The Impala is slightly shorter than the Lumina four-door sedan, but it looks bigger on the road with its upright windows and roof pillars and longer greenhouse. The Impala is a whopping 9 inches shorter than a Dodge Intrepid, yet it's slightly larger in total interior volume than either the Intrepid or the Lumina.The most significant styling cues are the headlight and taillight clusters, which use a unique combination of round lights clearly visible from behind trapezoidal covers. It's an aggressive new look for a Chevy sedan, so you'll easily spot an Impala in traffic. If you don't like the boy-racer spoiler on the decklid of the LS model, it will cost you $175 to delete it. The optional ($600 on base models) anti-lock brake system includes a tire-pressure warning monitor. The availability of a base car without anti-lock brakes bucks a trend at GM to equip all cars with ABS; Chevy explains that some of its customers prefer cars without it. New for 2001 is the addition of GM's OnStar system as standard on the LS and optional on the base model. OnStar is a customer-service network linked to each car via satellite. It's one of those convenience features that you may never notice during daily use, but it's nice to have if something goes wrong. The system can notify network representatives of the car's location to assist in providing emergency roadside assistance or to help track it if it is stolen. It automatically notifies the OnStar network when the airbag has been deployed, and operators will dispatch emergency crews to the spot unless you respond to their calls.
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