Why the 2016 Chevy Impala is the Best Family Sedan

The 2016 Chevy Impala is here, and it looks better than ever. This full-size sedan is sure to make some waves on the market, especially with how family oriented it is. This Impala has it all; athletic styling and performance for dad, space for the family, and safety for the kids. All of this is wrapped up into one competitive price, making this one of the best full-size family sedans on the market.

The 2016 Chevy Impala clearly has something for everyone in the family, and the design and performance are exclusively for dad. With the recent trend of making sedans look more muscular in the market, it’s no surprise that Chevy was able to make theirs look like it lifts bigger weights.

Design for Dad

Much bigger weights; especially when compared to some of the other full-size family sedans out there. This is one powerful and handsome looking vehicle, perfect for dad.

Sitting at the forefront of the design is the proudly displayed Chevy bow-tie logo, which contrasts nicely with the black split grille design. The top of the grille leads outward on both sides, towards stout and rectangular headlights. Above all this, the hood chisels downward to seamlessly meet the front-end. The hood of the Impala is raised slightly in the center, giving it a much more muscular and rigid look than the older sedans that just had a flat hood. The hood then peels back and over an aerodynamically design windshield and roof, down to an elongated rear-end.

The tires in the front look to be set as close as possible to the front-end, whereas the rear wheels are sitting closer to the center. To help accent the look created from the rear tires sitting closer to the center, a raised curve runs from underneath the back doorhandles and over the quarter panels to the tail-lights, where it melds flawlessly with them. A spoiler is set in the perfect way; just low enough to make the back end look sleek, but just high enough to help with aerodynamics. That spoiler sits on top of tail-lights that curve towards the back quarter panels, and the chevy logo again sits proudly in the center.

The result? A vehicle that creates an imposing and handsome presence on the road from front, side, or back. With the back wheels sitting closer to the center, it jacks the back end up just the right amount to help finish off the intimidating stance. This design isn’t only aerodynamic, but also a bold statement that is backed up by the performance under the hood.

Performance for Dad

As far as full-size family sedans go, the Impala is sitting near the top. There are two engines offered across the Impala trims, the standard on the first two trims being a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine. This engine is able to get an estimate of 24 mpg city and 33 mpg highway, which is a superior amount of fuel-efficiency for a full-size sedan.

On the two higher trims, the performance oriented engine comes in. The 3.6-liter V6 engine provides the perfect balance between powerful performance and smart fuel-efficiency. It’s able to get an estimated 19 mpg city and 29 mpg highway, while still putting out decent horsepower for a full-size family sedan. The direct injection and variable valve timing V6 engine is able to push-out 305 horsepower and 264 pound-feet of torque.

While the EcoTec 2.5-liter puts out 196 horsepower and 186 pound-feet torque, which is significantly less than the V6, it’s more concentrated on fuel efficiency. Thanks to the state-of-the-art design of the EcoTec engine and stop/start technology, the Impala can be as fuel-efficient as possible.

Then again, 21/29 mpg aren’t bad numbers, and the allure of a V6 twisting out 305 horsepower is hard to resist, especially in a sedan that looks this good.

Space for the Family

When Chevy says full-size sedan, they mean full-size. Thanks to the size of this sedan, it has the perfect amount of space inside to comfortably seat a 5-person family, with plenty of storage-room left over.

The length of this sedan is over 16.5 feet long, the width is about 6 feet across, and it has a height of just under 5 feet. These big dimensions are what provide the 2016 Impala with such a roomy interior, and translates to 105 cu-ft of passenger volume. Thanks to the width of the Impala, the hip room on the inside is about 4.5 feet, and the head room is just over 3 feet.

This spec heavy paragraph means there is plenty of room for the entire family, and thanks to some engineering tricks, plenty of storage space too. On top of the generous 18.8 cu-ft of trunk space, the Impala is designed with little nooks and crannies to store items. Such as behind the touch-screen, where there is a lockable compartment to keep the important items inside. There is also hidden storage in the trunk, and umbrella pockets in the front.

Combining the power, efficiency, and space provided by the Impala makes for a vehicle that’s great for a long road trip with the family, and the safety features ensure that you will be as safe as possible during that trip.

Safety for the Kids

While these safety features benefit all passengers, everyone knows how worried drivers are about the safety of their kids. Which is why the 2016 Chevy Impala is a full-size sedan that has the latest and greatest features to keep them safe.

The Impala has features like forward collision alert, side blind zone alert, and rear cross traffic alert. These features all warn the driver if a collision is possible while driving, changing lanes, or backing out of a tight parking space. Lane departure warning is there too ensure that you won’t unintentionally drift out of your lane on the highway. If the vehicle detects you are changing lanes without using your blinker, it will assume you are doing so unintentionally. It will trigger audio and visual warnings so you can safely get back in your lane.

Along with these features, there are also 10 standard air bags on the Impala, which are placed to keep everyone in the car as safe as possible. These airbags are all enclosed in a high-strength frame that runs around the cab, which is the first line of defense during a potential collision.

Competitive Pricing

The Impala has 4 trims: LS, 1LT, 2LT, and the top of the line 2LTZ. The base MSRP of the 2016 Chevy Impala starts at $27,095, and goes up to $35,540 for the 2LTZ. It doesn’t matter what trim it is, the price is average. Which is a problem for the competition, because this is a full-size family sedan that has everything and more. It has space, comfort, safety, power, efficiency, and devilishly good looks; all for a competitive price.

This makes the 2016 Chevy Impala a strong contender for the best full-size family sedan, and is sure to make for some stiff competition on the market.