A Little Engine That Can in the Cutlass Calais
General Motors--late but certainly not last in addressing the public want for deft, smaller and more spirited American cars--is knocking some of the stuffiness out of the domestic image with its 16-valve Quad 4 engine.
This is the four-cylinder, twin cam streaker chosen to power the teardrop Oldsmobile Aerotech racer that Mr. Old Mobility himself, A. J. Foyt, drove to a world record of 267.39 for the flying mile.
Last year, a turbocharged Quad 4 was installed in the Indianapolis 500 pace car driven by well-known Chevrolet Corvette pilot Chuck Yeager.
Public demonstrations done and company faith intact, GM went fully public with its little power plant in 1988, easing it into the Oldsmobile, Buick and Pontiac lines as a 150-horsepower option for compact cars.
Now a bigger, friskier version, the HO (High Output) Quad 4 with a new cylinder head and bigger valves, is ready for market.
Top-End Offering in Calais
It will be a top-end offering on the 1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais International series when they go on sale in September. Next year’s Chevrolet Beretta GTZ and the Pontiac Grand Am SE also will be given the HO Quad 4.
By squeezing 180 horsepower from a relatively puny 2.3 liter capacity, the HO Quad 4 punches out more power per cubic inch than any comparable car from Japan, Europe and the United States--including those multivalve marvels, the Ford Taurus SHO and Porsche 944S2.
As a matter of fact, acknowledged Ron Smith, a line planner for Oldsmobile’s Cutlass Calais, both the Taurus and the Porsche were examined when GM was entering the multivalve field. So were the Toyota Celica GTS, the Mercedes 190, the Peugeot 405 and even the Dodge Daytona Turbo because, Smith added, the primary object “was to offer the performance of the competition without the complexities of turbocharging . . . the best of both worlds in terms of optimum fuel economy and performance.”
In the Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais HO Quad 4, those objectives have been achieved.
Here’s an econobox that with the lightest of toes will easily offer 30 plus miles-per-gallon yet with the heaviest of feet can run alongside the sport coupes and performance sedans from Europe and Japan.
With a base price of $14,395, it’s also an affordable American-built, four cylinder compact that doesn’t pause to wonder what’s going on when a driver demands quickness and oomph right now before you can read the tattoos on that truck driver’s arms.
Better yet, Oldsmobile has paid some real attention to chassis feel and suspension settings, has added wheels and tires for function instead of appearances, and installed the required aerodynamic cladding until, paradoxically, the Calais HO Quad 4 is the world’s only entry level car that clearly is superior to anything else in the manufacturer’s line.
Visually, the car will be difficult to miss. It wears 16-inch alloy wheels that look like Cuisinart discs. There are fog lights in the front air dam and fender flares and the monochromatic look of implied performance.
In one of its few tributes to Detroit’s undying dedication to nonsense (unless you just can’t do without an information computer that flashes daily greetings when you enter the car), the HO Quad 4 comes with a slender aerofoil on the rear deck.
Called ‘Luggage Carrier’
It must have very little to do with airflow management because Olds calls it a “luggage carrier.” Make sense? Only to former settlers who remember driving from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles in the ‘40s with a steamer trunk lashed to the lid of their Olds.
Externally, however, the HO Quad 4 has the lines of a loser. The back end is a building block. The car looks stiff and upright. That’s the sad byproduct of evolution; the penalty for taking a compact car built for the ‘burbs and adding a panel here, a wheel lip there until after several seasons you’ve got a shape in search of the Lasorda Diet.
The car’s interior and its mechanicals, fortunately, have transcended such evils of inbreeding.
Bucket seats give a soft but definite holding pattern to hips, shoulder and lumbar regions. Within their six-way power adjustment range there’s comfort for the longest, largest and most languid. Pedals, hand controls and the highly visible analog instrument cluster were placed by a dedicated ergonomist working overtime. And the interior space is a family room.
One thing marks this car as a piece designed more for Mulholland than San Marino: a fist-sized, leather covered gearshift knob attached to a five-speed manual, the only transmission offered with the Calais HO Quad 4.
Not that we are talking tire smoke and fast exits from slow corners. For that gearbox is smooth, the clutch won’t give you shin splints and the power steering finds that sweet spot just below firm and far from soggy.
But then--when the kids have been dropped off and there’s just the two of you and PCH to play with until Oxnard--you can romp and wrestle with the flexible, multipurposeful Calais HO Quad 4 and it will sing and quiver and surprise just about any BMW you might encounter.
Only Major Limitation
In fact, the only major limitation to the car’s performance is the driver’s initial presumptions. For this, after all, is a domestic car. That should mean too much weight within ungainly bustles and no sudden moves, please. Detroit cars always yawn a lot and perform best in nose-to-tail traffic or when floating between Stuckey’s on Interstate 10.
But not this domestic car. A combination of stiffer springs, better damping and speed-rated tires gets the Calais HO Quad 4 around corners with flair and flatness. The torque is smooth and ample throughout the range but the car really puts on its sneakers around 5,000 r.p.m. where spirited motoring begins.
The low-end performance doesn’t quite live up to an Oldsmobile press release describing the car’s 0-60 m.p.h. time as “breathtaking.” Similarly, the engine doesn’t seem to explode with quite the hyper-verve of other 16-valvers.
The enormous stride between first and second gears (to more than 60 miles per hour) will not please everyone and indifferent brakes--discs up front and drums behind--are a bit of a worry when stretching the car. Improved stopping should be given priority when and if GM fulfills its promise of burnishing the HO Quad 4 into a 200-horsepower engine which, one must presume, will result in a 140-miles-per-hour car.
Harness Mounting
While the engineers have their tools out, they might work a redesign on a harness mounting that currently positions the shoulder strap across the driver’s jugular vein. Then reset the hand brake that has roughly the same amount of travel as a village water pump.
Still, in the Calais HO Quad 4, Oldsmobile has a vehicle to intrude mightily upon Ford Motor Co. and its up-range Mustang, Thunderbird and Taurus lines that have long been America’s only quality domestics.
Torque steer is minimal on this front driver. The sound system has the quality that persons seek when shopping to replace the audio junk that is standard on too many domestic cars. Even the fit and finish of the HO Quad 4 is a vast improvement over Detroit’s chromium plastic norm.
In a phrase, GM is getting there.
Olds will go much further if it can steal a tiny asset from the imports--and dump whatever medieval reasoning seems to preclude a single key for trunk and ignition.
1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais International HO Quad 4
COST: Base: $14,395. As tested: $16,310. ENGINE: Four cylinders, 16 valves, 2.3 liters developing 180 horsepower. PERFORMANCE: 0-60, as tested, 7.8 seconds. Top speed, estimated, 125 m.p.h. Fuel economy, average city-highway, 27.4 m.p.g. CURB WEIGHT: 2,823 pounds. THE GOOD: Playful, highly efficient, hugely satisfying engine. Comfortable and roomy for all bodies and their baggage. Tires and wheels built for serious and balanced handling. It’s an American car. THE BAD: Brakes that trail the car’s performance by about 10 years. Long stride between 1st and 2nd gears. Shoulder strap strokes the neck. Hand brake travel is a long journey. THE UGLY: The name of the car.
