Newsgroups: rec.autos

ac579@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (G.C.J. Timm) writes:

>From the June 1990 issue of Car and Driver Magazine (see I do
>read something besides Consumer Reports)
>
>Jaguar XK-E 1966 3-door Coupe'
>0-60  7.1 Seconds
>1/4 Mile  15.4 92 Mph

>From Motor Trend February 1991
>
>Dodge Spirit R/T 1991 4-door Sedan
>0-60  6.9
>1/4 Mile  15.3  98 Mph

	This would have been a much better comparision if you used Car
	and Driver for BOTH reviews. Car and Driver tested the Dodge
	Spirit R/T in 1991 (March or April, I've got it at home) and they
	reported:

0-60   5.8   (Now that's getting with the program for a stock 4 door 
	      sedan for under $20K !)
1/4 Mile  14.2  ???   (I can't remember the speed. I'll have to check it
                       tonight).

	BTW, in case anyone is interested in a Spirit R/T reliability
	report, I've not got 20,000 miles on my 1 year old R/T.  The
	car's been a good friend. I had to have the timing belt
	retensioned at 15,000 miles to solve a problem with an engine
	miss under severe accelleration. In all fairness, the car saw a
	LOT of severe accelleration during the first 15,000 miles of
	ownership :-)

	The was a recall to change the oil pump and intermediate shaft 
	at 18,500 miles. Apparantly, the teeth and shaft slot were not 
	hardened well enough. Mine showed no problem (but that could have 
	been aided my the synthetic oil that I use). I get a real steady 
	28MPG mixed driving in Spring, Summer, and Fall. That drops to 
	24 in the winter (they run between 10 and 15% MTBE in the fuel 
	here in Colorado in the winter). Steady highway driving yields
	~32 MPG at 72MPH. I've taken rocket paced ski trips up into the
	mountains and back and still averaged over 29MPG. BTW, this car
	can really haul butt in the mountains. I FLY past almost
	everything on those 6% grades at 10,000+ feet.

	The body is holding up as well as can be expected here in 
	Colorado. The gravel that they throw on the roads here in the 
	winter has put chips on the front, but, it's better than 
	average. The gravel has also caused 3 windshield cracks, but I 
	was able to get them patched before they spread. There are 2 small 
	rattles that have developed. One rattle is the drivers door lock. 
	I just haven't gotten around to fixing it. I haven't isolated the 
	other yet. It's up around the glove compartment.

	After living with the car for a year, would I make the same
	choice? Yes. Well, make that   Y E S  !!  It's a blast. The
	handling can use a little improvement if you are expecting true
	sports car performance, but, I've located several aftermarket 
	components:

		Eibach Springs  $217.00 (front and rear)
		KYB shocks       $78.27 (front and rear)

	And I'll be replacing the Michlen XGT V4's with Dunlop D40's in
	about 1000 miles (which should also help). I'll report back after
	getting the Eibach's and KYB's. (This is it for the Spirit at
	this point. I've checked on Tokina, Bilstein, Koni, Suspension
	Technique, and others).

	I've switched to synthetic oil in the engine and transmission,
	I've added a K&N air filter, and Champion H.O.T. plugs. My next
	performance mod will be to pick up a Borla turbo muffler.


Bob Schneider     rjs@fc.hp.com