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This is an excellent tall persons car. I actually have the seat pulled up some, but the seat bottom rocked up for additional thigh support.
The 3800 seems fine so far. I have to cross the 500 mile threshold before i give it a go.
The impala has noticeably more backseat legroom than the intrigue. Just in the last four days i have carried lots of people in it, and both i and they are more comfortable.
I must be getting old if comfort takes a backseat to performance. LOL.
The Driver Information Center is the coolest thing on the car. Temp gauge, instant mileage, galons used, etc.etc.
The Impala is the biggest cousing of the W-Body platform. The Impala is also a few inches longer inside/outside than the rest of its W-body cousins. The Bonneville is about 2 inches longer than the Impala and not any bigger inside the cabin.
Another way of knowing whether your car is a W or H body sedan: Pop open the hood and check and see if your engine (Typically 3800 V6) has holding brackets facing front and a bar running the length of the engine bay, from strut to strut tower. If the car does have these brackets, it is a W-body. If the car doesn't, then it is a H-body sedan. Notice that the Bonneville, LeSabre and Aurora don't have any of these visible holding brackets.
W-Body specs
The intrigue has a noticeably larger sway bar than the others.
The impala rear bars are unknown.
I can use this info as a jumping off place for modifications.
with Bose, and chrome wheels, has steering radio control and standard GL features. 44 miles on odometer, build date of 6/00. Nice car with cloth interior. Dealer played the game and offered $20,995. Manager offered $19,861 if I signed today. Does anyone know what it should retail for? Whats fair? Retail in Edmunds is $18,000, -18,600 at Kelly. Have about $4,500 in
rebates/GM card and 9 months to go with lease at $355 per month.
month.
From the link you sent it confirms why the intrigue has brake drive and some roll. The springs are the same as the other cars and the front sway bar is HUGE!
Impala rides so much better than the intrigue that is hard to believe the springs are the same. It is the struts that are causing the impact harshness. Bumps and dips that are major events in the intrigue are felt in the impala hardly at all.
I think the tires on the impala are not good. They groan under hard cornering.
I am thinking some H rated Michelins will do the trick.
The spoiler is REALLY bugging me. It is all i think about now.
I am enjoying the heck out of the impala though, put over 100 miles on it today.
It has retained power where the radio and power stuff works after you turn it off. Until you open the door.
I am getting lots of stares and compliments. I think the dark blue color is fairly rare, so people haven't seen it much.
Accelerated up to about 3500 rpm's today and the car felt really strong. It does have more low end torque than the intrigue.
The interior is starting to grow on me. The people in the office seem to like it. Especially the neutral leather.
I am going to check into those swaybars. The problem is if i go to a bigger bar there will still be roll and dive. Just like in the intrigue.
Heavier springs and struts will make it ride harder. I think the intrigue's struts are the main culprit in its firmness on small bumps.
The way i see it is that there are about $6000 in discounts on the average intrigue. $2000 in profit off of MSRP if you pay at or near invoice.
$2000 rebate on the intrigue. $1500 Olds loyalty certificate, which you are eligible for. If you early terminate your lease and finance the new car through GMAC they will give you an additional $500 on any new GM car.
I know, i just did it friday. That adds up to $6000. If your car is due to be have it's lease end by March 31, 2002 you are eligible for this program.
You didn't say what the MSRP was on the car. Let us know.
Dark blue w/neutral leather is the best combination I can think of.. Just be sure you maintain that leather! Get the Zaino leather treatment if you like leather smell. Perhaps get some good metallic tint for further protection. Glad to hear you are enjoying the car.
I'm not a huge fan of the spoiler on the Impala. It does make an already tall rear end taller. I have a spoiler on my Intrigue but I would trade it for the more integrated one shown on the OSV concepts.
Perhaps get the $15 strut tower bar from GM and install it yourself (make sure you ream out the holes first). Was a 20 minute job for me. No biggie if you don't like it or don't notice a difference.
Not a huge fan of spoilers either, but i do like the ducktail style that came on the '94-96 impala ss, my '87 camaro and the OSV one that you mentioned.
Used lexol leather cleaner then conditioner on the intrigue's steering wheel, console and gear shift handle. Worked great.
Going to ask the dealer about trading a flat rear deck lid off of one of his new cars for mine with the spoiler. He has two blue cars in inventory.
I like how the c-pillar sweeps down into the trunk. Unfotunately the spoiler ruins the effect.
Think the body structure feels stiffer because the impala was designed for police/taxi duty from the start. Also suspension is a little softer and transmits less road shock.
I'm seriously thinking about getting a classic Oldsmobile summer car in the near future to keep after my Intrigue is gone. I want my kids to know what an Oldsmobile was and what a great brand it is.
But if this and the Chevy Borego are the future of GM, the future is looking a lot brighter.
Impact harshness is mostly a function of spring rates and struts or shocks, with a speed type rated tire throwing a little extra harshness in there too.
The struts in the intrigue are completely different than the other wbody cars. This is why small bumps come through big time but big ones are not that big of a deal. If the intrigue had a high spring rate then big bumps would be really harsh.
The soft springs cause brake dive and the acceleration lift .
I'll agree with the other posters about waiting for a 2001 Intrigue. If you don't need a car immediately, you can wait just 4 more months and the 2001's will be going cheap in the end-of-year clearance. And it will give you more time to hunt for a PCS equipped car.
paint sealant, pin stripe, undersealant. ( what a rip off) car has 44 miles. Build date of 6/00. s $18,500 a good offer? have $1,250 on GM card plus
add on rebates ($2000 + $1500 loyalty)
Pcs is nice but my main goal is to save the 9 payments left($3,195) and buy a car and keep it
till it drops.
I would still try the 2001 if possible. If not, you are getting a good car for the money.
("the Aztec in car form"). Too bad too. Feel like I need a shower now.
You need glasses my friend! ;-)
Nothing comes close to the AZtek in terms of ugliness!
I find that the motor has plenty of power at cruising speed. I'm so used to manual trannys and underpowered automatics, that I found it a bit unnerving on inclines to NOT feel it downshift with the cruise control on. But it does keep pace, and will downshift if it really needs to in order to maintain speed.
You do need to be "purposeful" with the accelerator to make a downshift yourself. A little tap isn't enough of a hint. Get the revs above 3000 RPM. The tach in combination with your foot is a helpful way to control the shift points.
I don't think it's a big deal. Like I said, I'm used to manuals. But if I had my way, I'd shorten the 1,2 and 3 gears on the Intrigue. (Although I think the 1 and 3 need shortening more than the 2 does.) Someday I'd like to drive the 3.29 tranny with the 3.5L to compare the difference.
If the car feels underpowered to you, you could try leaving it in "3" instead of "D" for around-town driving. That should get you a little farther up the torque band, and a little more rev to "sense" the motor working.
I've also noticed that I can do a lot of "stealth passing" in the Intrigue. The sway bars make for level cornering. I can just maintain my speed, while drivers in the other lanes (both left and right of me) instinctively ease off the gas a tad. I try to make it a game to pass *somebody* on every curve! :-)
I think that second gear needs to be shorter. My car always dropped out of its powerband on the 1-2 shift.
Apparently the 3800 was near zero on that. I too noticed lots of torque steer at times, but with 200+ horse through front drive, its hard not to have that. Nothing was more scarey than my '83 GTI though.
14300 miles on my 20000 GL "typeR" and only problem now is rattle in driver side rear door, sim. to one correctled last year in the other rear door (plastic rivet popped out, they used a screw instead.)
Chck out the 2002 Altima, the specs are very close to the Intrigues (3.5, IRS et al).
Saw the LT wrap up for the Intrigue in Motor Trend today. Zero warranty work and zero problems with their tester 2000 model. Rated it very well over all and I am in full agreement.
You can still get another Intrigue for your wife if it's next year. ;-)
yurakm: I agree, local lot has at least 6-8 PT Cruisers on the lot and they are advertised regularly in the paper these days. I think I might consider on if they had a V6 in them.
focus : I read that a couple of weeks ago somewhere also. Hopefully he will design some nice stuff for Chevy. The Malibu and Impala really need to be a little more exciting. Can't wait to see what he comes up with.
And yes, I've also seen relatively new Neons with the paint coming off in big automobile dandruff flakes. Maybe DC's upline models are better... But Ford proved with the Escort/Tempo/Taurus that a manufacturer is quite capable of putting the same paint on all their cars.
The paint on my Mazda had faded from 9 years in the CA sun, but it's still on there at least.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Ken