But for '98, the Concorde underwent a radical revision, part of a $2.1-billion redesign program that included the Dodge Intrepid makeover and LH engine development. Meanwhile, since its '93 introduction, the Concorde has languished in the shadows of its visually similar LH siblings, the Dodge Intrepid, Chrysler LHS, the dearly departed Chrysler New Yorker, and the doomed Eagle Vision. Changes to the Bonneville for '98 are few: Highlights are the mating of the high-torque-capacity 4T65-E four-speed automatic transmission (previously only available on supercharged engines) to the naturally aspirated powerplant and standard fitment of a rear deck spoiler on SE models. It's a seriously flexible brand that can compete against everything from Chevy's massive rear-drive hot-rod Caprice to the fashionable new Concorde. The last time we featured a Bonneville SE, we matched it up with a Chevrolet Impala SS and a Ford Taurus SHO. We now return you to the regularly scheduled comparison, already in progress. Clearly, automobile performance has increased at a rate rivaling the near-ballistic Dow Jones Industrial Average.
And both cars' 60-0-mph stopping distances (130 feet for the Concorde, 137 for the Bonneville) would have been top-10 performances.
(The Concorde would have been an acceleration also-ran with an 8.1-second performance.) The Concorde's 63.8-mph slalom run would put it an incredible third, ahead of the Corvette, while Bonneville's 61.2-mph cone-dodge would have been good enough for 13th.
Also, the automatic-transmissioned Bonneville's 7.3-second 0-60-mph run would have bested five-speed versions of the 300ZX and Supra Turbo, among others. In at least one test-track performance parameter, the Concorde LXi would have topped all 17 neck-snapping bad-boy Bangers-including the Chevrolet Corvette, Nissan 300ZX, Toyota Supra Turbo, Ford Mustang LX, and Pontiac Trans Am. We interrupt this comparison test to bring you the following breaking news bulletin: Attention performance-oriented drivers, these are the good, old days! To put the performance of these big, comfort-is-king sedans in historical perspective: Both would have fared extremely well in our 1989 Bang for the Buck shootout.
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