While Lee Iacocca calls the LH car a ”home run,” our first experience behind the wheel of the machine two years ago found it to be no more than a bloop single over the shortstop`s head.
We first slipped into the cabin of the LH trio two summers ago at Chrysler`s test track at its Chelsea, Mich., proving grounds. Not bad cars, but these were Stage I prototypes, full of squeaks and rattles and loose or ill-fitting parts, having been hand-built and then tortured in the interest of engineering advancement.
Then last spring we again had an opportunity to drive the LH (Cartalk, May 17, the Eagle Vision), this time a Stage II prototype a step closer to production, but still not in its final form. It was better than the early cars, but nothing to make the heart palpitate. Call it a ground-rule double.
Now we`ve had the chance to drive the production versions of the LH sedan trio-the Eagle Vision, Chrysler Concorde and Dodge Intrepid-as Chrysler made a variety of LH cars available for members of the Midwest Automotive Media Association to test drive through Illinois and Wisconsin on a weekend outing. Home run? Absolutely not. But that`s not because the LH, which some cynics translate into ”Last Hope” for Chrysler, deliver more hype than substance. It`s because no first-year car deserves to be called the best an automaker can produce.
Even Glenn Gardner, general manager of the LH development team for Chrysler who unveiled the cars for the media entourage, noted several times that ”we can do better, and we will.”
Kudos for the honesty.
Personally, we`d appreciate a touch more insulation to quiet the 3.3-liter V-6 engine and a little softer backrest on those cars with cloth-covered seats. Also, the driver`s information center that flashes messages telling you how many gallons of fuel are left until empty or that the door is ajar is small and located low in the dash on Concorde and Vision and difficult to see, yet large and high on the dash in Intrepid, where it`s overbearing and comes across as clumsy. A large message low in the dash would be preferred.
That aside, Chrysler paid great attention to detail and learned from the other automakers who brought out all-new mid- and full-size cars. The LH trio will attract people into Chrysler showrooms who haven`t been there in some time-if ever.
In this, the first year on the market for the LH, the car is a major breakthrough in that it is on an entirely new platform and not a version or derivative or offshoot of the K-cars, which carried Chrysler for the last 10 years. This car is a clean-sheet-of-paper, new-from-the-ground-up vehicle that proves Chrysler may be a bit late in catching up with the industry but has learned its lessons well.
Each of the LH cars serves a different function: Concorde to attract the luxury-car buyer who stumbles into a Chrysler showroom while in sticker shock after pricing a Lexus; Vision to appeal to the young, import intender; and Intrepid to compete in the sports performance market.
Though related, each car features unique grille and taillight treatment to give each a personality of its own. Intrepid stands out in the styling department with its combination Dodge Stealth/Viper front end.
Unless a hermit in a cave, you`ve heard slugger Iacocca talk about cab-forward design. Though Ford and General Motors beat Chrysler to market with redesigned and aerodynamic mid- and full-size cars, Chrysler takes credit for the cab-forward concept. It means moving the wheels to the outer corners so that not only are ride and handling improved, but cabin room is increased many times over.
What`s most notable in all the LH cars is the interior saucer-like design that`s in keeping with the rounded exterior. The instrument panel wraps into the doors, which gives the impression of continuous flow and even more spaciousness. The rear seat is the biggest beneficiary of moving those wheels outward. The LH cars have the second-best rear-seat leg, head and arm room among mid- and full-size cars. They`re second only to the full-size, rear-wheel-drive Cadillac Fleetwood-and you can buy two LH cars for what one Fleetwood stickers at.
Trunk space is equally massive.
Chrysler offers two engines for the LH cars. Standard is a 3.3-liter, 153-horsepower, V-6, which is a pepped-up version of the 3.3-liter V-6 now offered in the minivans. A new 3.5-liter, 214-h.p. 24-valve V-6 is an option in all except the top-of-the-line Vision TSi, in which it is standard.
The 3.3 is rated at 20 miles per gallon city/28 m.p.g. highway, the 3.5 at 18/26.
Both engines are teamed with an all-new 4-speed automatic transmission with what you might call ”a mind of its own.” That means the transmission programs your driving style into its memory. If you are aggressive when starting in the morning, the transmission will continue to shift aggressively until you turn off the key. If you want to sit back and cruise, the transmission automatically adjusts its shift patterns for that style. The only problem is when you start your trip on open tollways and interstates with a bent toward performance and then reach downtown Lake Geneva, Wis., with its frequent stoplights.
Gardner said Chrysler has been toying with offering a manual transmission in the LH, perhaps a 6-speed and perhaps in 1995. A 6-speed would be offered only with the 3.5-liter V-6.
Gardner also said the 3.3 and 3.5 are mounted north and south under the hood-rather than in a transverse or sideways fashion that would save space-to allow the front-wheel-drive LH sedans to eventually be offered as rear-wheel- drive sedans with V-8 engines as well. In other words, space is being reserved now if Chrysler chooses to go rear drive and V-8. The earliest that could be done is `96 or `97, Gardner said.
The 3.3 and 3.5 are energetic, though the 3.3 tends to give off a growl at hard acceleration and the 3.5 is considerably more lively in aggressive maneuvers.
There`s a choice of three suspension levels-base, touring and sport. Touring is the best. It gives the cars the best road manners. Sport is too stiff and will jar occupants. Sport is for those who don`t mind being jostled in a Corvette.
With four-wheel independent suspension, wheels moved to the corners, traction control offered as a $100 option and the choice of the touring setting, the LH cars manage to hug the pavement. Concorde seemed to perform the best, perhaps because it came with 16-inch tires; the Vision and Intrepid we drove had 15-inch tires.
One episode that stands out in our mind is leaving a Wisconsin rest area. It was a very winding, circular exit, yet we were able to continue accelerating in the half-oval turn while the Concorde body sat upright without any sway or lean or roll. In a sharp maneuver like this at speed, you sometimes feel the sidewalls kissing the pavement. The only thing that touched the blacktop was the treads` footprint.
The day spent with the cars was clear and dry and there were no wet leaves to help further check out the traction control.
While traveling through the rolling and twisting Wisconsin countryside, Vision performed with equal steadiness despite taking a few corners marked for 45 m.p.h. at 65 m.p.h.
Equally surprising was the fact that the Vision had a 3.3-liter base V-6 engine, yet in glancing at the speedometer, the numbers read 80 m.p.h.-though it felt as if we were only at the posted limit.
Even with driver`s window down, the aero body design reduces wind turbulence into the passenger cabin so you can hold a conversation without screaming or listen to the radio without turning it up a couple of notches or let the speedometer needle creep into illegal territory when you think otherwise.
In addition to the traction control noted above, all LH cars have anti-lock brakes (good, firm regular braking with little pedal play) and driver-and passenger-side air bags as standard. Most cars in their size or price range offer ABS, though some as an option; most have a driver- but not a passenger-side bag, optional or otherwise; and few have traction control unless as an option.
Next month Chrysler will make available the fold-away child seats in all LH cars, the ones now of fered in the minivans. Unlike the vans, only one child seat will be optional ($100) in the LH cars and will be where the center console is.
What all those safety systems mean is that you can drive the LH car in any climate, in any season, on any terrain, on any straight, twisting, flat or hilly roadway and be in control. To carry traction one step further, we`d slip on a set of Goodyear Aquatreds, the tires that roll through water as if it wasn`t obstructing your path.
Other items worth noting in the LH trio are easy-to-see and -reach control knobs and buttons; pop-out dual cupholders in the center console along with a deep stowage bin that can handle a week`s worth of cassette tapes;
specially hinged front and rear doors that open so wide you can slip in and out of the car without converting the body to a pretzel; eyeglass and garage door opener holders in a roof console; plastic slide-out extensions in the sun visors for more glare protection; a convenient inside hood release lever on the floor to the left of the driver; illuminated door locks; and a massive, almost GM-slant-nose-mini-van-like dash top, which gives the feeling of plenty of crush space.
Of special note is the LH`s self-healing clearcoat finish. If you scratch the clearcoat cover over the paint-such as you might with a fingernail, key or coat button-the chemicals in it undergo a reaction in which the surface
”melts” back together after exposed for several hours to the sun to cover the scratch.
Depending on the amount of sun and the time the scratch is exposed to the sun, it can take 24 to 48 hours for the healing to work. We scratched one door with a nail, and after 24 hours the scratch was much less visible, though not gone. But the car was gone before we could check it out after 48 hours. Kudos to Chrysler for coming up with the process.
Compact disc players are available as an option. In February, the longer New Yorker and companion model LHS (luxury handling sedan) offshoots of the LH go into production for an April introduction. Those two cars will offer a moonroof as standard and at that time Chrysler will add a moonroof option in the other LH cars. In the 1994 model year Chrysler will offer memory seats and speed-sensitive power steering in all LHs.
