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Dodge Intrepid

3457 messages,  Last post on Oct 08, 2012 at 5:35 PM

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What is this discussion about? Dodge Intrepid, Sedan

Messages Page 255 of 347

#2534 of 3457 They did cheapen the interior... by andre1969

Sep 29, 2004 (5:34 am)

a bit on the Intrepids since the 2000 model year, which I thought was a disappointment. I always looked at a Dodge as being a step up from a Ford or Chevy, and looking at a base Intrepid in 2000, compared to a Taurus or Impala, really seemed to bear that out. The Intrepid had nicer fabrics, less hard plastic, standard cruise control, a standard tach, rear sway bar, cloth and carpet on the door panels, etc. It just felt a step or two up from an Impala/Taurus the moment you stepped inside.
 
But since then (I think it was 2002 that they did it), they replaced the cloth on the door panels with vinyl (probably to save costs, since that's what they do on leather-seat models anyway), took the carpet off the door panels (maybe the ES still has it?), took away the sway bar, the tint across the top of the windshield, made cruise control optional, and I'm sure a few other little odds and ends.
 
My Dad has an '03 Regal GS, and I think my Intrepid's interior, and even the newer ones, are still a cut above. His Regal has this seating fabric that almost looks like a cross between burlap and corduroy, although it is more comfortable than it looks. It has these vinyl inserts in the door panels that are rippled a bit, I guess to give it a plush, supple look, but it just doesn't work in this car! The plastics have a nasty, irritating, Playskool-esque grain to them, and the dashboard doesn't even line up with the door panels! Where the lines carry over from the dash to the door, it looks like the dash is dropped about a half inch on the driver's side, and is also off on the passenger side as well.
 
One thing I'll say in its advantage,though, is that I find the front seats to be pretty comfortable, better than my Intrepid. I think that's because they're power assisted though, and I can put the seat back and up further than the manual adjust in my Intrepid. The Intrepid wins, hands-down, in the back seat, though.
 
The Intrepid also looks like it's put together better. On the outside, things like the door panels, hood, and especially the trunk line up much better than the Regal. However, when you close a door, the Regal does sound just a bit more solid. But then that gets negated a bit, because Dad's Regal, with around 23000 miles on it, has more squeaks and rattles than my '00 Trep with 97000!
 
My Intrepid also handles much better, although my Dad's Regal is stuck with old fashioned 215/70/R15 tires. His 3.8 would blow my 2.7 away, though.
 
So I guess in the end, both cars have their plusses and minuses. Which one is best just depends on which plusses and minuses matter to you the most!

#2535 of 3457 To me....... by mike372

Sep 29, 2004 (6:58 am)

that allpar pic just looks like another 300C. Not even close to the photos I saw on the internet awhile back. As far as I'm concerned, the best looking charger was the 1973 Charger SE. Now that was a cool looking car.\
Even the Monte Carlo with the 3.4L 24 valve V-6 (rental car) would leave my Trep in a cloud of smoke! GM just builds some very nice engines. And it was a sleek looking red, which at least made the car look like it was accelerating more quickly.
And DC deleted the rear sway bar in 2003 model year, because my 02 SE has it. Pretty sleazy, since most people would not notice that it was deleted. In 2002, the suspension was called 'four wheel independent touring suspension', the same suspension used on the ES/SXT models. On the 2003 sticker, the suspension on the SE model was called 'normal suspension'.

#2536 of 3457 Car and Driver... by andre1969

Sep 29, 2004 (7:09 am)

had some computer generated pics of a Charger. It was green with matte black accents. Truthfully, it looked like they just took a 300C and grafted an Intrepid rear end on it, and then put on a front-end clip from a 70's Brazilian Dart, kinda like this...
 
http://www.dodgedart.org/brazil/79chgrad.jpg
 
It was an odd looking beast in the cgi pics, but hopefully it'll look better in person!

#2537 of 3457 Mike, by andre1969

Sep 29, 2004 (7:13 am)

The current Monte Carlo's 3.4 V-6 is just a pushrod, 2-valves-per-cylinder unit that puts out something like 180-185 hp, although it's pretty torquey and good for 0-60 launches. I've heard that that it'll run out of breath at higher speeds, though, which is one area where the 2.7, IMO at least, isn't half bad.
 
Now back in the early 90's, and up through maybe 1998 or 1999, there was a DOHC 3.4 V-6 that was used in some GM intermediates, like the Lumina Z34 and the Monte Carlo. It put out something like 215 hp and had plenty of kick at low and high speeds. However, it was expensive to build and unreliable, so it got canned once GM finally got the non-supercharged 3.8 V-6 up to around 200 hp.

#2538 of 3457 Andre...... by mike372

Sep 29, 2004 (4:41 pm)

Thanks for the info on the 3.4L engine. I will have to do a little research.
It definitely had more torque than the 2.7L at a lower RPM which would explain the faster acceleration times. I am more interested in performance at the lower end of the spectrum since I dont drive over 65 mph. I guess I miss the larger displacement engines of my other cars. It took me awhile to get used to the 3.8L TBird engine after driving the 4.9L Pontiac Firebird. So I guess it will take awhile to get used to the 2.7L. But my next car in, maybe another 6-7 years, will have a larger displacement V-6.

#2539 of 3457 Re: They did cheapen the interior... [andre1969] by masonmi

Sep 29, 2004 (5:52 pm)

Replying to: andre1969 (Sep 29, 2004 5:34 am)
Aren't the Concorde's a step above the Intrepid's? even though some Concorde's have the same features as some Intrepid models do?
I've never driven a Concorde however they seem to be a bit more rounded than the Intrepid, I have to add that my Buick Century was simular to the Buick Regal in which the Regal was a step higher than the Century, Buick quality just isn't there any more, I had squeaks and squeals and brake issues.

#2540 of 3457 Last time I really checked out out a Concorde... by andre1969

Sep 30, 2004 (4:42 am)

was probably a 2000 model, a base LX. It was trimmed a bit nicer than my '00 Intrepid, and had a few other niceties, such as a power driver's seat, split folding rear seat with armrest and cupholders, lights in the doors, instead of just reflectors, remote entry, etc. I don't know how much of that was standard, versus optional, but I vaguely remember this one having a sticker price of around $24-25K, vs the $20,950 (including freight) sticker price of mine.
 
It was also a bit bigger inside, despite having the same wheelbase. The way they did it, I think, was to put the back seat a few inches further back than in the Intrepid. This actually seemed to cut into hip room just a bit, as the rear wheel wells now cut into the seat area a bit. And the seat was also tucked back futher between the C-pillars, so it gave you more of a hemmed-in feeling back there than with the Intrepid. The car was a bit longer overall though, with most, if not all, of that extra length going into the trunk. IIRC, the Concorde's trunk is a bit larger than the Intrepid's. The Concorde's rump, while longer than the Intrepid's, does seem to taper off more, so it's narrower. Might actually make it a bit easier to parallel park even thought it's a bit longer, since you don't have a wide rear-end to back in!

#2542 of 3457 Re: Last time I really checked out out a Concorde... [andre1969] by masonmi

Oct 01, 2004 (4:52 pm)

Replying to: andre1969 (Sep 30, 2004 4:42 am)
I actually have a power drivers seat, keyless entry and CD player on my 04 Intrepid SE, some SE's didn't have keyless entry or power drivers seats. The Concordes to me look to rounded and egg shaped. I should've taken one for a drive when I was shopping for my Intrepid just to see what they are like on the road in comparison.

#2543 of 3457 Masonmi... by andre1969

Oct 03, 2004 (10:00 am)

sounds like you got an SE with one of those option packages. Do you also have the alloy wheels? My Intrepid was a pure stripper model, no options whatsoever, although I did get them to throw in a 12 disk cd changer as part of the deal. And then, about 9 months later, after it got broken into, I bought an aftermarket Viper alarm/remote entry for it. I wish I had a power driver's seat. About a year ago, I test-drove a used '02 Intrepid R/T with power seats, and those extra adjustments that raised and lowered the seat made all the difference in the world!
 
Yesterday I saw something that made me want to go back on my decision to try hanging onto my Intrepid for a few more years. At the Carlisle PA swap meet, a dealer had a '96 Buick Roadmaster, in a dark greenish color reminiscent of the "Magnesium" that Mopar now offers on the Magnum/300, nicely loaded up with leather and other goodies, with 89,000 miles, for $4995. I've always liked big, cushy cars, and while the Roadmaster isn't the most graceful looking beast in the world, the LT-1 350 engine and price were hard to resist! Plus, I figure that soon I'm going to need front pads and rotors, and rear pads, and maybe struts, so maybe it would be a good time to swap, before I start having to sink money into the 'Trep. But then the reality hit me, that I'd be going from a car whose history I know to one I don't, and while that 350 did sound nice, at that age anything could go wrong.
 
So, I'll probably still be holding onto my Trep for a little while longer!

Messages Page 255 of 347

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