Detroit, USA: Much has been made of General Motors' decision to kill off the Impala SS. But it should be taken with a grain of salt according to my sources in Detroit.
The days when you could successfully compete in the North American perforamnce sedan market with 5.3-litre V8 powered four door that puts its power through the front wheels are numbered.
Even with all the electronic trickery car makers can get their hands on these days to quell the nasty effects of torque steer and wheel spin, channelling 307bhp and 440Nm through the front wheels is not the sort of stuff that's going to attract enthusiast buyers. No, they're likely to run the other way . . .
GM knows it needs to switch to rear wheel drive for the Impala.
The answer is simple, according to one guy sitting in the Renaissance Centre I spoke to today: take the Pontiac G8 ditch the grille and replace it with one that's got Chevrolet's shiny bow tie emblem sitting out front. Then plaster an Impala badge to the trunk.
Presto! New generation Impala.
The mechanical package is the same as that found underneath the Camaro. The new Impala is also planned to use the same 304bhp 3.6 V6 in standard specification and 6.2-litre V8 in SS specifiction as GM's iconic two door coupe. So, there are important economies of scale on build, parts and servicing.
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