1,000 miles plus rental drive…
Versus
Dodge Stratus SE 2004
1,000 miles plus rental drive…
There is no comparison. The Grand Am “wins” hands down over the Stratus.
I rented from Enterprise both vehicles,
and went to the same location on the same route.
The first car was the Pontiac Grand Am
GT with the Monsoon sound system, V-6 engine, and what has for GM vehicles
become basic amenities including an Am/Fm Stereo with CD player, tilt steering,
cruise control, intermittent wipers, power windows with auto-down feature,
power automatic door locks, power outside mirrors, reading lamps, twilight
sentinel, keyless entry / trunk release, security lock system, cloth interior
with manual driver and front passenger seat adjustments.
The second car was the Dodge Stratus SE with Am/Fm cassette sound system, V-6 engine, tilt steering, cruise control, intermittent wipers, power windows with auto-down feature, power door locks, remote outside mirrors, cloth interior with manual driver and front passenger seat adjustments.
What I did not really like about the Grand Am GT was the red dash gauges. The gauges glow all red at night. However I found out that if you turn the lamp intensity to the lowest setting, you can still read the gauges, and the red seems to “disappear” as you look ahead down the well-lit highway. The comfort and convenience lacks only the presence of On-Star to be a superb vehicle.
The handling was crisp and predictable. The Grand Am handled back-road curves with ease, and felt safe and secure. Steering was a delight, and the controls for the cruise feature were located at the bottom of the wheel, and were illuminated when the twilight sentinel turned on the lights at dusk. All the window and dash controls were well illuminated.
The Monsoon sound system with its speed controlled volume automatic level adjustment made listening to my favorite sounds a worry-free pleasure at any speed. I drove with the windows (all four) down most of the way, and did not have to strain to hear the sound system. Especially good was the seek / scan features of the newest radio systems in use by GM.
The seats were firm, yet fully adjustable, and held my 6’0” frame securely and comfortably the entire trip. The auto-down feature of the driver’s window is especially nice; when with a single touch the window rolls completely and totally into the door. All four windows of the Grand Am rolled down into their respective doors, quickly and quietly.
The mileage attained by the Pontiac was well over 34 mpg at the cruising speed of just over 70 mph on the interstate (about 4 mph over the posted speed limits). The cruise control was different from the typical GM turn-stalk single button system, which I do like, but was just as easy to use, and held the car at a remarkably steady speed. Even when merging from one Interstate into another on the entrance ramps, the car handled as if it was running within a slot and was not the least bit unnerving to drive.
The reading lamps on the rear-view mirror were easy to use, and well placed for checking directions, and motel reservation confirmation papers.
The engine had plenty of power, and accelerated smoothly without excess effort at all speeds. This was a relief when I was cruising at 70 mph in the passing lane overtaking a truck doing about 65 mph, when another truck doing well over 70 came barreling up on my rear in the passing lane. I floored the Grand Am, and the speedometer (which reads from 0 – 150 mph) took notice, jumping from 70 to nearly 90 in about 5 seconds (or less).
I was safely able to get ahead of the barreling truck and back into the right-hand lane without any concern for being rammed in the rear end.
Now if it only had On-Star and came in fusion orange metallic color paint!!!
As for the Dodge Stratus SE, I did not like the way it handled at all. It wallowed through the curves like a pig stuck in mud. It had lurched and bounced over the slightest imperfections in the straight pavements, and that over sprung and under-shocked feeling was exaggerated through even the slightest road curves. Every muscle in my arms, back, and legs ached after about an hour behind the wheel. The seat was too soft, and soon my buttocks had “gone to sleep” and I had to stop a few more times than I wanted to get out, stretch my legs, and get the feeling back into my backsides.
There was no twilight sentinel feature on the Stratus, so I had to remember to turn on the headlamps manually (which if you’re used to having the automobile do that for you, becomes a chore quite quickly).
There was no automatic feature of the power door locks, and there was also no safety feature that would prevent a child from opening a front door by pulling on the door handle (even if it was locked) while driving down the highway, as the Dodge still unlocks the door if locked when the front door handles are opened. This was disconcerting, to remember that the door didn’t lock, and have to fiddle to find the lock button after dark.
The mileage attained by the Dodge was just over 30 mpg at the cruising speed of just over 70 mph on the interstate (about 4 mph over the posted speed limits). The cruise control was located on the steering wheel, but had about 6 buttons, which were not clearly marked as to their functioning, and after dark were not illuminated, so you had to guess, and jab and punch, and whatever to get the car to engage the cruise control. Another disconcerting feature is the “CRUISE” light on the dash remains lit even when the cruise control is disengaged (albeit enabled). So if you touch the brake, you weren’t sure if the cruise disengaged or not until you head back down the highway a little, and notice your speed decreasing, then you have to punch which one of 5 buttons or so to get the car to maintain its speed, etc. I disliked the cruise control feature the most of all the “features” of the Dodge Stratus, and I told Enterprise so when I returned the car.
The sound system was more of a noise system. It was less sophisticated than the standard GM fare (even without the Monsoon speaker system) and had no speed-compensated volume feature. So you were constantly readjusting the volume manually as you decelerated or accelerated on the highway to various cruising speeds.
The four-speed automatic was geared to “squawk” the tires at start off unless you went extremely lightly on the gas pedal. At the high end, when I was cruising at 70 mph in the passing lane overtaking a semi going just about 65 mph and another truck came upon my rear end (exactly the scenario as had happened in the Grand Am) and I floored it…the speedometer (which reads from 0 – 120 mph) took almost 10 seconds to go from 70 mph to almost 80 mph and I barely get back into the right hand lane before being rear-ended (which was not a happy thought).
Aside from the sloppy handling, lack of acceleration at the high end where it is needed the most, and the maddeningly frustrating cruise control, and noise system, there were several other “features” of the Stratus that did nothing to make me like it.
The rear windows rolled down a bit less than half way for full down. The Stratus when the cruise control was enabled and engaged would down-shift if going downhill, so the rpm on the tachometer would jump from a bit under 25000 rpm at 70 mph to well over 45000 rpm, as the car down-shifted to maintain a speed preset. This contributed greatly to the less than exhilarating interior noise, not to mention making the best gasoline mileage I could get be just a bit over 30 mpg on the highway. (Frankly, I thought the car had a 4-cylinder engine for all the huffing and puffing it managed.)
The power brakes were “grabby” if touched too quickly, and made the driver’s seat seem as if it were on a large spring, and wanted to bolt forward as the brakes were initially applied. This too was tiring on the body.
About the only good thing going for the Stratus was the interior noise level when the car was run with the windows up was surprisingly quiet enough that you didn’t have to adjust the radio volume as much as might be expected or you might otherwise have to if the windows were rolled down.
All in all, the comparison results point
to the fact that I’m not even going to consider buying a Dodge Stratus
anytime soon, but I would buy a Grand Am GT in a heartbeat if I needed
to purchase a new vehicle in the near future.
THIS Gas Mileage INFORMATION is
new for 2005 model year vehicles
MODEL
YEAR 2005 Fuel Economy Leaders
Listed are vehicles with highest fuel economy in the most
popular
classes, including both automatic and manual transmissions.
See
the completed list at this site: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/FEG2007_GasolineVehicles.pdf
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TWO-SEATER
CARS
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MINI
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COMPACT
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MIDSIZE
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CARGO
VANS (Essentially the SAME vehicles below.)
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MINIVANS
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PASSENGER
VANS (Essentially the SAME vehicles below.)
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SUV
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SUV
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(NOTE:
This is not the F150 full-size pickup truck.)
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