1995 Dodge Intrepid ES review from North America

Nothing terrible has happened to my Intrepid, other than maintenance related things, mostly because I'm lazy.

The worst thing that happened was three of my six spark plug wires went bad, simultaneously, at about 75,000. They had never been replaced, until then. The car had pitiful acceleration during that time, but I could still beat a Honda in a race. :)

I have an Intrepid ES, 3.5L, slightly modified engine (K&N air filter, rebuilt intake), a low-profile dual Borla exhaust ($1200, with high performance mufflers and billeted tips), 18" Quantum Tek silver alloy wheels (kinda cheap), Toyo Proxes ZR's, and about $2500 worth of suspension work, including Eibach Proline suspension/2 inch lower, and totally rebuild strut towers with Koni adjustable struts (currently set to the stiffest possible setting).

The 3.5 V6 sounds like a V8 with the exhaust, and it scares all the Honda drivers around here. So far the fastest cars I've raced (and beaten) were a '99 Mustang, '86 Trans-Am with a rebuilt 350 (an amazing challenge, very close, but I had an edge after 3rd hit at 80mph), and a Honda S2000. The Honda had insane acceleration off the line, and had about 2 car lengths ahead of me at 45-50 mph, but when second kicked in, I took it over. The guy wouldn't stop, and by 100 mph he started catching up again. I still have the bragging rights though, I'm in a "family car," and I beat his little roadster on the straightaway.

So far, the only cars I've lost drags to have been: 2001 Camaro SS, '98 Corvette, Not-sure-what-year Porsche 911 (duh!), and a twin-turbo 300ZX (he had also modified the turbos, had an insane exhaust setup, and posi-track rear wheel drive, whereas I'm working with a front-wheel traction control joke of a drivetrain).

Anyway, I love the car. When I first saw the thing, I never expected it to be as much fun to drive. It's also the Cranberry/Burgundy color, with a silver two-tone bottom that perfectly (PERFECTLY) matches my wheels. The exhaust tips are the only chrome part on the entire car, yet it still looks like a pimp-mobile after it's done being washed.