Anyone has an '06 Impala base with the 3.5L? How does the engine feel?

I was wondering what if this engine was put into other cars, as so far only the Impala has it. And no, it's not the exact same 3500 in other cars. It has a different RPO code.

Anyone has an '06 Impala base with the 3.5L? How does the engine feel?

I was wondering what if this engine was put into other cars, as so far only the Impala has it. And no, it's not the exact same 3500 in other cars. It has a different RPO code.

Well, basically it is the same, save for a few little electronic and minor design differences to incorportate the VVT.

Every review I've seen says it's actually pretty zippy and gets the car going well, in addition to being extremely stingy with gas. The extra little boost from the VVT probably helps a little too, so I do wonder why they don't use this same version in all the 3.5L engined cars.

Well, basically it is the same, save for a few little electronic and minor design differences to incorportate the VVT.

Every review I've seen says it's actually pretty zippy and gets the car going well, in addition to being extremely stingy with gas.  The extra little boost from the VVT probably helps a little too, so I do wonder why they don't use this same version in all the 3.5L engined cars.

yea its not bad it preforms pretty well...

the car is by no means sluggish...

Check out my "2006 Impala LS review" down the list a little way. I found the 3500 to be a pretty good base engine but sadly it was still not very quiet when worked. It provided consistant 7.8 0-60 times in my test car, revved to 6200 rpms and shifted out of first gear at 60 mph! The 2.86:1 gears they use with this engine somewhat blunt the response of this engine as does the antique 4 speed automatic with it's huge gap between 1st and 2nd gear. It ran pretty free up to 60 then shifted into 2nd and lost a lot of steam until engine revs came back up. In contrast a 2006 Ford Five Hundred I rented was noticeably different. It was a base FWD model with CVT. Off the line was sluggish until around 25 mph when the engine came on very strong. Highway response was unreal with that car. The engine was always right there and highway passing response was super. It felt so much more responsive than anything with GM's 4 speed automatic that I have ever driven! Hopefully the Impalas will get the 6 speed automatics soon, which will go a long way towards correcting this.

Well, basically it is the same, save for a few little electronic and minor design differences to incorportate the VVT.

Every review I've seen says it's actually pretty zippy and gets the car going well, in addition to being extremely stingy with gas.  The extra little boost from the VVT probably helps a little too, so I do wonder why they don't use this same version in all the 3.5L engined cars.

I pretty sure this engine is 90% all new and shares little with the LX9 3500?

The codes:

3500: LX9

3500 VVT: LZ4

Both of them are part of the "High Value" engine family, i.e. 60* V6.

I pretty sure this engine is 90% all new and shares little with the LX9 3500?

I thought so too, dont they have slightly different displacements also?

you are correct the engine shares an entrilely different block with teh new 3.9 vvt