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By Mark Savage
of the Journal Sentinel staff
July 6, 1998
In case no one has noticed, purple has slipped into the fast lane as a car color.

The tested Dodge Intrepid ES was another in a string of purple beasts, this one on the dusty rose or grayish purple end of the spectrum.

Some folks may like that, and more power to them. I'd prefer a bright red or metallic green on this super-looking sedan. No family car on the road comes close to its stunning looks, so dress it in a more appealing color, please.

But Intrepid is more than a pretty face, it offers oodles of interior and trunk space, good performance and a decent price.

Chrysler has continued to push its cab-forward design with Intrepid, creating a roomy cockpit that offers good space for five adults and an 18.4-cubic-foot trunk. That's larger than the trunk of either a Ford Taurus or Buick LeSabre and slightly smaller than Intrepid's cousin, the Chrysler Concorde, which gains more trunk space by being five inches longer than Intrepid.

Performance, like that of the Concorde, is much more precise than you might expect in a larger car. Intrepid rides on a 113-inch wheelbase and is 203.7 inches long -- big, but it still feels good on the road.

Handling is solid thanks to a stiffened body and refined suspension system. There is little, if any body lean in sweeping highway turns. Ride also is quite nice, somewhat firm, but very controlled. You'll get no big-car sloshy feeling here. Further aiding the feel is an ES upgrade to 16-inch tires from the standard 15-inchers.

Braking also is superb. The base Intrepid comes with four-wheel disc brakes and the ES increases the size of the front discs. Anti-lock brakes also are standard on ES.

Acceleration is good, too. The ES version features a new aluminum-block 3.2-liter V-6, which has a little more kick than the 2.7-liter V-6, which is standard. That's what the tested Concorde had, earlier this year. The larger V-6 packs 225 horsepower and delivers 225 foot-pounds of torque compared to 200 horses and 190 foot-pounds of torque from the 2.7-liter, which is built in Kenosha.

But my gas mileage really suffered with the larger engine. I got only 22.3 miles per gallon in about a 60/40 mix, that was heavier on the highway, and 24.3 in about a 70/30 mix. The EPA says to expect 19 mpg city and 29 highway, which would be good for this size car and is up from Chrysler's previous engine ratings. I managed 30 mpg in about 90% highway driving in the Concorde with the smaller engine.

Inside, the Intrepid is as attractive and comfortable as any car in its price range, which begins at $19,685. That's similar to the base price on a Chevrolet Lumina LTZ or Ford Taurus SE. The tested, more upscale ES starts at $22,465 and managed to hit $25,250 with the addition of a few goodies, including gray leather seats.

Those were firm yet well-cushioned. Plus, they were power seats with easy-to-use controls on the side that made it easy to find a good seating position.

Head and legroom are great front and rear. Three fair-sized adults will fit in back comfortably.

The interior was fairly quiet, too, not as hushed as a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry, but it was still easy to hear the radio and comfortably talk to passengers.

Intrepid's dash is nicely arranged with all gauges easy to see and controls within reach. The Dodge uses white-faced gauges to give a sportier look to the dash. Cruise control is on the steering wheel hub, and the radio features large buttons and a simple equalizer.

The ES also added automatic climate control, which was simple to use and worked well, as part of a $1,130 option package. That also included an overhead trip computer with compass and thermometer -- easy to understand and use.

Cup holders pop from the center arm rest, which also includes a large storage box. They hold soda cans and cups well.

I also liked the placement of the power window and mirror buttons high on the driver's door so they were simple to find, even at night.

Intrepid also includes a few other features owners may not expect. The battery saver feature turns interior and exterior lights off after a few minutes to avoid running down the battery when the car has been turned off.

Plus, there's AutoStick, which is like a clutchless manual transmission. The car can either be operated like an automatic or put in the AutoStick mode and shifted like a manual, but without a clutch. Just push the floor-mounted shifter to the right and the car upshifts, a flip to the left results in a downshift. The feature adds some driving fun to a family sedan.

Complaints?

Not many. The keyless remote worked slowly, which demands being patient (which I'm not). It would unlock the driver's door quickly enough, but another button push to unlock the back doors sometimes resulted in a several-second lag before they unlocked.

I found myself rapidly punching the button several times in hopes it would speed the action -- sort of like punching the elevator button a second time. It didn't help.

With this car and the Concorde, Chrysler seems to finally have stepped forward with a quality car to go with top-shelf design. With the addition of Daimler-Benz engineering when the two firms merge, such cars may be even more wunderbar in the future.