Dodge Omni GLH Turbo

phiat

I believe the greatest sleeper car in america is
the 85-86 Dodge Omni GLH Turbo. The car is a
rocket! I love mine. I would like to talk to
anyone who owns one of the few 5000 cars. My GLH
Turbo's mods include rebuilt engine w/100,000 on
it(and still running strong), Bosal exhaust, Koni
adjustable shocks, and Continental tires.

mzn

Hmm, my sources tell me your view on the Dodge Omni places you in a distinct minority. :-) But if it works for you, it's a great car!

What do others think?

carlady/host

emathis

I had a '83 Dodge Charger (hatchback) for awhile. I also loved that car, although it died at about 90K which was pretty normal for an American car back then. A friend of mine had an Omni circa the same era and they had the same engines. They also had similiar dash and interiors. I do think my Charger won in the looks department over the Omni. They both were very fast cars. Quite good engines.

eneth

The GLH Turbo might have been a nice, niche performance car, but the other Omnis/Horizons and derivatives were partly responsible for the poor reputation for quality and reliability that Chrysler's struggling with right now.

I had a first-year Chrysler-engined Omni (2.2L, 1981). What a nightmare that car was, and from day 1.

Chrysler did manage to tighten up the quality control in later years, but the Omni/Horizon, at least in most forms, will never go down in history as a great car.

I wonder how many others were sold on Toyota Corollas and Honda Civics after owning Omni and Horizon models?

Donaldjr

Well,

My father does not have his GLH Turbo anymore but I sure have to agree with you!!! That car was a BLAST to drive!!! I learned to drive on it as well. What was great was toasting 4bbl 5 liter Camaros of the day, not to mention VW GTIs, T-bird Turbo Coupes, and even Daytona and Lebaron Turbos. If there was really anything to [non-permissible content removed] about, it would have to be the unnecessarliy high clutch return tension! That clutch, imo, was not too pleasant to work in stop and go traffic. Plus, torque steer was a bit on the high side. Lastly, the shifter was quite vague and its throw was a bit too long for my tastes. But it sure was FUN to drive and to toast some poor unsuspecting victim!

As for problems, my dad really only experienced 2 that I can recall. A wiring harness was not routed right and it rubbed a wire against the block, which would blow a fuse for something I cannot remember. They re-routed the harness. More seriously, he broke his timing belt at something like only 45-50k. Luckily, no valves were interfering with the pistons. There may have been a vacuum leak that required a small plastic part atop the engine to be repaired. But all in all, there was nothing, excepting the timing belt, that was a major hassle.

cannongjr

Believe it or not I had an '86 GLHS 4 dr. turbo (a real Shelby version). Only 500 were made (there were 800 GLHS 2 drs. made later) and I wish I still had it. I have been looking for months for a fast (0-60 in at least 6's), great handling, fun, cheap, 4 or 5 passenger car. I know that some of the cars are coming closer but they are expensive to me (over $20,000). I still have the brochure for the GLHS. It shows a road test at, I think, Willow Springs, and the GLHS was faster than a 308 Ferrari around the course!! Great car. GLHS stood for goes like heck Shelby. It cost $10000 in '86.