find me a black one and its sold."

The GTP and Altima are fast, but stock vs. stock the LS4 is gonna win, probably even in the slightly heavier Impala SS. Plus with the LS4 you have got the nice V8 rumble.

 

I love my car but hate my gas mileage, but i seem to have the dog out of the bunch of us with the LS4. I do 95% of my driving, heavy-footed through the city and get 12mpg. If you have a reasonable highway commute and/or often get on the highway at other times, you should expect to see 17-19 combined from what other owners are saying. I can get 26 on the highway at 72mph or so.

What don't i like about my car? The seats! They suck for lateral support (if it weren't for the door and console you'd slide around). I'm not thin by any means, but i'm not huge either, and i slip-n-slide all over the place. I actually considered buying the seats from an 06 MonteSS (their side bolsters are much better) off eBay but they were in rough shape. The base radio is garbage if you want to listen to anything loud, IMO...the speakers are good, though . You can't replace the HU for quite a while, though, as there is no onstar/chime bypass module yet. The 17g tank is too small for me, but that's b/c i only get 12mpg. The trunk is too big! Now, usually this isn't a problem, but it takes away from the rear seats. However, they're manageable even for larger/taller guys.

Performance-wise, i'd say the SS hands-down! I can guarantee the Imp will take both the Altima and the GTP with no problem...and i have. I've also taken the Maxima 6-spd both on the streets and on the highway, and they're quick!

When looking at your list of mods on your z28, though, i'd say you'll have a tough time with the Impala b/c there are simply NO performance parts out there, especially when compared to the GTP.

As far as the pricing goes, i can't help you there. This was my first new purchase and likely paid too much for it when all things were considered.

Hope i've helped.

 

The impala SS i drove for about 500 miles was a great car, awesome power and mileage. I averaged about 31mpg when i had my foot out of it (not easy). Fit n' finish and overall feel of the car is far above anything GM has put out in a long time. The one i drove was black, got a ton of looks to boot.

 

Thanks alot guys. I really want one of these now. As far as the mods go, my life is much different now then it was when I had my Z28 so as much as I'd love to mod out an SS, I don't plan on it. I'm going to head down to the formentioned dealer this weekend. If they can show me $20,000 for my F150, we'll have a deal.

 

SS ?? ......come over to the dark side.....Pontiac GXP baby