From the August 1991 issue of Car and Driver.
Jonathan Winters and General H. Norman Schwarzkopf may be the sort of look-alikes you’ll find in Spy magazine’s “Separated at Birth?” section, but we’d like to present a more strikingly similar duo.
Consider: the Nissan 300ZX Turbo is powered by a twin-turbocharged and intercooled, 24-valve 3.0-liter V-6 that produces 300 horsepower. The Mitsubishi-engineered Dodge Stealth R/T Turbo is powered by a twin-turbocharged and intercooled, 24-valve 3.0-liter V-6 that produces 300 horsepower. The ZX Turbo comes with anti-lock brakes and four-wheel steering. The Stealth comes with anti-lock brakes and four-wheel steering. The Z sports a two-mode suspension that is controlled by a switch in the cockpit. The Stealth does too. The Z flaunts arresting bodywork and a handsome, luxurious interior—complete with driver-side air bag. Ditto for the Stealth. The Z can top 150 mph with ease. The Stealth? Take a wild guess.
When two cars with such comparable qualifications shoulder into the same market niche, the clock inevitably strikes “High Noon.” Which is why we decided to bring these near-twins together for a little tea party, a C/D-chaperoned showdown.
Though not even two years old, the 300ZX Turbo is already the established top gun in the sports-coupe class. Since its introduction in late 1989, it’s earned a spot on two straight Ten Best Cars lists and has even beaten the mighty Chevrolet Corvette in a C/D face-off (February 1990). But the new-for-1991 Stealth R/T Turbo (like its mechanical twin, the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4) brings to the duel a staggering array of hardware—there’s even a variable-note exhaust system on board. (Incidentally, though the Dodge and the Mitsubishi are essentially the same car, we opted to include the Dodge in this test because, well, everybody seems to respect the name “Stealth” nowadays).
Our evaluations began with a two-day road drive. We rounded up four editors and once again journeyed south from our Ann Arbor headquarters to the clear country highways and tricky switchbacks of central Ohio. Below Bowling Green, we barreled along barren back roads through Bascom and Brokensword and Bucyrus and Butler, breaking only for a breather and burgers in Bellville. But by and by, as bed beckoned, this bounty of Bs became boring. And so we went to Mansfield. Lucky visitors to this slumbering metropolis near Mid-Ohio racetrack are hereby advised to dine at the creaky Oak Park Tavern, nestled in the woods just down the road a piece. Happily ensconced in the Oak Park’s dimly lit dining room, we each ordered a solid “tuck-in” of beer, bread, soup, salad, steak, hash browns, vegetable, pie, and coffee. That’s one of the rewards of taking a road trip in the Midwest: you get to eat like a serial killer.
Our road drives complete, we returned north to the Chrysler proving grounds in Chelsea, Michigan, for a full battery of instrumented tests. Rounding out our analyses were a series of hot laps around the Chrysler PG’s beautiful new roadcourse—a fast and challenging test circuit commissioned by Chrysler’s foot-to-the-floor president, Robert Lutz.
Not surprisingly, the final scoring was close. But, as usually happens with duels, the victor was clear. You’ll note that, this being Car and Driver, we’re actually going to reveal which car that is.
Up Close and Personal
Similar as they are, these two ninja coupes aren’t clones. The biggest difference: the 300ZX Turbo is a rear-driver while the Stealth R/T Turbo sports a full-time four-wheel-drive system employing a planetary-gear center differential in-unit with a viscous coupling. The basic torque split is 45/55 front/rear, but when one end begins to lose traction the system can apportion power as needed to the other axle.
There’s a notable size difference between the two coupes, too. The Z rides on a 96.5-inch wheelbase and measures 169.5 inches from nose to tail. It doesn’t look it, but it’s a hefty car, weighing 3570 pounds—about 200 pounds more than a Corvette. The Stealth is even heftier. Mounted on a 97.2-inch wheelbase, it’s about two inches wider and a full eleven inches longer overall than the Z. And it’s more than 250 pounds heavier—the price to be paid for carrying the extra length and four-wheel drive.
Each car has a comfortable and businesslike cockpit, with large analog gauges and handsomely contoured panels. The Stealth’s dashboard, however, drew criticisms for its layout; some of the controls are hard to reach, some are mounted out of sight behind the wheel. And gauge illumination is either too much or not enough: the Stealth’s turn signals are distractingly bright at night, yet its pictograph climate-control display is too dim during the day. More troubling, the Stealth is marginal on headroom. The six-footers on our staff fit inside but complained of an intrusive headliner. Taller drivers had to recline the seat just to get behind the wheel.
The Z’s cockpit, in contrast, is almost flawless. The materials are pleasing. The controls are easy to reach. The seats are supremely comfortable. The driving position is superb. The Z’s headroom isn’t exactly abundant, but there’s noticeably more than in the Stealth. In short, when it comes to modern sports coupes, the Oscar for Best Cockpit in a Leading Role goes to the 300ZX.
Road Runners
When choosing a weapon for long-distance touring, you could pick either of these cars and come out a winner. With their sophisticated suspensions and bounteous power, these machines can suck up the miles at an astonishing rate without breaking a sweat.
Neither car delivers a creamy ride, but in touring mode both offer good control while cushioning road shocks reasonably well. Each car’s sport mode, therefore, seems to exist only to placate “serious” drivers who must have a stiff ride to feel that their car is “handling.” On the road, none of our drivers engaged either car’s sport mode for long—the resulting hard ride did more to jar our bones than to improve handling in any appreciable degree.
In cruise, the Stealth suffers a bit from its extremely tall gearing. At 80 mph in fifth, the engine is burbling along at just 2850 rpm and can’t immediately catch breath if you prod the throttle. Also, the gearbox itself was a source of some criticism—though light and smooth, the cable-linkage shifter feels loose when moving from gear to gear.
Through the ups and downs and twists and turns of hilly rural Ohio, the Z’s variable-speed power steering proved spectacular—well weighted, accurate, and honest. The Stealth’s steering earned good marks, too, though in slow corners it felt overly light.
You’ll note that the Dodge’s engine edged the Nissan’s in the voting. Close as the two powerplants are, the Stealth’s Mitsubishi-built six feels smoother, livelier, and more responsive. Indeed, it produces more torque than the Z’s engine—307 pound-feet versus 283—and the torque peak occurs lower in the rev range. The Z’s six suffers from a bit more turbo lag and needs to be revved harder for maximum results, but it’s a beast once the boost is up.
Our road drives gave us plenty of time to measure public reaction to the cars’ provocative shapes. To a man, our editors prefer the Z’s clean, uncluttered form, an inspired design penned in Nissan’s California studio. But if the Z is Miss Universe, the Dodge-designed Stealth is Lady Godiva. “Yow! Dude! That’s the baddest ride on the face of this earth!” exclaimed a young University of Michigan scholar as our red test car idled through campus. Clearly, if this is the sort of commotion caused by a “Stealth,” you’d never want to get behind the wheel of a Dodge “Brazen.”
Potent Testees
A day at the test track proved that these two ninjas are as powerful as they look—fast enough to dispense with anything but the world’s costliest supercars.
Despite the Stealth’s weight (about as much as a BMW 735i), it charges to 60 mph in just 5.2 seconds and trips the quarter-mile lights in 14.0 seconds at 98 mph. That’s even better than the performance we measured with a pre-production car last October; our technical director attributes the progress to a strong production car and a more aggressive launch during testing.
The lighter 300ZX Turbo is even quicker. It reaches 60 mph in just 5.0 seconds and flashes through the quarter-mile in 13.7 seconds at 102 mph. This car proved to be the fastest Z we’ve ever tested.
Both ninjas, incidentally, are quick enough to leave a standard Chevrolet Corvette sucking dust.
These cars have legs, too. The Stealth doesn’t stop accelerating until it hits an aerodynamic wall at 155 mph. The Z, sleeker and shorter-geared, is fitted with an electronic limiter designed to kick in at 155 mph. Our test car cut out early—153 mph—but got there quicker than the Stealth. Without the limiter, the Z would probably climb to 165 mph.
Both cars, fitted with ABS and four vented disc brakes, are capable of spleen-wrenching stops. The Stealth claws to a halt from 70 mph in only 163 feet. The Z needs just five feet more. Awesome. Still, it’s here that each maker has the most work to do. Despite their power, the brakes in both cars suffered from noticeable fade during our brisk road drives. In fact, we noted rotor warpage on the Stealth after only a few minutes of really hard running. Before these ninjas can lay claim to having beaten Porsche at its game, they need to offer brakes commensurate with their speed.
The two cars tied on the skidpad, each hugging the circle with a whopping 0.87 g of grip. The Z, lighter on its feet, won the slalom contest handily, proving amazingly responsive and controllable. Careful readers will note, though, that the Nissan’s speed through the cones was down from that of the Z Turbo that fought in last year’s Corvette comparo. We attribute the change to our new test car’s Goodyear Eagle ZR tires, which delivered predictable breakaway at the limit but didn’t feel as grippy as the last tester’s Michelin MXX’s.
Beat the Clock
As evidence of how well matched these cars are, they turned in identical lap times at the new Chrysler racetrack. How each car went about its business, though, was telling.
Running full bore, the Z felt supremely composed and responsive. The steering was superb, allowing surgically precise turns and transmitting plenty of information from the front tires. The chassis followed inputs from the helm without a ruffle. The drivetrain never stuttered. After being put through five hard laps, only the brakes showed signs of fatigue.
The Z displayed mild understeer in most corners, but we found we could break the rear end loose with power or a sudden move off the throttle. The breakaway was always easy to control, too. The 300ZX Turbo is a terrific track car.
The Stealth achieved the same result with less grace and more sheer guts. Its brakes suffered on the track, but more troubling was its steering, which in some corners felt disconcertingly disconnected from the front wheels. The Stealth never made any untoward moves, mind you, but the precision found in the Z was noticeably absent. We suspect the problem may have something to do with the manner in which the four-wheel-drive system apportions torque as the load shifts from front to rear and back again.
Where the Stealth shined was in the track’s quick esses. Transmitting its power through all four wheels, the Stealth simply exploded from corner to corner on the series of short straights. And its stability allowed us to brake deep into turns without worrying about the tail
The Envelope, Please
And the winner is . . . the Nissan 300ZX Turbo, taking eight of twelve categories and tying in three.
The Dodge Stealth R/T Turbo is a most worthy challenger—fast, versatile, and stunning to look at. Its polish and sophistication are somewhat less than the Z’s, but at a base price of $29,595 the Stealth is an undeniable value. Its showing at the test track speaks for itself.
At $35,357, the 300ZX Turbo lists for almost $6000 more than the Stealth, but its strengths make it a fair buy. Such performance, refinement, and poise simply cannot be had anywhere else at anything near the price. Indeed, to find another sports coupe with as fine a brew of civility and speed, you’d have to move all the way up to the $62,000 Acura NSX.
You could do that, but only if you were “Loaded at Birth.”
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Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com
