How Do You Like Your Torque Steer? 1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo vs 2009 Chevy Impala SS

Front-wheel-drive performance cars are a controversial topic. Ask a Mini or VW GTI aficionado, and they’ll tell you FWD is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Muscle car enthusiasts, on the other hand, often shun anything driven at the “wrong” end. One thing everyone can agree on, though, is that it’s no fun when the front wheels yank the steering wheel out of your hands on hard acceleration – the dreaded “torque steer.” Today, we’re going to check out a couple of high-powered FWD cars guaranteed to make you wrestle with them.

Yesterday was all about second chances, and which of two abandoned projects deserved one. You’re a brave lot, I’ll tell you that – the old Rolls-Royce won in a landslide. Ain’t nothing like the real thing, I guess.

I agree. A cheap kit car would be a fun thing to tinker with, but not that one. I’d rather have something VW-based; it just seems like an easier way to go, and if you end up hating the body that’s on it, you can always swap it out. A beached whale of a Rolls-Royce would be a massive undertaking, but at least it might class up the place sitting there dead.

Nearly every car manufacturer switched to a transverse engine and front-wheel-drive during the 1980s, for one reason: packaging. Put all the driveline components at one end, and you have the whole rest of the car for people and cargo. But using the same wheels to drive as you use to steer can be a tricky business, especially when you crank up the horsepower. Careful engineering can tame most of a FWD car’s bad habits, but there’s still a chance it will want to go straight when you want to turn. It’s an unnerving sensation, and some people just hate it. If you’re one of them, then I’m afraid today’s cars might not be for you. But let’s check them out, and see if you can give them a fair shake.

1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo – $4,995

Engine/drivetrain: Turbocharged 2.2-liter OHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD

Location: Hillsboro, OR

Odometer reading: 118,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives great

Whatever you think of the old Chrysler K-based cars – and I know most of you aren’t fans – you have to give Chrysler credit for making a lot with a little. They’re kind of like Taco Bell: Everything is the same eight ingredients, but somehow they keep coming up with new menu items. What we have here is something that can’t rightly be called a sports car, but I think it’s fair to call it a pony car. The Daytona, and its sister model the Chrysler Laser, may have been K-cars under the skin, but that skin looked mighty good, and still does today.

1984 was the first year for Chrysler’s turbocharged 2.2 liter engine. It made 142 horsepower, a figure that would climb to great heights in later years, but take it from a former ’84 Laser Turbo owner – this car has plenty of power. This one has received a lot of love: the seller has rebuilt everything, and restored all the mechanical systems to like-new condition. Apparently they run a restoration shop. A Dodge Daytona may seem like an unlikely car to receive such treatment to some of you, but I for one am delighted to see it.

The Daytona isn’t much like a garden-variety K car inside, either. It has nice leather bucket seats, all kinds of fancy power options, and, possibly, the talking Electronic Message Center. That’s right: this car’s doors might very well be jars. It’s in really good shape inside, though there is evidence of Chrysler’s haphazard build quality everywhere. It’s just something you deal with on a car like this, and really, it’s no worse than a Jaguar or an Alfa Romeo of the same vintage.

The paint is pretty dull, and I don’t know how well it would shine back up. It must have been parked outside for a long time. You could repaint it, but you’d have to find someone to reproduce those “Turbo” graphics on the bottom of the doors. It wouldn’t be complete without them.

2009 Chevrolet Impala SS – $4,200

Engine/drivetrain: 5.3-liter OHV V8, four-speed automatic, FWD

Location: Manor, TX

Odometer reading: 154,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

The Impala nameplate has a long history behind it. It was introduced in 1958 as the top-of-the-line full-size Chevy, and has come and gone a couple of times over the years. In 2000, Chevy brought back the Impala name on a new front-wheel-drive sedan, much to the chagrin of classic Chevy fans.

A high-performance Super Sport version of the Impala is a tradition dating all the way back to 1960. The FWD Impala SS debuted in 2004, with a supercharged 3800 V6, but when the bodystyle changed in 2006, Chevy upped the ante. This 2009 Impala SS has a 5.3 liter LS4 V8 under its hood, sending 303 horsepower to the front wheels. It can run low 14s in the quarter mile – for as long as the transmission holds up. They’re notorious for failing. This one has recently had its transmission replaced, so it should be good to go for a while, but be nice to it if you want it to last.

It shows some wear inside. The carpet is rough, and there’s a popped seam on the driver’s seat. But the seller says the heat and air conditioning work just fine, so that’s something. Make sure you try out all the power features to find out if anything is broken.

This ad has terrible photos, but from what I can tell the car is in good condition outside. Photographing a car in the rain is an old trick to make it look shiny, but it can’t hide peeling clearcoat, and I don’t see any signs of that. It does have some deeply-tinted windows, which you may or may not like. It’ll cost you around a hundred bucks to have it taken off.

So on the one hand, you have a turbocharged FWD car from a time when automakers were still trying to tame its bad habits, and on the other you have a V8-powered beast that eats transmissions. Either one will show you some bad habits if you push it hard enough. But both could be a lot of fun to drive despite those bad habits. Which one speaks to you?