Questions for all you '94 - '96 Impy SS Owners

[BuickMike]

My wife and I are pondering getting some type of 4-door sedan and an Impala SS is at the top of our list.

I was just curious if you owners out there could answer some of my questions and / or point me to some good resources on the web?

Here is goes:

Other than adding colors, console shifter, tach, and digital speedo, are there any other differences between the different years?

I'm guessing they went to a different ECM (OBD II) in '96. What effects (good or bad) have that made?

Why Iron heads? Are they crappy? Do aftermarket heads help alot?

What type of rear end do they have and what has been found to be the best rear end ratio for these things? Not 3.08, right?

How about the REAL gas milage?

Are these cars strictly 91 octane vehicles?

What should I watch out for when looking for one?

What are the quirks of these cars.

and finally,

What kind of mods (mainly bolt-ons) will wake these things up a bit?

I was thinking if we do eventually get one I would go with a chip, get rid of the Home Plate, exhaust, free mods, and maybe even some different gears.

Thanks for any advice. I'm hoping to seriously start looking for one no later then spring of next year.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Reaper]

mike there is a very active Impy club in phx.... the pres name is..... crap it slipped my mind right now. his screen name is 4drhtrd or somthing like he is on a few other message boards. iwill get his contact info when i get home.


Dathan

 

[BuickMike]

Thanks Dathan.

Hey, I don't know if you remember me but I was talking to you one time out at Pavillions. I was wondering if you would still be able to trace me a pattern for those T Top covers you made. Let me know. I can supply the paper if you need.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Chris Cornett]

Mike, I just sold my 96 month ago. There is no better way to haul a family around than with a 96 SS. The 94-95 cars are coloumn shift and have the digital dash. They are less desireable. The 96 has the OBD II, which requires a power programmer to modify the ECM. Makes a big difference in performance. The rear is a 3.08 posi. A lot of guys step up to 3.73 gears, but this will kill your economy. As for mileage, I got around 19 on the highway. I always ran regular 87 octane in mine with the stock ECM. If you have the ECM modded with the programmer you will need 91 octane. The biggest thing to watch for is stone chips on the hood and ragged seats. The only thing I didn't like was the turning radius sucks, which make parking lot manuevering tough. With a power programmer, exhaust, and a good cold air kit you will be around 330 HP which makes them a bundle of joy to drive. Check out www.naisso.net

 

[bruce]

I've never owned one, but did some tuning on one.
The 96 PCM is DOA, if you wind up with a 96 do what's necessary to install a 95. then for a couple hundred bucks in misc stuff you can reprogram it yourself.

Redid the intake tract, redid the exhaust, added a K+N, dropped the MAF, did some tweaking on the calibration and ran high 14s.

 

[Reaper]

Originally posted by BuickMike
Thanks Dathan.

Hey, I don't know if you remember me but I was talking to you one time out at Pavillions. I was wondering if you would still be able to trace me a pattern for those T Top covers you made. Let me know. I can supply the paper if you need.

Thanks,
Mike

480 220 7956 i live in tempe now. gimme a call sunday we'll set up a time and i will make a set for ya!



Dathan

 

[gn1220]

Try Impala SS forum.com More info there than you could ever imagine

 

[BuickMike]

gn1220, I can't find that page.

Dathan, thanks man! I'll give you a ring.

 

[gn1220]

I can't get it to work right now, either I visit that site everyday so keep trying, it's well worth the effort That site is to Impalas what this one is to Turbo Buicks

 

[Little6pack]

I borrowed my friends 96 for a day.
I LIKE BIG CARS
Lots of room, lots of pep, so so gas milage.

I hear the 96 is better than 94-95.

Around me they seem very pricey for a low milage one is around $20k

 

[S10xGN]

The ONLY thing I don't like about ours is the CHEESY plastic interior - the constant SQUEEKING drive me NUTS!

 

[slow87]

4drhtrd=Mike B. http://www.azisso.com/ http://www.azsupersport.com/
and there yahoo groups page http://groups.yahoo.com/group/azisso/

www.impalassforum.com
www.impalaclub.com <- I'm on this one

 

[slow87]

Other than adding colors, console shifter, tach, and digital speedo, are there any other differences between the different years?

In 95 they added the mirrors that mount in front of the window, and changed the trim around the 3rd back window(looks much better imo) 95,96 also had a revised tranny. They also got the vented opti spark.

Why Iron heads? Are they crappy? Do aftermarket heads help alot?

It's called torque and the iron heads produce more than any other heads for the lt1 engine(it would be like a buick 455 vs a rat motor). Stock they out flow all heads except lt4.

What are the quirks of these cars.

that damn opti spark (think powermaster), and back window sliders, and blown tranny's when modded

What kind of mods (mainly bolt-ons) will wake these things up a bit?

check this out to get some ideas, http://www.karl-ellwein.org/boltons.htm

 

[BuickMike]

Thanks for all the replies

 

[gn1220]

S10xGN, I agree about the squeeks. I had to rebuild all four door panels in my Roadmaster Wagon to get rid of the noise but it was well worth it. Really made the doors sound more solid, too.
btw, my TBI Wagon gets about 20 mpg on the highway.

 

[LSTTYPE]

imp-ss

My wife and I were in your shoes a month ago. We just bought a 95 green-grey SS. So far the biggest problems I see with it is the power windows. Very, very cheaply made, but easy to fix. 3 out of the four power windows have either stopped working or fallen off of their track since I have owned the car. However I found a better roller to keep the window on the track which should be a permanent fix. I can give you the part number if you would like. I have also heard that the opti-spark unit goes bad on them, and its mounted in a nasty location. We have gotten 22mpg so far. The power is good for a big car but nothing compared to a stock TR. Oh by the way, I paid 14000.00 for mine and the bank would lone up to 15500.00 for it with the miles our car has. Just turned 70k. They really hold their value. I dont miss the console shifter a bit. I love having cup holders and room for all kinds of junk with a full lenth console. The digital dash is pretty cool too.

 

[Vsix]

I have a 96 Impala SS (dark cherry) and love it i drive it everyday no problems i have a few mods 2.5" Dynomax cat back exhaust 160 T-stat K&N cone filter w/Mease mass air pipe and Bryan Herter reprogrammed the ECM (he's the best for these cars) and the rest is stock and runs great and decent gas mileage

Jim

 

[BuickMike]

Very cool. I have always liked those cars and fell in love with one when I got to test drive it a couple years back. I was most impressed with the fact that I felt like I was cruising around on my couch and it handled good too. The salesman started boasting about the power until I mentioned I had a GN. He then quickly started pointing out other characteristics. He actually knew TR's pretty well. I figured the opti spark was going to be crap. My neighbor has a 97 Z28 and has fought with his in the past. I also remember something about Caprices and power windows, so I guess that applies to Impalas also.

LSTTYPE, what's that part #?

Thanks again for the great info!

 

[gn1220]

I also replaced the window roller on the left rear door on my wagon when the doorpanel was off. Very easy to do. The whole process of fixing the window took 1/2 an hour at the most. Yes, this seems to be a very common problem with the B-body cars. The window "roller" is a small nylon donut that gets brittle with age and finally breaks. They only cost a buck and some change at the dealer, heck my parts guy didn't even have to look them up, had the part#memorized.
I wish my wagon had the LT-1 like the Impala, but the TBI motor does pretty well. Hopefully I will be able to put an LS-1 in it someday. There's even a guy on the Impala board with a Turbo 6 in his wagon!

 

[turbonatr]

Mods to run 14s? My mother has a 95 SS which ran 15.2x with my father driving, 14.80 @ 92mph with me driving. The car was stone stock at the time. I removed the factory airbox, plastic intake tubing and triangular air silencer and replaced it with a TR solid mass air pipe, 9" K&N cone filter and had an aluminum "plug" to fit in the hole where the factory air silencer attached. I haven't run the car since, but the seat-of-the-pants test felt like it responded well.

Turbo Technology Inc. has a single turbo kit for the car.