Shop RadioShack for Great Gifts
CNET editors' review
-
CNET editors' rating:
stars
Good
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 02/07/2006
The 2006 Chevrolet Impala LTZ gets a 3.9-liter V-6 engine with variable valve timing, which is a first for a pushrod engine. With 242 horsepower delivered to the front wheels, acceleration is acceptable but not remarkable. On the highway, the Impala LTZ behaves very well, but this isn't the car for a fun drive on the back roads. Passenger safety comes in the form of traction control, ABS brakes, and front and side air bags. The model we tested lists for $27,530, including destination charge. Other trim levels are available, such as the $20,990 LS, which doesn't include the Bose stereo system and shaves 0.4 liter off the engine. If you look in the opposite direction, the SS comes with a 5.3-liter V-8 for about $500 more than the LTZ.
For the most part, the styling on the 2006 Chevrolet Impala LTZ is plain and undistinguished, but the grille and the headlights might attract a look or two. The interior of our test car was surprisingly luxurious, dressed with leather and burled-walnut trim. The fit and finish are excellent, as is the quality of the switch gear--no cheap plastic here. We particularly liked the dials, which were all fitted with tactile-rubber rims, providing us with a surprisingly pleasant grip. The only slight letdown is the steering wheel, which even with excellent cruise and stereo controls doesn't quite measure up to the rest of the interior. One odd thing we noticed was the lack of a gear indicator on the floor-mounted shift, but the instrument panel included a gear display.The 2006 Chevrolet Impala LTZ's front seats have many amenities, such as heat and leather, as well as eight-way power adjustment for the driver and six-way for the passenger. But we never could quite get comfortable, possibly due to a lack of support behind the shoulders. Lateral support in the bucket seats is virtually nonexistent, so we found ourselves sliding about quite a bit, even on moderate cornering. Rear legroom is acceptable, and as long as the front seats aren't all the way back, tall passengers can find enough headroom by sliding down in the seats a little bit. When we folded the rear-seat cushions forward, they revealed some shallow bins, which would be perfect for hiding high-tech toys. By leaving them folded forward, we could either turn the area into a small cargo bay or let the 60/40 seat backs fold completely flat with the floor of the already huge trunk.
We enjoyed the 2006 Chevrolet Impala LTZ's eight-speaker Bose premium sound system, which features a single-disc MP3 CD player, AM/FM radio (with radio data display), XM Satellite Radio, and an auxiliary jack for other music devices. Even at high volumes, everything is crisp and clean, and it handled the low-frequency sounds of Led Zeppelin's "Dazed and Confused" with aplomb. However, we would have liked some low-volume bass boost so that we could feel the bass without it blowing out our ears. Our improvised solution of dropping the treble and midrange to their lowest levels helped but wasn't perfect.
The tab-and-button-based menu system on the 2006 Chevrolet Impala LTZ's two-line, 32-character display is quite effective and took us only a minute to learn. We were able to sort the music on our MP3 CDs based on the folder or the ID3 tags for song, artist, or album. But first, the stereo needed to load all the ID3 information, which requires a fair bit of time--we clocked 5 minutes, 20 seconds for a fairly full MP3 CD. The stereo loads the ID3 information every time the disc is changed, although the disc can be played immediately if you just want to listen to the tracks in order. Fortunately, the sorting is done in the background, so we were able to listen to the satellite radio while waiting.
Continue readingMost helpful user reviews
- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 9 reviews
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
-
Showing 3 of 9 user reviews
-
3 out of 4 people found this helpful
-
1 out of 1 people found this helpful
-
1 out of 1 people found this helpful
- See all 9 user reviews Write review
Submit your review
