Oldsmobile Intrigue reviews

2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue Driving Impressions

Driving from Delray Beach to Key West and back showed that the Intrigue delivers a smooth ride, plenty of power for passing on two-lane roads and quick, accurate steering.

Last year, a modern double overhead-cam 3.5-liter V6 engine replaced the pushrod 3.8-liter that was launched with the Intrigue in 1988. Made of aluminum, this lightweight 3.5-liter V6 uses technology developed for the highly successful Aurora V8. It generates 215 horsepower and, more important, 230 foot-pounds of torque. That's enough to blast out of the tollbooths on Florida's Turnpike, an event that sometimes resembles a Grand Prix start. The engine is smooth. And you can barely feel the four-speed automatic transmission shift; it's almost seamless.

The Intrigue seems to offer more grip than a CAMRY LE does. It stops a bit shorter and changes directions without drama. Quick transitions produce a fair amount of body roll, however. With the Intrigue's relatively high curb weight, there's more weight transfer than you'll encounter in a Camry or Nissan Maxima. But these motions are nicely controlled, so leave the Dramamine at home.

This car road exceptionally well on Key West's bumpy back streets. The Oldsmobile Intrigue feels smoother and more compliant than the Pontiac Grand Prix on rough surfaces, it's more agile than the Buick Century and it has enough punch to keep pace with the Toyota Camry. As you'd expect with its higher purchase price, the Intrigue is far more luxurious than the Chevy Lumina.

Much of the Intrigue's excellent ride and handling can be traced back to its rigid chassis. A rigid chassis provides greater durability, by reducing vibration. It also helps reduce noise issues. Chassis rigidity is the cornerstone of good vehicle dynamics. Since the suspension components don't have to compensate for chassis flex, it's easier to achieve the desired blend of ride and handling traits. Although the front-drive chassis is an evolutionary development of the Cutlass Supreme GM-10 platform, it was re-engineered from end to end to improve rigidity; that's a relatively new and significant engineering priority at GM. The Intrigue seems to indicate that GM is learning how to increase chassis rigidity without increasing size and weight. According to Oldsmobile, the Intrigue's chassis is stiffer than the Toyota Camry's chassis. At 3455 pounds, the Intrigue is no lightweight; it is substantially heavier than its Japanese rivals are. But it doesn't feel heavy on the road.

The Intrigue seems to offer an ideal blend of ride quality and handling control. It feels European in character: firm, but devoid of harshness. The Intrigue's all-strut suspension is American in design. When driven beyond the grip of the tires exhibits progressive understeer, a nearly universal trait among U.S. mainstream front-drive sedans. Understeer describes a vehicle's resistance to turning into a corner, and it invariably increases as a function of speed. Understeer is favored by American handling engineers because correcting it is intuitive for the driver: Simply slow down.

But Oldsmobile added some subtle tweaks that lend an extra measure of precision and pleasure to the Intrigue driving experience. The struts, for example, have four-stage valving with integrated rebound springs and fade-resistant synthetic oil. As a result, the Intrigue's suspension is able to keep pace with pavement oscillations, which in turn keeps the tires in constant contact with the road.

Steering is precise in the Intrigue with little play in the center. GM's magnetic variable assist rack-and-pinion system gets the credit.

Brakes are discs all around. Like most GM cars, ABS is standard equipment, and pedal feel is firmer than previous examples of GM antilock systems. ABS allows the driver to maintain steering control of the car in a panic braking situation. Traction control is standard on GL and GLS models and optional on GX models; traction control reduces front wheel spin in slippery