Drivetrain Marks New Eagle Talon -- Chrysler's Engine Now Under The Hood Of Mitsubishi Clone

One of the most significant aspects of Chrysler's all-new Eagle Talon lies under the hood.

It's not that a 16-valve 2-liter engine making 140 horsepower is so striking - though it is creditable - but that it bears a "Made by Chrysler" label.

That's a breakthrough because the car is made by Mitsubishi in its Normal, Ill., plant. Heretofore Chrysler's input was largely limited to styling tweaks undertaken to differentiate the Talon from the Mitsubishi Eclipses coming off the same line. Now even the (base) Mitsus have a Chrysler drivetrain, and that constitutes a heavyweight endorsement.

Chrysler concedes that the 1995 edition - arriving in showrooms now - is more evolutionary than a radical departure, though the sleek sheetmetal is wrapped around a frame that's longer and wider than before, and the body is 60 percent more rigid. It echoes the first-generation Talon, and from some angles calls to mind the current Honda Civic - very sleek, smooth-flowing lines, and low.

There are still three levels: ESi (base), TSi and TSi all-wheel-drive (AWD). I requested an ESi with automatic transmission, subordinating my lust for power to the realities of the marketplace - the automatic Esi is expected to account for a majority of sales. I did extract an IOU, though, remembering some hot times I had in a first-generation TSi AWD. The Tsi models are much more performance-oriented, with a turbocharged powerplant that was pretty wild at 195 hp and should be bags of fun at this year's 210.

Getting into this little front-driver was about as much fun as crawling under it would be. It's a subcompact and I'm not. It wouldn't be so bad if the "tilt wheel" actually tilted up out of the way, but its range of motion is so limited I could barely squeeze under it. Once the king-sized sardine was in the can, it wasn't so bad. There was plenty of legroom and headroom, and instruments and controls were all well-placed. The rear compartment had what might be taken for seats, complete with seat belts, but I didn't try them, no "Jaws of Life" being immediately available.

I laughed out loud when I saw the 170-mph speedometer, but at least it and the accompanying tachometer (reasonably scaled to 8,000 rpm, given the 7,000 redline) were large and quite legible. Ditto for the fuel level and coolant temperature gauges. Overall ergonomics were excellent.

Performance was predictably modest, considering the 2,800-pound curb weight and automatic transmission, but swift enough for most purposes. In general motoring and freeway merging, this Eagle soars between thrilling and lethargic.

The engine climbs right to the redline if urged with sufficient force, and the automatic shifts smoothly, even under duress. Overdrive off is managed via a convenient shifter-mounted button, but there is no readout for what gear has been selected with the console-mounted lever. Overdrive ratio is high, yielding a fuel-sipping 28 mph per 1,000 engine turns.

The engine drones at anything over 2,000 rpm (with valvetrain whine obbligato), and tire and suspension din raise the overall cacophony level to what I characterize as fairly noisy.

The ride is rather harsh over even slightly-less-than-perfect paving. Expansion joints make the car bounce. Handling is good to very good, as long as the tires (195/70/14s) are well-planted.

Lots of cubbyholes make good use of the interior volume, and of course there are two cupholders. The trunk is surprisingly large and even has a cargo net. Liftover height, however, is waist level. The rear seatlets fold down for heavy livery chores.

The upgraded stereo in the tester was loud enough to satisfy most in the youthful audience and had acceptable tuner sensitivity and overall tonality.

Braking was very good, with good pedal feel and easy modulation, even without the optional antilock system.

EPA estimates on an automatic Talon are 22 mpg city, 31 highway. I used regular unleaded to the tune of 26.8 mpg, that with only a minority of freeway cruising.

Chrysler/Mitsubishi get a final plaudit for the "retained power" module, which eliminates one of life's little annoyances by keeping the power windows energized for 30 seconds after the engine is turned off.

Base price on an ESi is $14,362, which includes such niceties as twin airbags, four-wheel disk brakes, power steering, tinted glass, tilt wheel, AM/FM stereo radio with four speakers, remote releases for fuel door and liftgate, rear spoiler, folding rear seat and manual remote mirrors.

Most would want to add, as Chrysler did to the tester, a "customer preferred group," consisting of air conditioning, rear defroster, front floor mats, cruise control, power heated mirrors and upgraded stereo (cassette deck and two more speakers). That's $1,601. The automatic transmission is $738.

Total, with freight, was $17,131.