Oldsmobile Intrigue reviews

2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue Driving Impressions

The Intrigue delivers a smooth ride, plenty of power, and quick, accurate steering.

The V6 engine delivers excellent throttle response, enough to blast out of the toll booths on Florida's Turnpike, an event that sometimes resembles a Grand Prix start. But it's also smooth, and you can barely feel the four-speed automatic transmission when it shifts through the gears. It's almost seamless.

The Intrigue's 3.5-liter double overhead-cam V6 uses technology developed for the highly successful Aurora V8. Made of aluminum, this lightweight V6 generates 215 horsepower and, more importantly, 230 foot-pounds of torque.

The Intrigue offers an excellent balance of ride quality and handling control. There's plenty of grip, both in corners and when stopping. Quick transitions produce a fair amount of body roll, however. Yet it rides exceptionally well on bumpy streets. It 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.

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 Intrigue's 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. 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 feels European in character: firm, but devoid of harshness. Its all-strut suspension is American in design. When driven beyond the grip of the tires it exhibits progressive understeer, a nearly universal trait among 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 with little play in the center. GM's magnetic variable-assist rack-and-pinion system gets the credit.

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

Also standard is Oldsmobile's Precision Control System, which helps reduce understeer (the car goes straight when the front wheels are turned) or oversteer (the rear end swings out) after entering a corner too fast. In simple terms, the system helps keep the Intrigue going where the driver steers it. Fully automatic, the system requires no input from the driver and is designed to help drivers maintain control in an emergency maneuver, including heavy braking and turning at the same time to avoid an obstacle. The system senses a skid and applies braking power to individual wheels to correct loss of grip. The Precision Control System is available as part of