The Impala looks bigger than it is, thanks to its upright windows and roof pillars and relatively long greenhouse. The Impala is a whopping nine inches shorter than a Dodge Intrepid, yet it's slightly larger in total interior volume. The most significant styling cues are the headlight and taillight clusters, which use a unique combination of round lights clearly visible from behind trapezoidal covers. It's an aggressive look for a Chevy sedan, so you'll easily spot an Impala in traffic. If you don't like the boy-racer spoiler on the deck lid of the LS, you can delete it for a $175 credit.
The Impala is noticeably roomy inside, with 122 cubic feet of interior volume. Interior space was gained by designing a high roofline with more vertical sides, carefully rearranging the rear bulkhead, and moving the seats slightly outboard. From the driver's seat you get the impression that the car is huge inside, likely because you sense a notable distance to the right-side passenger. Base models come with a three-passenger split bench seat in the front; LS models come with two individual front seats, although by checking off the right options you can put buckets in the base model or a bench in the LS. New for 2002 is a leather-accented bench seat. Because it comes with six-way power, lumbar support, and a side-impact air bag, it costs $1390 on base models and $625 on LS. At first glance, the individual seats look flat, like semi-benches, but when you sit in them, they provide good support for your thighs and your back. They feel like bucket seats. But then the front-center passenger has to straddle the split between the seats. A slight hump down the center accommodates the exhaust; but it also hampers legroom for the front center passenger. It's easy to orient yourself inside the Impala. Controls are logical, work smoothly, and are easy to see. They follow the function of those in the smaller Malibu, but they're bigger. New for 2002 are individual temperature controls for the driver and passenger. Although Impala boasts more total interior volume than the Dodge Intrepid, the Chevy's rear seat area is shorter on useable legroom. Still, the Impala is better in this respect than the Ford Taurus or the even the full-size Ford Crown Victoria. The Impala's rear seating position is comfortable and relatively high, which makes it easy to get in and out. There are three shoulder belts in the rear, as well as LATCH child-seat tethers. In the LS, the rear seat is split 60/40 and folds down to allow bulky items to protrude from the trunk; that's handy if you're a Home Depot regular. The headliner is nicely padded. Chevy says this design will pass the federal head injury requirements scheduled to come into effect for all cars in 2003. A seat-mounted side-impact airbag is standard on LS and available as part of several option packages on the base model. |
