1998 Dodge Intrepid

Apparently, the Intrepid's exterior stretch isn't just for looks. The interior volume, at 107.7 cubic feet, has picked up roughly four more cubic feet. And the car's cargo-hauling capability is top-drawer, with 18.7 cubic feet of trunk space. Compare that with the 16.7 cubic feet of the '97 Buick Regal sedan and the 15.8 of a Ford Taurus.

There are several pieces of good news on the electrical-system front. First, the headlights have been seriously upgraded from the original Intrepid's two small, dim bulbs to quad beams with separate reflectors. We were also promised that the wipers now stay on the windshield at higher speeds, ensuring a clean sweep. Third, the alternator has been up-sized and slowed down with a bigger pulley to provide more power for higher electrical draws and also help decrease underhood noise.

The fourth big piece of news-and perhaps the most important electronic advancement in the new car-is a J1850 data buss incorporated into the wiring harness. A data buss sharply reduces the harness weight and complexity and makes engine diagnostics easier.

A final electrical tweak is a battery run-down protection module to prevent excessive drains should the accessories be left on.

While Dodge rewrote the rules regarding what needed to be changed for the interior, it kept a long list of what already worked well. Hit the center of the comfortable four-spoke, tilt steering wheel, and, unlike with many of today's other airbag-equipped wheels, the horn will sound; cruise-control switches are usefully positioned on the spokes. The interior is available in five- or six-passenger arrangements. The headlight switch resides in a familiar location on a knob at the left of the column. The glovebox handle is located at the far left of the box door, within easy reach of the driver. Huge center vents in the dash move lots of air with little air-rush or fan noise. And last but not least, the instrument panel's cluster features highly readable, white-face gauges.

The seats for the new car are supplied in manually or eight-way-power-adjustable flavors. The 50/50-split version of the seat is available with a full-storage center armrest with cupholders. Seat heaters, however, are available only in the upscale Eagle Vision and Chrysler LHS. The rear-seat backrest features a 60/40 split fold-down for easy trunk access and carrying long items.

The AM/FM radios are a new generation of corporate family units with flush faces and large, user-friendly knobs free of hidden functions. These systems are available with cassette or CD players.

One of the important stops on our visit to Chrysler was at the office of Dave Hyre, executive engineer in charge of the Large Car Platform Chassis. Hyre impressed us with a hard-nosed realist's perspective on the current platform and an almost fatherly pride in the new car's chassis improvements.

The front of the Intrepid is suspended again on the ubiquitous MacPherson struts with coil springs. Looking at an engineering diagram, Hyre said that although this front suspension might appear the same as the previous car's, "you won't find a single common part."

Critically important to the new car's improved noise and vibration control is a highly rigid hydroformed powertrain cradle, or front subframe. This chassis piece is important because it is to this isolated monster crossmember that the dancing front suspension's forged-steel lower control arms and the jiggling powertrain's rubber-isolation mounts are attached, rather than more typically mounted directly to the unibody.

Hyre says the new car's TRW center-take-off steering rack is very traditional relative to the unit used on the current car. But the gear has been carefully massaged to reduce friction, which can mask important wheel-to-driver information exchanges.