Chevrolet Impala. First World Problems. Management Fleet

I hesitate to type this, since it is possibly the most boring opener to a Management Fleet update I’ve ever written. Still, here it goes: it turns out you can rewind live radio in our long term Chevrolet Impala.

I know, I know. But just bear with me on this…

Given that my memory is envied only by the most gormless of goldfish, most new songs/artists I hear on the radio are usually lost within a matter of moments, and humming a comically inaccurate version of said ballad to friends, family and very patient neighbours only works now and then. An example of this first world problem of mine came to light a few weeks ago in the Impala as I switched radio stations, catching a particularly catchy 45 seconds of music as I did so. This was not quite long enough for my passenger to activate Shazam on his smartphone regrettably, but with a flick of the rewind switch on the eight-inch touchscreen, those 45 seconds were replayed and my ‘problem’ was solved.

There is more to Chevrolet’s next generation MyLink system however than a program that appeases my terrible taste in music. The Bose surround system has been updated for improved sound quality, whilst Bluetooth capabilities allow not only iPhone and iPod connectivity, but also MP3s and SD cards (with USB ports on stand-by just in case). There’s also voice recognition if for some reason the touchscreen gets the better of you, and – for the particularly brave – gesture recognition. Given our innate childishness, we think hands gestures probably aren’t the best of ideas when surrounded by other motorists. Moreover, like the Chevrolet Tahoe LT we reviewed this month, the Impala also shares that rather natty hidden compartment behind the touchscreen. So far we’ve accumulated three packs of gum and a couple of cards for massages pulled from the windscreen…

In other news, it’s mechanically so far so good for the Chevrolet, the 3.6-litre V6 and six-speed automatic gearbox still as smooth as silk, even if the placement of volume and channel switches where traditionally you’d find paddle shifters on the steering wheel has led to some confusion. After some experimentation I’ve also abandoned attempts to use the six-speed box manually: slot the gearlever back into the M position and the lever is mounted too far back to use the +/- thumbswitch on the top comfortably. My thoughts on the thumbswitch itself? …well..

The passenger side front tyre however may start to cause a few issues, an error message alerting us to low pressure and a potential slow puncture. We’ll have to get that checked out in the upcoming weeks.

And yes, I’ve already forgotten what the song was…

MORE VEHICLE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS AVAILABLE HERE