1988 Plymouth X2S

The styling hits you first. Visually, the X2S is a knockout. But beneath its sleek skin, this sporty new car is engineered to be high quality and high performance. The creators of Plymouth X2S reached into the future, striving for significant advances in automotive design. X2S is the reward of their labor. Windswept, aerodynamic styling, and hidden headlights allow Plymouth X2S to slide through oncoming air quietly and efficiently, with an expected drag coefficient of 0.30. The unique X2S shape uses the onrushing wind to hold the car to the road. X2S is an automobile that inspired driver confidence. A combination of highly refined, interdependent engineering features makes this futuristic Plymouth a pure joy to control. Front-wheel drive, four-wheel independent suspension, and power-assisted quick-ratio power steering achieve a unique combination of stability and maneuverability. Power-assisted four-wheel-drive disc brakes confer extraordinarily controlled deceleration.

It is a car you drive by instinct, knowing that X2S obeys the driver's most subtle command. The driving force inside Plymouth X2S is the sophisticated fury of a turbocharged and inter-cooled 16-valve DOHC MPI 2.0-liter Mitsubishi-built engine. This engine's leading-edge technology empowers Plymouth X2S with desirable performance. It develops 199 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 189 lb-ft of torque at 5,000 rpm. Considering nearly 200 horsepower and a curb weight of just 2,550 lbs, a zero-to-60 mph line of seven seconds and 140-mph top speed is expected.

This is a car designed as a mechanical extension of the driver's body: man and machine-made one. A feeling, a special understanding of the road, is subtly transmitted into your body through the ergonomically correct lumbar support bucket seats. Rich digital stereo sound envelops you. The cockpit-style instrument panel gauges are positioned within optimal sightlines. Controls are placed to fall easily beneath your hands.

Features

• 2.0-liter 16-valve DOHC MP1 turbo-charged inter-cooled dual balance-shaft engine

• Dual insulated front/3-link rear sports suspension

• A power-assisted rock-and-pinion quick-ratio steering

• 16-inch cast-aluminum wheels

• P225/50VR16 Goodyear Eagle + 4 tires

• Pop-up halogen headlamps

• Instrumentation includes tachometer and speedometer, gauges for fuel level, engine coolant temperature, engine oil pressure, and turbo boost, plus warning lights

• High-back reclining bucket seats with lumbar support and passive restraint system

• Adjustable steering column

• Leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob

• AM stereo/FM stereo (MPX) electronically tuned radio-Ultimate Sound System-with six speakers and cassette tape player or CD player

Engine & performance:

• Type: Mitsubishi Galant, 4-cylinder, DOHC, turbo

• Capacity: 1997 cc

• Power: 199 hp @ 5500 rpm

• Toque: 256 Nm @ 5000 rpm

• Top speed: 225 km/h

• 0-100 km/h: 7 s

Dimensions:

• Weight: 1156 kg

Source: Chrysler; allcarindex.com

Images: Alden Jewell Collection; Road&Track Magazine, April 1988