Archived Comparison
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.
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.
