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w wm m vv 4 iv v wr jrv rr- v 5t i acddikriisinsectibitbfmdrkh intrepid rt 2000 name ii a lot of by jim robinson carnewscanada say rt and- anyone who loves performance cars will start waxing lovingly about the dodge charger rt one of the most potent musclecars of all time- although there are numerous magazines and tv shows about the musclecars the actual era was quite a short in time it started tentatively in 1964 when the pontiac gto exploded on the car scene by 1968 the rest of the car industry had caught up with their big engined hightorque road burners but by l972the insurance industry had started to step in and then came the death knell with the fuel crisis of 1973- as wonderful ashhey were musclecars were used jot the most part as daily drivers because they were relatively inexpensivef you could buy a 400 hp rocket and drive it towork during the week and out to the track on the weekend chrysler is extremely aware ofits past and the company also knows how to incorporate nostalgia with modern technology just look at the prowler or the pt cruiser as examples but most of the mopar musclecars were actually family sedans and coupes with large engines some sourced from big trucks j the rt rhonikermade a comeback two years ago on the side of a concept coupecalled the charger rt it hadthe same coke asthe original and is rumored to be headed jor production 1 in the meantime the success of chryslers other socalled letter car the 300m liasprompted chrysler to put its- mostpowerful v6 engine and sequential automatic transmission in a variant of the lh platform that includes lhs concorde and 300m thats being called thedodge intrepid rt in the united states and the chrysler intrepid rt in canada k i never had a chance to drive the first rt but a 1972 i bejievek- dpdge polarasedan back in 1974 with a- 440cu in engiriepiitting put closeto400- hpjpf about thelsarne as todays 8litre viper with vhat seemed like unlimited torque you- could lightup the rather skinny tires with adabof the throttle at almostany speedpressing down oh the gas sent the haplesyhibber scrambling for grip as the torque simply overwhelmed what traction there was perched up on simple oil shocks and rangy rear leaf springs you soon learned that power is a wonderful thing if you can use it ergo a spin in a mgb was- a revelation butback to thepresent and the 2000 chrysler rt and a word on the fit and finish of this cartas turned out by the good men and women of the cawup in bramalea trying to get doors and hoods to fit uniformly on cars like the lh is ho easy task instead of flat panel like the old polara i drove the new lh cars like the rt have bodies with compound and complex curves all in one fender let alone the whole side it takes a lot of work and practice to get it right happily bramalea is doing a great job its no surprise to me why the j d- power excellence awards keepgoingtd canadian facilities this is world class work my rt was fitted out in a nice metallic red red tinted pearl coat to be precise with offsetting black interior these lh cars are truly huge inside and ivegot to say those yards and yards of charcoal cloth and plastic as good in- quality as they are are a bit toosomber forfny taste awhile it may start iifecbming down the brarnaleaassembly line as an intrepid es thert gets significant changes whereas the intrepid is offered with v27 32litre v6 the rt has the 35litre quad cam from thesoom installed in the rt youre looking at 242 hparid 248 lbft of torque quite bit more thanthe 27v 149 hp or the 32s 168 ponies the best part isit produces this power on regular gas transport canada estimates fuel consumption as 159l100 km 18 mpg city and 108l100 km 26 mpg see rt 2000 page 22 the chrysler intrepid has been expanded to offer the high performance rtthat recalls the days of the mopar musclecars bearing the same name tat