More Dodge R/T Models Tested and Compared LOWS: Clumsy suspension, aftermarket add-on appearance. HIGHS: Sugar Ray Leonard engine, slick shifter, standard air bag. Unless you're piloting, say, a Corvette ZR1 or a cruise missile, you'll do well to lay low if a Spirit R/T rolls alongside at a stoplight. The R/T's 0-to-60-mph performance even betters that of the last Nissan 300ZX Turbo we tested. Indeed, with only 3162 pounds to propel (the R/T is by far the lightest of the clippers), the engine generates enough forward thrust to humiliate many of the world's blue-chip sports cars. Like Sugar Ray, this engine is explosive: there's a touch of turbo lag from rest, but before you can say "Where's the boost?" the blower is screaming and you're struggling to separate your cranium from the headrest. The Sugar Ray part is amazing: Chrysler's new sixteen-valve turbocharged-and-intercooled four (the maker's first engine with four valves per cylinder) chums out a whopping 224 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 217 pound-feet of torque at 2800. What we have here is a Sugar Ray Leonard engine trapped in a Homer Simpson physique. You're probably dying to read about the cars, right? Here's how they finished. We learned that our managing editor had a friend who lived in a houseboat and bought himself a chimpanzee as a pet…but we digress.
We learned that you never try to take a photo of a test car next to some backwoods lady's clothesline-mostly because she doesn't care if you think it looks expressive and she's never heard of Henri Cartier-Bresson and she's absolutely certain her husband and his shotgun will be home from Vern's Star Lounge any minute. We learned that the pumpkin pie at Hoover's Country Kitchen in Laurelville is damn fine, and nearly a match for the hockingly large cream puffs. Oh, sure, we learned which Yankee Clipper is the best. To run through our usual battery of ruthless on-road comparison, we headed down to the sinuous country switchbacks of southeastern Ohio.Īfter three days of twisty-road dueling, highway loafing, and endless felonious chatter on our CBs, we learned a lot.
#1991 chev lumina manual#
Happily, the natty Chevy-like the other two cars in our matchup-arrived with a five-speed manual transmission.ĭodge enters 1991 with its potent new Spirit R/T, a Ward Cleaver four-door transformed into a Billy Idol bully by means of a flashy exterior makeover and a new, 224-horsepower version of the corporate turbocharged-and-intercooled 2.2-liter four-cylinder coupled to a standard-equipment five-speed. Four-door versions will be available, but the only pre-production car ready in time for our review was a two-door Chevrolet Lumina Z34. The General offers its all-new, 210-horsepower, "Twin Dual Cam," 24-valve 3.4-liter V-6 in three of the GM10 sedans: the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, the Pontiac Grand Prix, and the Chevrolet Lumina. Indeed, the muscular four-door has won a spot on our Ten Best Cars list every year since.įor 1991, the Yankee Clipper class is no longer a field of one: GM and Dodge have cut into the action with clipper ships of their own.
Anyone who disagrees can also try to convince us that the Statue of Liberty is un-American because it came from France.) We immediately fell in love with the SHO's peerless mix of performance, versatility, and value. But the Taurus SHO is still a Yankee sedan. (Some of you flag-waving readers are probably already composing your nasty letters, because the SHO's V-6 is made in Japan by Yamaha. Each is a front-drive, Married with Children-grade American sedan tweaked with a hero engine and a driver-tuned chassis.įord launched the Yankee-clipper category in 1988 when it stuffed a 220-horsepower 24-valve 3.0-liter V-6 into its windslippery mid-size sedan and created the athletic Taurus Super High Output. Hear that? Sounds like the opening bars of "The Star-Spangled Banner," doesn't it? And right on time, too, because we were just about to add that these three clippers are Yankee clippers. And all three cruise down the Interstate with enough ride cushiness to placate the rumps of all but your most thin-cheeked friends. Two offer anti-lock brakes and a driver-side air bag.
#1991 chev lumina windows#
Each can be loaded with options, ranging from power windows and locks to fine audio systems. Each can carry four adults and all the camera gear needed to videotape a night game of Wesson Oil Twister. What's more, these clippers make few sacrifices for their speed. The fastest rips from 0 to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds and reaches a top speed of 141 mph. The stickiest of them claws around the skidpad with 0.80 g of grip. The least powerful among them bakes up 210 horsepower.
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