General Motors has been known to build, among other types of vehicles, decent family sedans. Large, spacious highway cruisers can often be used to describe them.

Chevrolet’s full-size entry in this segment is the Impala, a classical V6-powered front-wheel-drive sedan based on GM’s “W” platform. A popular one at that, as 21,486 units were sold in Canada for 2006 with 2007 numbers looking just as good. Only Toyota’s Camry has outpaced the Impala in its segment. To top it off, many fleets — like police, taxis and other large corporations — trust this large sedan for their needs.

Being built here in Canada — in Oshawa, Ontario — and being so popular in the market, it seemed obvious that it would make an interesting vehicle to test in the long run. We got in touch with GM and they loved the idea.

We were also able to take delivery of our no-nonsense long-term tester right at the end of the Oshawa plant production line, following a tour allowing us to understand how GM builds them. I’ve toured many car plants and visiting this one helped us understand why this plant is known as one of the best, winning many awards for quality and productivity over the years… Attention to detail and passion for work well done are what drives the employees of this plant.

Our tester is an 2008 model in LTZ trim with Imperial Blue Metallic paint. It is powered by GM’s 233-hp FlexFuel 3.9-L V6. FlexFuel here means it can run on either regular gasoline or on E85, a blend of 85 per cent Ethanol and 15 per cent gas. This powerplant has variable valve timing and active fuel management. This latter feature helps fuel efficiency by shutting down half of the engine’s cylinders under low-demand driving conditions, i.e. when cruising on the highway, on level stretches of roads or when decelerating.

Like the two other engines available on the Impala, this V6 engine is mated to GM’s trusted Hydra-Matic 4T65 electronically controlled four-speed automatic transmission.

Every Impala comes standard with four-wheel disc brakes and ABS, four-wheel independent suspension, rack-and-pinion power steering, traction control, OnStar, power door locks, power mirrors, AC with air filtration system, cruise control, power windows and side curtain airbags on top of the pair of front-mounted ones.

The LTZ trim of our tester adds StabiliTrack, an electronic stability control system; theft alarm; a sportier suspension coded FE3 that includes 18 inch aluminum wheels with 235/50R18 tires, a 34mm hollow front and 18mm solid rear stabilizer bar; a rear spoiler and front fog lights; heated rear-view mirrors and a power eight-way driver’s seat.

Additional options that came on our Impala were a power sliding sunroof ($1,340) and the Bose entertainment package ($980) which includes eight speakers, XM satellite radio and CD/MP3 player capabilities.

Total invoice for our Impala, including destination charge ($1,250), the aforementioned options ($2,420) and federal air conditioning excise tax ($100) comes to $33,115.

In the first two weeks of “ownership” we used it for a trip to Montreal and then another one to Ottawa. First impressions are very good. The ride on the highway is praised, just like the fit and finish in the cabin. Also, the transition between three and six-cylinder operation is seamless.

The huge trunk is also appreciated, especially for those trips necessitating some luggage space. The driving position is good and seems to suit most of the staffers – large or small, tall or short – while the strength of the AC system was praised during the humid and hot days we’ve had the car so far.

Fuel consumption for such a large vehicle is interesting at 10.334 L/100 km over the 3,000 km we’ve done up ‘till now and looks to be improving as the engine progressively gets run in.

GM is onto something with this Impala and we are discovering that “something” with this newest long-termer.