Black plate (18,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
1-18 In Brief
During cooler conditions, the low tire
pressure warning light may appear
when the vehicle is first started and
then turn off. This may be an early
indicator that the tire pressures are
getting low and the tires need to be
inflated to the proper pressure.
The TPMS does not replace normal
monthly tire maintenance. It is the
driver’s responsibility to maintain
correct tire pressures.
See Tire Pressure Monitor System
on page 10‑43.
Engine Oil Life System
The engine oil life system calculates
engine oil life based on vehicle use
and displays a DIC message when
it is necessary to change the engine
oil and filter. The oil life system
should be reset to 100% only
following an oil change. Resetting the Oil Life System
1. Display OIL LIFE REMAINING
on the DIC.
2. Press and hold the SET/RESET button on the DIC for more than
five seconds. The oil life will
change to 100%.
See Engine Oil Life System on
page 10‑10.
Fuel E85 (85% Ethanol)
Vehicles that have a FlexFuel badge
and a yellow fuel cap can use either
unleaded gasoline or ethanol fuel
containing up to 85% ethanol (E85).
See Fuel E85 (85% Ethanol) on
page 9‑39. For all other vehicles,
use only the unleaded gasoline
described under Recommended
Fuel on page 9‑37.
Driving for Better Fuel
Economy
Driving habits can affect fuel
mileage. Here are some driving tips
to get the best fuel economy
possible.
.Avoid fast starts and accelerate
smoothly.
.Brake gradually and avoid
abrupt stops.
.Avoid idling the engine for long
periods of time.
.When road and weather
conditions are appropriate, use
cruise control.
.Always follow posted speed
limits or drive more slowly when
conditions require.
Black plate (7,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
Seats and Restraints 3-7
Power Reclining Seatbacks
To adjust a power seatback,
if equipped:
.Tilt the top of the control
rearward to recline.
.Tilt the top of the control forward
to raise.
Heated Front Seats
{WARNING
If you cannot feel temperature
change or pain to the skin, the
seat heater may cause burns
even at low temperatures. To
reduce the risk of burns, people
with such a condition should use
care when using the seat heater,
especially for long periods of
time. Do not place anything on
the seat that insulates against
heat, such as a blanket, cushion,
cover, or similar item. This may
cause the seat heater to
overheat. An overheated seat
heater may cause a burn or may
damage the seat.
If available, the buttons are on the
climate control panel. To operate,
the ignition must be on.
Press
LorMto heat the driver or
passenger seat cushion and
seatback.
Black plate (8,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
3-8 Seats and Restraints
Press the button once for the
highest setting. With each press of
the button, the heated seat will
change to the next lower setting,
and then to the off setting. The
lights indicate two for the highest
setting and one for the lowest.
The passenger seat may take
longer to heat up.
The heated seat are canceled each
time the ignition is turned off. To use
this feature after restarting the
vehicle, press the desired button
again.Rear Seats
Rear Seats (Split Folding)
Flip and Fold Feature
On vehicles with this feature, the
seat cushions flip forward and the
seatbacks fold down to create an
extended flat cargo area.
To flip the seat cushion and fold the
seatback:
1. Make sure the front seats arenot reclined. The seat cushion
will not flip forward completely if
the front seats are reclined.
2. Flip the seat cushion forward bypulling up on the tab in the
center of the seat cushion where
the seatback meets the seat
cushion.
Black plate (38,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
3-38 Seats and Restraints
{WARNING
Never do this.
Never allow a child to wear the
safety belt with the shoulder belt
behind their back. A child can be
seriously injured by not wearing
the lap-shoulder belt properly. In a
crash, the child would not be
restrained by the shoulder belt.
The child could move too far
forward increasing the chance of
head and neck injury. The child
might also slide under the lap
belt. The belt force would then be
applied right on the abdomen.
That could cause serious or fatal
injuries. The shoulder belt should
go over the shoulder and across
the chest.
Infants and Young
Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs
protection! This includes infants and
all other children. Neither the
distance traveled nor the age and
size of the traveler changes the
need, for everyone, to use safety
restraints. In fact, the law in every
state in the United States and in
every Canadian province says
children up to some age must be
restrained while in a vehicle.
{WARNING
Children can be seriously injured
or strangled if a shoulder belt is
wrapped around their neck and
the safety belt continues to
tighten. Never leave children
unattended in a vehicle and never
allow children to play with the
safety belts.
Airbags plus lap‐shoulder belts offer
protection for adults and older
children, but not for young children
and infants. Neither the vehicle's
safety belt system nor its airbag
system is designed for them. Every
time infants and young children ride
in vehicles, they should have the
protection provided by appropriate
child restraints.
Children who are not restrained
properly can strike other people,
or can be thrown out of the vehicle.
Black plate (6,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
5-6 Instruments and Controls
If CAL should ever appear in the
DIC display, the compass should be
calibrated.
If the DIC display does not show a
heading, for example, N for North,
or the heading does not change
after making turns, there may be a
strong magnetic field interfering with
the compass. Such interference
may be caused by a magnetic CB or
cell phone antenna mount, a
magnetic emergency light, magnetic
note pad holder, or any other
magnetic item. Turn off the vehicle,
move the magnetic item, then turn
on the vehicle and calibrate the
compass.
To calibrate the compass, use the
following procedure:
Compass Calibration Procedure
1. Before calibrating the compass,make sure the compass zone is
set to the variance zone in which
the vehicle is located. See
“Compass Variance (Zone)
Procedure” earlier in this
section. Do not operate any switches
such as window, sunroof,
climate controls, seats, etc.
during the calibration procedure.
2. Press
Tuntil PRESSVTO
CALIBRATE COMPASS
displays.
3. Press
Vto start the compass
calibration.
4. The DIC will display CALIBRATING: DRIVE IN
CIRCLES. Drive the vehicle in
tight circles at less than 8 km/h
(5 mph) to complete the
calibration. The DIC will display
CALIBRATION COMPLETE
for a few seconds when the
calibration is complete. The DIC
display will then return to
PRESS
VTO CALIBRATE
COMPASS.
Clock
Without Date Display
AM/FM Base Radio with a Single
CD Player
This radio has a
Hbutton for setting
the time.
To set the time:
1. Press the
Hbutton until the hour
begins flashing on the display.
Press
Ha second time and the
minutes begin flashing on the
display.
2. To increase or decrease the time, do one of the following
while the hours or minutes are
flashing:
.Turn thefknob.
.Press¨SEEK or©SEEK.
.Press\FWD orsREV.
Black plate (7,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
Instruments and Controls 5-7
3. Press theHbutton again until
the clock display stops flashing
to set the currently displayed
time, or wait five seconds until
the flashing stops and the
current time displayed is
automatically set.
To change the time default setting
from 12 hour to 24 hour, press the
Hbutton until 12H or 24H is
displayed. Once 12H or 24H is
displayed, turn the
fknob to the
desired option to select the setting.
Press the
Hbutton again to apply
the setting, or let the screen
time out.
With Date Display
Single CD (MP3) Player
This radio has a
Hbutton for setting
the time. To set the time and date:
1. Turn the radio on.
2. Press the
Hbutton and the HR,
MIN, MM, DD, and YYYY (hour,
minute, month, day, and year)
display.
3. Press the pushbutton located under any one of the tabs to be
changed.
4. To increase the time or date, do one of the following:
.Press the pushbutton below
the selected tab.
.Turn thefknob clockwise.
.Press¨SEEK.
.Press\FWD. 5. To decrease the time or date, do
one of the following:
.Turn thefknob
counter‐clockwise.
.Press©SEEK.
.PresssREV.
The date does not automatically
display. To see the date press the
Hbutton while the radio is on. The
date with display times out after a
few seconds and goes back to the
normal radio and time display.
To change the time default setting
from 12 hour to 24 hour or to
change the date default setting from
month/day/year to day/month/year:
1. Press the
Hbutton and then the
pushbutton located under the
forward arrow tab. The time 12H
and 24H, and the date MM/DD/
YYYY (month, day, and year)
and DD/MM/YYYY (day, month,
and year) displays.
Black plate (26,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
5-26 Instruments and Controls
Trip/Fuel Menu Items
3(Trip/Fuel):Press this button
to scroll through the following menu
items:
Odometer
Press the trip/fuel button until
ODOMETER displays. This display
shows the distance the vehicle has
been driven in either miles (mi) or
kilometers (km).
Trip A and Trip B
Press the trip/fuel button until
TRIP A or TRIP B displays. This
display shows the current distance
traveled in either miles (mi) or
kilometers (km) since the last reset
for each trip odometer. Both trip
odometers can be used at the
same time.
Each trip odometer can be reset to
zero separately by pressing the set/
reset button while the desired trip
odometer is displayed. The trip odometer has a feature
called the retro-active reset. This
can be used to set the trip odometer
to the number of miles (kilometers)
driven since the ignition was last
turned on. This can be used if the
trip odometer is not reset at the
beginning of the trip.
To use the retro-active reset feature,
press and hold the set/reset button
for at least four seconds. The trip
odometer will display the number of
miles (mi) or kilometers (km) driven
since the ignition was last turned on
and the vehicle was moving. Once
the vehicle begins moving, the trip
odometer will accumulate mileage.
For example, if the vehicle was
driven 8 km (5 miles) before it is
started again, and then the
retro-active reset feature is
activated, the display will show 8 km
(5 miles). As the vehicle begins
moving, the display will then
increase to 8.2 km (5.1 miles),
8.4 km (5.2 miles), etc.If the retro-active reset feature is
activated after the vehicle is started,
but before it begins moving, the
display will show the number of
miles (mi) or kilometers (km) that
were driven during the last ignition
cycle.
Fuel Range
Press the trip/fuel button until
FUEL RANGE displays. This
display shows the approximate
number of remaining miles (mi) or
kilometers (km) the vehicle can be
driven without refueling.
The fuel range estimate is based on
an average of the vehicle's fuel
economy over recent driving history
and the amount of fuel remaining in
the fuel tank. This estimate will
change if driving conditions change.
Black plate (27,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
Instruments and Controls 5-27
For example, if driving in traffic and
making frequent stops, this display
may read one number, but if the
vehicle is driven on a freeway, the
number may change even though
the same amount of fuel is in the
fuel tank. This is because different
driving conditions produce different
fuel economies. Generally, freeway
driving produces better fuel
economy than city driving.
If your vehicle is low on fuel, the
FUEL LEVEL LOW message
displays. SeeFuel System
Messages on page 5‑32 for more
information.
Average Economy
Press the trip/fuel button until AVG
ECONOMY displays. This display
shows the approximate average
miles per gallon (mpg) or liters per
100 kilometers (L/100 km). This
number is calculated based on the
number of mpg (L/100 km) recorded
since the last time this menu item was reset. To reset this display to
zero, press and hold the set/reset
button.
Instantaneous Economy
Press the trip/fuel button until INST
ECONOMY displays. This display
shows the current fuel economy at a
particular moment and will change
frequently as driving conditions
change. This display shows the
instantaneous fuel economy in miles
per gallon (mpg) or liters per
100 kilometers (L/100 km). Unlike
average economy, this screen
cannot be reset.
Average Speed
Press the trip/fuel button until
AVERAGE SPEED displays. This
display shows the average speed of
the vehicle in miles per hour (mph)
or kilometers per hour (km/h). This
average is calculated based on the
various vehicle speeds recorded
since the last reset of this value. To
reset the value, press and hold the
set/reset button. The display will
return to zero.Blank Display
This display shows no information.
Vehicle Information Menu
Items
T(Vehicle Information):
Press
this button to scroll through the
following menu items:
Oil Life
Press the vehicle information button
until OIL LIFE REMAINING
displays. This display shows an
estimate of the oil's remaining useful
life. If you see 99% OIL LIFE
REMAINING on the display, that
means 99% of the current oil life
remains. The engine oil life system
will alert you to change the oil on a
schedule consistent with your
driving conditions.