1994 PLYMOUTH ACCLAIM Review
Introduction
The squarish, utilitarian lines of the 1994 Plymouth Acclaim sedan may cause you to overlook this car in favor of the somewhat sexier, more aerodynamic lines of its competitors. What you'd be passing up is a roomy little sedan-and one of the best values in its category.
Chrysler brought out this basic design several years ago with the objective of offering one of the roomiest, most feature-packed, lowest-priced midsize sedans on the market. It's an objective that the '94 Plymouth Acclaim continues to strive for in a highly admirable way. Our test vehicle sported a downright miserly-by today's measures, anyway-MSRP of just $14,154. And that amount bought us an AM/FM stereo, air conditioning, power steering, power brakes and a comparatively hefty 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine.
What's more, six people can sit comfortably in the Acclaim's surprisingly roomy interior, and the driver can expect adequate-to-good response from this car's power train at most city and highway speeds. That, in plain and simple terms, is what we uncovered in this plain and simple-but very practical-sedan.
Interior
Once inside the Plymouth Acclaim, we were amazed that clever Chrysler engineers managed to build a six-passenger midsize sedan this comfortable and roomy on such a short (103.5 inches) wheelbase.
The split-bench front seat in our test vehicle was covered by a gray velour and cloth combination, as were the rear seats and door panels. Carpeted kick panels and the durable look and feel of all the upholstered items kept our vehicle far from the "cheap-looking" category as far as we were concerned.
The front seats, though lacking lumbar adjustment, provided comfortable support, as did the twin folddown center armrests. The flat floor of our test car worked well with the bench seat's height to make it possible for a third adult to slip into the front and still enjoy a reasonable amount of hip and legroom.
Through the wide tilt steering wheel, a simple instrument panel-complete with a speedometer dial and analog fuel and temperature gauges-was easily visible. Cruise control buttons were mounted on the steering wheel, and the intermittent wiper control was on the turn signal stalk. One negative: Our test driver had to lean over a bit too far to reach the stereo and air conditioning controls.
The rear deck was virtually nonexistent, permitting the rear seatback to be situated almost directly underneath the base of the back window. As a result, rear passengers received midsize sedan legroom. Also in the rear were several key safety features, including child-protection door locks and Acclaim's Unibelt system, which features a unique cinching latchplate to hold child seats in place.
Walk-Around
A bright, lustrous Sapphire Blue paint treatment covered our test vehicle. Front bumper fascia and vinyl side moldings were Spartan but functional. They also matched the body color quite nicely.
The chrome grille was, in our opinion, a little undersized and austere. The rest of the front end was just fine, though. Headlamps were enclosed behind impact-resistant plastic and integrated with amber side markers that wrapped prominently around the front fenders. A vinyl-covered front bumper protruded neatly from the grillwork, housing amber-lensed turn signals. A functional air scoop underneath completed the look.
A gently sloped windshield, a nearly vertical rear window and a high roof-line give this year's version of the Plymouth Acclaim the model's familiar boxy profile. On our test car, black vinyl door and window pillar trim was chrome-framed, and it complemented the paint in a pleasing fashion. The fixed side-view mirrors and recessed door handles were also covered with black vinyl.
In back, a full-width taillight assembly, interrupted only by the license plate recess, wrapped around the rear fenders to provide increased visibility. The trunk lid covered what seemed to be a spacious trunk (14.4 cubic feet, to be precise) for a vehicle this size. It also had chrome Plymouth and Acclaim insignia on the corners; in addition to the engine insignia on the front fenders, these were the only signs of corporate identification we found on our test vehicle. As for our impression of the wheel covers-well, they covered the wheels.
Impressions
Throughout our performance trials, we continued to marvel at the solid value and good sense that went into the engineering of this car. Particularly impressive was the amount of power and responsiveness our driver was able to elicit from the 2.5-liter, 100-hp, four-cylinder engine.
Do a little comparison shopping and you'll find that this 2.5-liter eclipses the engines in many comparably sized and priced cars by a comfortable margin. It offered adequate-to-good acceleration from a standing start, it was reassuring during passing trials at 50 to 70 mph, and it turned in an overall pleasing response.
In addition to supplying respectable EPA ratings of 21 city and 29 highway, this car's power plant, teamed with its three-speed automatic transmission, never sounded as if it was being over-taxed - even at the height of our cruising. A few more words about noise are in order: At higher speeds, wind and road noise got through to us at audible-though not disturbing-levels. We also detected a whine, possibly coming from the engine or front-wheel drive shaft.
The front disc and rear drum brakes produced satisfying stopping power with a minimum of lockup in all but near-panic tests, even without the benefit of optional anti-lock brakes.
Cornering and handling in this front-wheel drive sedan were stable and nimble. The Acclaim's power rack-and-pinion steering performed impressively, and only railroad tracks and good-sized potholes transmitted any real vibration, thanks to gas-charged rear shock absorbers that buffered impact.
Summary
It's a bit misleading to say you get what you pay for from the '94 Plymouth Acclaim: You actually get a lot more than people typically expect from a car in this price range. Its interior roominess is amazingly generous, and its performance has been long underrated. True, this car doesn't offer a wealth of contemporary features, and the Acclaim's boxy appearance won't excite the teenagers in your household. But you're the one paying the bills, right? Besides, if you buy this Acclaim, you may get the chance to drive your own car once in a while.
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