2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS front.jpg

Chevy follows the lead of its Pontiac Grand Prix and Buick LaCrosse cousins by giving its Impala and Monte Carlo their first updates since 2000. Among the brands, Chevrolet's changes are the most meaningful: vastly cleaner styling inside and out by anyone's eyes, plus three new engines. The first two, a related pair of 3.5 and 3.9 V6s, replace last year's 3.4 and 3.8 variants and generate 210 and 240 horsepower. Sadly, both are still iron-block, overhead valve designs and a 4-speed automatic is still the only transmission offered. More significantly, SS versions get a 5.3-liter variant of the Corvette's V8 (code-named LS4) making 303 horsepower and 323 pounds-feet of torque, enabling them to smoke the wrong set of tires more forcefully than ever. Displacement On Demand technology is part of the deal for a claimed fuel savings of 12%. Just think of what could've been if this engine had been dropped into the 1996 Impala… Both cars come with two suspension settings, with the SS's b