From the Might 1991 subject of Automotive and Driver.
Hearth vans are stealthy in contrast with this Dodge. And ambulances. Vise-Grips will not seize a bystander’s gaze any tougher. You’ve a greater likelihood of passing unobserved on a parade float.
On the head-turns-per-dollar ballot, the misnamed Stealth wins huge. Chrysler styling is into the wide-body mode lately—witness the upcoming Viper. The broader the physique, the decrease it seems. And the extra room there’s for voluptuous scoops and sculpts with out notching into the passengers’ elbowroom. The Stealth carries this concept to arresting lengths.
However forgetting the sculpting for a minute, this Mitsubishi-built, Chrysler-designed form makes an announcement with its fundamental dimensions. At 72.4 inches, it is precisely Camaro large however greater than a foot (13.5 inches) shorter. And 1.3 inches decrease. The result’s placing proportions fairly shut in dimension to these of the Porsche 928S4.
Just like the 928, this Dodge’s inside is pure 2+2, and the +2 had higher be youngsters. Or briefcases.
The Stealth to die for, known as the R/T Turbo, packs a 300-horsepower twin-turbocharged and intercooled V-6 engine, four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, and anti-lock brakes, to not point out a handful of gee-whiz objects like swapready shock absorbers and a now-youhear-it, now-you-don’t exhaust system. The window sticker runs to $29,610–$30,877 for those who go for leather-based and a compact-disc participant.
Naturally, while you lay out that form of cash, your coronary heart cracks a little bit each time your neighbor says, “Yeah, somebody down on the workplace has one identical to it.” Chances are high it is not identical to the R/T Turbo, however Dodge is intent on filling each pool with low-priced replicas. Properly, low-priced if $16,636 and up qualifies. As a result of the well-endowed R/T Turbo is on the prime of a four-tier Stealth line that begins with a no-suffix Stealth on the worth above, strikes to the Stealth ES on this web page at $18,399, then to the Stealth R/T at $24,498. None of those seems precisely the identical because the Turbo (though the R/T differs solely in wheels and tires—sixteen-inchers as a substitute of the Turbo’s seventeenagers), however they’re too shut for consolation for those who’re signed up for 72-month paper on the actual factor. That is the dangerous information.
The excellent news is that the one-rung-up-from-the-bottom Stealth ES is a pretty candy machine, though it too rapidly migrates up the worth ladder for those who’re uncapable of simply say no to the choice sheet. Our check automobile rang up $23,279 on the money register, because of a four-speed automatic ($813), air-con ($846), and Possibility Group F ($3221), which incorporates energy locks and home windows, cruise management, a rear-window washer and wiper, a CD participant, anti-lock brakes, a safety alarm, electronically managed shock soak upers, and ground mats.
The ES, with its 24-valve V-6 (222 hp at 6000 rpm) and 225/55VR-l6 Goodyr gatorbacks on eight-inch-wide alloy wheels, simply rises above the common individual’s wants. And the sight of it as you approach within the parking zone at all times revs the spirit. But the automobile is sort of tame on the highway, even refined. Inside sound is muted, the engine is relaxed in its pairing with the four-speed computerized and, as long as you do not bump the suspension swap into Sport, the experience is merely controlled. Simply contact that rocker, although, and the motions can get nasty.
You do not want the exhausting experience to be reminded of the Stealth’s sporting perspective. The reasonably buckety seats with a intelligent, infinitely adjustable driver-side lumbar help set the temper, reaffirmed by the big, spherical devices proper the place you may see them. The fifteen-inch leather-wrapped steering wheel appears a bit bigger in diameter than is acceptable for a sporting automobile, however its rim by no means blocks the gauges, even when its air-bag-stuffed hub does obscure a couple of dashboard switches. Each the shapes and the textures of the encircling upholstery bespeak excessive vogue.
We’ve a couple of gripes, after all. The automated has a console swap for Energy or Economic system operation, in addition to a lever-mounted swap for locking out prime gear. Nowadays, computerized transmissions must be sensible sufficient to do the best factor with out additional switches. That is why they’re known as “computerized,” in spite of everything. Andifferent gripe: the lighter socket is positioned on the console in such a means {that a} radar-detector twine tangles the shift lever. The R/T and the R/T Turbo have an additional “accent” socket in a greater location. C’mon. Any automobile with arrest-me seems must be detector-friendly.
Discover that we’re again to seems once more. Each dialogue of this automobile begins with its seems and inevitably loops again repeatedly. Let the document present that the Stealth ES is superb at what was known as grand touring—fast and energymuch less transit for 2—and even higher for grand entrances.
Specs
Specs
1991 Dodge Stealth ES
Automobile Sort: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 3-door coupe
PRICE
Base/As Examined: $18,399/$23,279
ENGINE
DOHC 24-valve V-6, iron block and aluminum heads, port gas injection
Displacement: 181 in3, 2972 cm3
Energy: 222 hp @ 6000 rpm
TRANSMISSION
4-speed computerized
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 97.2 in
Size: 179.1 in
Curb Weight: 3666 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 8.5 sec
1/4-Mile: 16.4 sec @ 87 mph
100 mph: 22.4 sec
Rolling Begin, 5–60 mph: 8.5 sec
Prime Pace: 130 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 166 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.87 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Noticed: 21 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Metropolis: 18 mpg
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED