1998 Dodge Intrepid Article at Automotive.com

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1998 Dodge Intrepid

Below is an enthusiast article written by the automotive experts at Motor Trend. The Dodge Intrepid was embraced worldwide as a major design breakthrough when it was unveiled at ...

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IntelliChoice Value Rating

The chart above shows the purchase price versus ownership cost for each car from a specific vehicle class. The cars with better than average ownership cost/purchase price correlations are the best values, and these best value cars are represented by the dots below the curve. (i.e. the cars that have a lower ownership cost compared to its purchase price.) Those cars, which are worse than average or poor values, appear above the curve.

One way to view the graph is to draw a vertical line through any purchase price. You may see several dots that fall on this line - each of which is a car with a similar purchase price. However, notice the difference in ownership costs of each car represented by the vertical position of the dot. Two cars with the same purchase price can have thousands of dollars difference in ownership costs. This is what separates "good value" cars from "poor value" cars.

What is a good car value?

A "good car value" is one whose cost to own and operate is less than expected. The lower the cost to own and operate a car compared to what is expected, the better the value of that car.

But how do we know a car's "expected cost"?

For each car in the class, IntelliChoice plots the car's purchase price against the total five-year cost to own and operate it as determined by IntelliChoice research. Each dot on the above chart represents a specific car. Generally, we find that as the purchase price of the car increases, the cost to own and operate that car increases. This is why the dots on the graph tend to rise upward and to the right. This phenomenon also makes intuitive sense - as the purchase price rises, financing costs tend to rise, as do insurance, depreciation, taxes, and most other car ownership costs.

This is an important concept. It's normal for car ownership costs to rise as purchase price rises. Therefore, we can't just establish one "average" ownership cost number for each class, since cars in the class have different purchase prices. (This is why the "Relative" shown on each chart is different for cars in the same car class.)

Using statistical techniques, IntelliChoice "connects the dots" to form a curve that defines, for this car class, the relationship between the car's purchase price and car's ownership costs. This curve is our "expected cost" curve. The curve defines, for any car in the class, the five-year ownership cost that we would expect to see at each possible purchase price. If every car in the class were an average value, then all the dots would fall exactly on the curve. However, it's rare that any dot is exactly on the curve. Some dots are a little higher or lower, and some are a lot higher or lower. The dots that are a little lower are better than average car values, while the dots that are a lot lower are excellent car values (A dot that is a lot lower than the curve has ownership costs much lower than expected for a car of its purchase price). Conversely, a dot a little higher than the curve is a poorer than average car value, while a dot that is much higher than the curve is a poor car value.

Value is a relative term, not an absolute term. It is performing better than the logical expectation.

So is a Mercedes-Benz E320 expensive to own and operate? Certainly in an absolute sense. Most other cars cost less. But, when its cost to own and operate is plotted against cars with comparable invoice prices, the E320 costs less. So the E320 is not expensive to own and operate - it is a good car value. The Mercedes does not have low ownership costs, but it has low ownership costs for its invoice price.

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Article From Motor Trend Magazine

1998 Dodge Intrepid - First Look

Chrysler Designers Blast A Home Run Out Of The Styling Park / By Jack Keebler / Photography by Randy Lorentzen / Article provided by: Motor Trend Magazine

The Dodge Intrepid was embraced worldwide as a major design breakthrough when it was unveiled at Detroit's North American International Auto Show in 1992. And Chrysler Corporation, saved yet again from the financial brink, breathed a sigh of relief, for although the V-10-powered Viper roadster had rekindled interest in the company, it would be the profits from the Intrepid "cab-forward" sedan and its sisters (Eagle Vision, Chrysler Concorde, and Chrysler New Yorker and LHS) that actually fueled the second comeback of this U.S. carmaking giant.

But half a decade is a lifetime in the car biz. After all, the competitors compete. And though the Intrepid and its sisters have held up well stylistically, they were beginning to get a tad elderly from an engineering perspective. It was time to take careful aim at the problems of the current car. The first target was the low-powered, noisy engines. The second was a lack of road-noise isolation between the suspension and the body. And the third, a somewhat different challenge, was topping the benchmark styling of the original. Our photography does the talking on that highly subjective topic.

Chrysler provided an exclusive opportunity for Motor Trend to visit its sprawling technical center in Auburn Hills, Michigan, for a peek at the transformation. We came away impressed by the amount of change slated for the '98 model.

Chrysler's General Manager of Large Car Platform Engineering, John Miller, estimates the total investment in the new midsize cars to be somewhere between $1.8 billion and $2.3 billion. At the peak of the cars' 31-month development period, a total of 1000 platform team members swarmed on the project.

Besides getting fresh all-aluminum V-6 engines, the new car features a redesigned body structure, exterior skin, interior, suspension, and brakes. Here's what our early look revealed.

Adequate when the cars were introduced, the V-6 engines used in the company's current midsize sedans are in no way exceptional; they are relatively weak, noisy, and fuel thirsty.

That changes with three all-new, aluminum V-6 engines of 2.7, 3.2, and 3.5 liters. The 250-horsepower 3.5 will be limited to the smaller, sporty, import-targeted Eagle Vision and the larger, ultrapremium Chrysler LHS.

The Intrepid's base engine is an all-new 2.7-liter DOHC V-6 pumping out 200 horsepower. It's also the standard engine in the Concorde LX. Terry Gutermuth, manager of Large Car Platform Powertrain Systems, tells us Chrysler expects at least a 10 percent improvement in fuel economy along with significantly lower emissions, better sound quality, better oil sealing, and greater durability. The premium engine in the Intrepid ES and Concorde LXi is a virtually all-new 3.2-liter SOHC all-aluminum V-6 making 220 high-rev horses.

Unlike the majority of front-drive sedans, the Intrepid and its sisters continue to feature a longitudinal, rather than transverse, engine-transmission layout. Chrysler engineers told us this facilitates the car's low hoodline.

There isn't much to say about the transmission. There's only one choice: the all-electronic, overdrive 42LE four-speed automatic used in the current car. Although compact and light, this transaxle has gotten mixed performance reviews.

Save for a magnesium steering-column support bracket, there's nothing fancy in the new Intrepid as far as body materials or construction. At 3456 pounds, the new car's base curb weight is 52 pounds heavier than its predecessor's. The unibody itself is an all-steel structure robotically welded at the Bramalea, Ontario, assembly plant.

Although the '98 is built on the same 113.0-inch wheelbase as the '97, its overall length is 203.7 inches, compared with 201.8 inches. At 55.9 versus 56.3 inches tall, the new car looks lower and sleeker.

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