The Car Connection Expert Review
Likes
- Sharp styling
- Good value overall
- Comfortable interior
- Great ride/handling balance
Dislikes
- A hybrid would help
- So would more active safety tech
- Less rear-seat headroom than expected
- Stiff ride with 20-inch wheels
Buying tip
features & specs
The 2019 Chevrolet Impala does big car hauling with sports car design flair.
The 2019 Chevrolet Impala delivers muscular style and a spacious, comfortable interior without the land-yacht ride of full-size sedans of yore.
It’s a handsome, likeable sedan, but limited standard active safety gear keeps its rating to 5.8 out of 10 on our scale. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
The 2019 Impala is much like last year’s and is available in LS, LT, and Premier trim levels. A 2.5-liter inline-4 engine comes standard while the optional 3.6-liter V-6 is worthwhile. Both engines pair to 6-speed automatic transmissions and shuttle power to the front wheels.
The V-6 provides good acceleration, but it’s a far cry from the Impala SS you might remember. Instead, the latest Impala aims to be a comfortable boulevardier with good room for four or five adults, plus their luggage.
At around $29,000 to start, the base Impala LS is a lot of car for the money—and it’s unusually stylish for a big sedan with its bulging fenders and generous chrome. We especially like the 19-inch alloy wheels available on LT and Premier trims.
Inside, all models have a big 8.0-inch touchscreen for infotainment fitted with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, but Chevy restricts advanced crash-avoidance tech to the Premier trim level. Cloth seats come standard, while leather is optional on the LT and included on the Premier.
Given its dimensions and heft, the Impala is reasonably fuel-efficient. V-6 models check in at 19 mpg city, 28 highway, 22 combined, but there is no hybrid Impala available.
2019 Chevrolet Impala Styling
Muscular styling outside helps the 2019 Chevrolet Impala stand apart.
The 2019 Chevrolet Impala looks great from just about every angle outside. We just wish its busy interior was more in line with the stylish exterior. Overall, we rate the 2019 Impala at 6 out of 10 points. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
The 2019 Impala doesn’t go for retro kitsch, and that’s just fine with us. This full-size sedan’s design debuted for the 2014 model year, but it’s aging well. Its proportions suggest a rear-wheel-drive powertrain, even though all Impalas are front-wheel drive.
The standard 18-inch steel wheels with hubcaps in the Impala LS don’t do this curvaceous sedan any favors. The optional alloy wheels are a worthwhile upgrade, as is the $400 upcharge for Cajun Red Tintcoat paint.
Inside, the Impala overwhelms at first with its numerous cut lines, colors, and materials. Its 8.0-inch touchscreen for infotainment sits high on its dash, which has a dual-cowl feel at first glance. The uppermost section of the dashboard swoops into the door panels, a look that works best in cars with contrasting tan or gray upholstery.
2019 Chevrolet Impala Performance
The 2019 Chevrolet Impala’s composed ride quality is far from classic land yacht.
Don’t look for a pillowy, floating ride in the 2019 Chevrolet Impala. Instead, this big four-door has a comfortable, stable feel that’s almost sporty. Almost. We rate it at 6 out of 10 with an extra point above average for the way it takes bumpy roads in stride. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
The 2019 Impala comes standard with an adequate, if uninspiring 2.5-liter inline-4 rated at 197 horsepower. The optional 3.6-liter V-6 rated at 305 hp suits the Impala’s character better with its smooth feel and responsive acceleration. Regardless of engine, the Impala uses a 6-speed automatic transmission to shuttle power to the front wheels.
Crisp, direct steering fed through a thick-rimmed steering wheel helps the Impala feel almost entertaining to drive on a curvy road. This big sedan masks its curb weight well, even though its suspension is tuned for comfort more than handling prowess. With its standard 18-inch and optional 19-inch wheels, the Impala takes bumpy roads in stride. The 20-inch wheels available in certain trims give it a slightly flintier ride, a trade-off for the way they look.
It’s on the open road where the Chevy Impala feels most at home. Good highway tracking and limited wind and road noise make it feel almost like a luxury car as it adds miles to its odometer on a long trek.
2019 Chevrolet Impala Comfort & Quality
The 2019 Chevrolet Impala has its big car virtues intact.
Comfortable front seats and a trunk ready to swallow a month’s worth of luggage all add up to an 7 out of 10 comfort and quality score for the 2019 Chevrolet Impala. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
All versions of the 2019 Impala come with an 8-way power-adjustable driver seat, while a similarly adjustable passenger seat is on the options list. The standard cloth upholstery doesn’t impress, but the available leather on LT and Premier trims is worth the upgrade.
The Impala’s rear seat has good room for three adults to ride abreast, although headroom suffers slightly as a result of this sedan’s sloping roofline.
In its trunk, the Impala holds 18.8 cubic feet worth of luggage. The trunk opens wide, but a high bumper means liftover can be a challenge for especially heavy objects.
For a sedan that costs less than $30,000, the Impala’s interior impresses with its soft-touch materials and high quality feel. Even a highly optioned Impala Premier stays around $40,000 and feels like a luxury car inside.
2019 Chevrolet Impala Safety
Limited availability of advanced safety tech offset decent crash test scores for the 2019 Chevrolet Impala.
The 2019 Chevrolet Impala has performed fairly well in crash tests, but it loses a point for its costly active safety tech. We rate it at 5 out of 10. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
All 2019 Impala sedans have 10 airbags, a rearview camera, and stability control. Blind-spot monitors are optional on the Impala LT and standard on the Premier. Unfortunately, automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control are relegated to the Premier trim only—an oversight since competitors such as the Toyota Avalon make this important tech standard equipment.
The NHTSA rates the Impala at five stars overall. The IIHS gives a mixed review, with a concerning “Acceptable” score in the driver-side small-overlap test that simulates impact with a stationary object such as a telephone pole and a “Poor” rating for its headlights.
2019 Chevrolet Impala Features
The 2019 Chevrolet Impala is a lot of car—with a lot of features—for the money.
With a starting price below $30,000, the 2019 Chevrolet Impala is well-equipped for the money and can be outfitted almost like a luxury sedan with all the options selected. We rate it at 7 out of 10, giving it points for its relatively high customizability and for its terrific infotainment system. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
The 2019 Impala is available in three trim levels: LS, LT, and Premier. The Impala LS starts at about $29,000 and includes a power driver’s seat, keyless ignition, and an 8.0-inch touchscreen for infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. Aside from paint colors and a choice of 4- or 6-cylinder power, the Impala LS doesn’t offer much customizability.
Stepping up to the Impala LT raises the price by about $2,500 and adds alloy wheels, dual-zone automatic climate control, remote start, power lumbar for the passenger seat, and rear-seat climate control vents. The LT is also the gateway to option packages that include such niceties as leather upholstery, heated front seats, a power moonroof, and blind-spot monitors.
The pick of the litter, as far as we’re concerned, is the range-topping Impala Premier. At about $38,000, it’s very well-equipped with leather upholstery, parking sensors, Bose speakers, and 19-inch wheels. Unfortunately, Chevy charges extra for active safety tech including automatic emergency braking that really should be standard at this price point. Still, at about $40,000, an Impala Premier with a few options represents a tremendous value.
2019 Chevrolet Impala Fuel Economy
A hybrid powertrain would help the 2019 Chevrolet Impala sip a lot less fuel.
The 2019 Chevrolet Impala isn’t an old-school guzzler, but it’s not all that thrifty either. We rate it at 4 out of 10. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
The base inline-4 is the least thirsty engine option, but not by much. The EPA rates it at 22 mpg city, 29 highway, 25 combined. Selecting the much stronger V-6 option pushes those figures down to 19/28/22 mpg. Notably, the 19-inch alloy wheels on higher-trim Impalas score 18 mpg in the city with the V-6.
Unfortunately, no hybrid version of the Impala is available. The mild-hybrid powertrain in the related Buick LaCrosse is rated at 29 mpg combined, a big improvement over the Impala.
The Impala’s base inline-4 features a stop/start system that works unobtrusively to save fuel while idling. All versions of the Impala run on regular unleaded gas.
