1996 Eagle Vision TSi
Back when I was in high school, I remember noticing just how badly space was wasted in cars. Small cars could seat five passengers, and a large car could likewise seat five; the big differences in exterior size dwarfed the small differences in interior space. A few years later, I read about Chrysler's push towards "cab forward" design, pushing the cabin forward in the chassis for better space utilization. Other car manufacturers had toyed with the idea, but apparently Chrysler was planning to dive right in and redo their whole car line based on the concept.
I was excited, because it made sense--better stability and handling, sleeker lines, and best of all, maximum room for people and minimum space dedicated for the machine. I foresaw the Colt becoming a sleek little speedster-ish coupe. I imagined beautiful cars revitalizing the whole Mopar line. I was mostly a Ford fan at the time, but I liked the idea of the underdog Chrysler brands putting out some decent products for a change.
They fulfilled their promise, at least in my eyes, when they unveiled the Dodge Intrepid. I fell in love with that car at first sight. It looked like a sporty sedan should look like; it looked like the automotive version of an F-5 Freedom Fighter. Best of all, from what I can remember of reviews from the time, it didn't suck. That alone was a victory for Chrysler.
One semi-immutable rule of car manufacturing is that when you have a
decent car (and even when you don't), you re-badge it with minor
modifications to match your established brands. For the Intrepid, this
meant that a slightly higher-tech version was designed and sold as the
Eagle Vision. The Vision is just a little bit more of a sports sedan
than the Intrepid, a little more technologically advanced, and featured
a slightly different front fascia/hood design that just made it look
tougher and more menacing. I loved it.
My favorite Vision was the 1996 edition, with the 3.5-liter V-6 engine. Of course, back then I was far more ignorant about cars and performance than I am now (he said modestly), so during the time I was caught up in lust, all I could really tell you about the Vision is that I really, really liked its appearance, and it probably had some gee-whiz techno tweaks on it.
Now, however, having done the research, I have a much better grasp of its features.
- Automatic Stick: The ability to control gear shifts without a clutch is commonplace now, but at the time was only available on exotics. You'd think new technology like this would be fraught with malfunctions, but apparently Chrysler engineered it well enough to avoid a pratfall with the shifting.
- 214-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6: This engine pushed the Vision 0-60 in 8 seconds (fair) and returned 17/22 mpg (ugh! ...but par for the course in those days).
- Anti-lock four-wheel disc brakes: ABS was part and parcel for upscale cars at the time, and all sports sedan manufacturers know you need great brakes to get out of trouble.
- Gas shocks and stabilizers: These increased its stability and maneuverability.
- Anti-fog heating elements in side mirrors
- Keyless entry: This is nearly a standard feature now, but that wasn't the case a decade ago.
Interestingly, the TSi's 16-inch wheels were an upgrade over the
standard 15s; at the time those were considered a useful upgrade for
handling and comfort, but now those are either standard or slightly
small for a sports sedan. I've read some complaints about road noise
and, as should be expected, the more the car is tweaked toward firm
handling, the more you feel the bumps.
Still, the Eagle Vision
was a credible mid-size family sports sedan. It wasn't exorbitantly
expensive (about $23k new), and offered an enjoyable driving experience
comparable to much more expensive mid-level European sports sedans.
That wasn't what Americans expected from a U.S. car manufacturer, which
is probably why the car failed to garner much interest from the buying
public.
Given that, you probably won't be surprised to hear there aren't that many available these days. One online search yielded only 21 for sale in the whole United States, and that's all years and all trim levels. Prices ranged from $700 to more than $7,000, which seems a bit high, but I have no idea how these cars age mechanically. I would probably test drive one just for the fun of it, but there isn't a single one for sale within 600 miles of my location. I don't know if that's a result of self-destructing build quality or merely are result of the Vision's scarcity.
--Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame
Chris Hafner on July 23, 2008 at 09:36 AM
Nice choice, Nathan. I've always liked that first-generation Intrepid - I think the LH cars are the best cars Chrysler made at the time. For whatever reason I've always preferred the Intrepids to the Visions - the Vision styling doesn't grab me the same way. But either way, they're excellent cars for the time - trim styling, great visibility, and a nice powerplant - more akin to a European car than American cars of the day.
It's a shame Chrysler slowly let the Eagle brand die - there for a while, with the Vision and Talon, it had some decent cars. It's inevitable, though, I suppose, that if Plymouth and Oldsmobile are gone despite all of their history that a made-up brand initial formed as an ad-hoc landing spot for former AMC products wouldn't last particularly long.
I'd bet that the Vision's low sales are due at least in part to the fact that most Americans had no idea what an Eagle really was.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on July 23, 2008 at 09:42 AM
I never really paid attention to either the Vision or the Intrepid when they came out. Thanks for showing me what I missed.
Ian on July 23, 2008 at 10:07 AM
My mom had a '96 Intrepid for a few years. It was pretty fun to drive, but it left something to be desired in terms of reliability. I don't know whether it was my mom's bad luck with cars or the fact that it was formerly a rental car, but I think it spent more time in the shop than in our garage.
Mochi Mochi on July 23, 2008 at 10:15 AM
I remember that when these cars came out I was quite impressed. It seemed like Chrysler was really starting to innovate and clean up their act. There was a sense of important change.
The Cab Forward banner was interesting and odd. Thanks for explaining it - coming from a different place (japanese and german cars) I never quite got what it was supposed to be about. The thing I can't ever quite understand is why so many large cars are so small inside! I'm sure a certain part of this comes from sound damping efforts, but how much of that is really necessary? It seems to me to go well beyond the need for quiet and to be more related to some kind of marketing philosophy. I don't get it.
But that said - good for Chrysler for doing efficient space planning with in this line of cars.
Adam Maas on July 23, 2008 at 10:50 AM
I currently own a 94 ESi, with the smaller 3.3L 6, which my family has owned since new. It's an excellent car with one glaring weak spot, the Transmission. Like all Chryslers of that era, tie-rod issues also crop up, but are easily solved, the bushings need replacement as they deteriorate easily.
Good handling, decent performance even with the smaller engine (a 161HP 6) and a lot of comfort in a reasonable package. They never were very common though, the slightly cheaper Intrepid outsold it by a large margin despite requiring several upgrades to match the Vision's standard equipment (Even the ESi had standard 4-wheel discs, sport suspension and the nifty and useful Thermostat based environmental controls which could be set at a desired temp and left to handle the need for heat or A/C).
The tranny issues can be solved by swapping in the tranny from a 2nd gen LH car, which is fairly easy, and even without that a 95 or later tranny is reasonably reliable as the real problems were with the 93's and 94's. Early cars can also be upgraded to Autostick and there's a small but thriving enthusiast community for the LH's, particularly the Vision, INtrepid and 300M (which was originally slated to be the 2nd gen Vision before Eagle got axed).
The other nice thing about these is that since there's enough room in the huge engine bay for a V8, they're very nice to work on unlike many recent cars.
I really wish Chrysler still sold the LH's. The LX RWD cars are nice designs, but less practical than the lighter, roomier and more fuel efficient LH's.
Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame on July 23, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Oh, no, Adam. No.
Your description of how to easily (and relatively cheaply) fix the main negative of the car (the tranny) has inflamed my Lust for the Vision by a factor of 10.
I have to emphasize: my original Lust was for the Intrepid, and it's not so much that I ever stopped wanting the Intrepid...just that I found she had a slightly hotter, fraternal twin sister who likes hair metal bands, Black Butte Porter, and the NFL as much as I do.
This makes me realize either are equally fun in be-, er, on the road.
David Colborne on July 23, 2008 at 02:21 PM
Ah, the old LHes... I used to have a Chrysler Concorde from the exact same generation ('94). It had the smaller V6, so it actually got halfway decent gas mileage, but it was still pretty peppy and was nicely appointed. The transmission was starting to get a little quirky (wouldn't automatically downshift when the cruise control was on), but was otherwise holding up okay. I ended up losing it in a divorce, which was rather sad.
The cool/sad thing about those LH and LHX models is the piss-poor resale value; even though they're very solid cars, that pentastar logo causes them to lose value like little else. The good news is that it means you can get one used for cheap, which makes them an extremely wonderful value.
My understanding of Eagle's problems was that they sold them at Jeep dealerships, which made sense since Jeep dealerships were mostly old AMC dealerships. Unfortunately, people that were looking for a Jeep weren't looking for semi-sporty quasi-European cars, so that kind of sunk the whole project.
Interestingly, the LH platform was a great gift from AMC; apparently, it was based on the AMC/Renault Premier. Sadly, it looks like Chrysler's managed to work all of the AMC out of it.
Adam Maas on July 23, 2008 at 05:10 PM
@Nathan: Yeah, the Intrepid can be a lot of fun too, especially if you don't have the noodly base suspension (the Sport suspension package gives the base suspension from the Vision). I never quite liked the Intrepid as much, preferring the Stolen-from-Honda front end of the Vision (Can we say '93 Prelude?) and the less plastic tail end. The wide stance makes for some very nice handling, especially for a big FWD sedan.
There's a guy over at lhforums.net who'se been doing some real interesting things to the engines as well, which is also where the info on the Tranny swap comes from.
The Premier wasn't actually the origin for the LH, that story comes from the fact that most of the LH test mules were Premier's.
Rob the SVX guy on July 24, 2008 at 07:00 AM
Wow. Never noticed the 4th gen Prelude front end. Weird. Anyway, I was excited to read about the Vision TSI, because I've heard rumors of them being AWD and turbo, like a Talon TSI. Unfortunately... it seems it's just sorta more of the same intrepidness. Dang. Thought I had found the perfect sleeper.
Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame on July 24, 2008 at 09:08 AM
@Rob
I thought the perfect sleeper(s) had already been discoverd and so designated:
For pure speed, the Subaru Forester XT.
If the handling on the Forester dismays you too much, then #2 is the early 90s Nissan Maxima SE.
Both detailed in earlier Car Lusts...I just can't add the links in the comments, I don't think.
Chuck on July 24, 2008 at 06:58 PM
I have owned a green 96 Eagle Vision since 2000 with chrome 16 inch wheels. It is a beauty with the 8 speaker infinity sound system and equalizer, leather, auto dimming rear view and huge interior. It has been a money pit, but we love it and keep it up. I figure as long as I can drive the (paid off) car I like and repairs/upkeep costs stay below the monthly commitments of a new one, I'll keep it on the road. I had it painted a couple of years ago. It has 171,000 mile on it. I don't drive it on long road trips. My wife has had a Thunderbird, Mustang, and a Beamer. She says this is her favorite car. As long as that is the case, it will be maintained. :)
Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame on July 25, 2008 at 06:15 AM
[looks to the sky and yells:]
C'mon, Glenn! Link this post. You know you want to.
Adam Maas on July 29, 2008 at 12:34 PM
@Rob: interestingly, I've heard of one case of someone dropping a Stealth drivetrain into an Intrepid, Turbo FWD in this case. Would be interesting to try that with the AWD drivetrain into a Vision TSi to make a real sleeper out of it, but that's well beyond my budget right now, and I have to admit if I did a conversion like that I'd probably just drop an LX-body drivetrain in (Vision SRT8? I like)
brian on December 20, 2008 at 11:55 AM
hrm.. well i actually have a 1994 eagle vision tsi, great car 165,000 miles. nothing is wrong with it the tranny is even in good shape, the car is surprisingly fast only prob with it is a minor anti freeze leak and thats a cheap fix. my car aged well i must say. mines green i hate the color lol, im planning on keeping mine, and actually three months ago i took it on a trip to maine from nj, 7hr drive made it fine np, im proud of her :)