That, by the way, is something we really appreciate about the '99 model. The original Concorde, especially in the first few years of production, was loud to the point of raucous. The new car is not yet the quietest in class, but Chrysler engineers have substantially subdued the wind and road noises that made it difficult for front and rear passengers to speak without shouting.

Under the hood, the Concorde LX comes with a 200-horsepower double overhead-cam 2.7-liter V6. With the upscale LXi, you get the 225-horsepower single overhead-cam 3.2-liter V6. Both of these all-aluminum engines were new for the second-generation Concorde.

The 2.7-liter engine used in our LX was a marked improvement from the engine it replaced; it's quicker and quieter than the old 3.3-liter push-rod cast-iron V-6, which produced 161 horsepower. Under hard acceleration, the old engine quickly ran out of breath. The new engine also achieves better fuel efficiency, offering a 1 mpg improvement. If you want maximum off-the-line acceleration, though, we recommend the LXi with the 3.2-liter engine.

One advantage of the Dodge Intrepid over the Chrysler Concorde is the availability of Chrysler's AutoStick transmission. At its heart, it's the same electronic 4-speed automatic, but AutoStick has a feature that lets you shift it like a manual gearbox -- without a clutch.

There is essentially no difference in suspension between the Concorde and Intrepid other than tires. The base Intrepid and Concorde LX come with 15-inch steel wheels and Goodyear Conquest GA tires. The ES and LXi models have 16-inch alloy wheels with Goodyear Eagle GA tires. The bigger tires have notably more grip, particularly in hard cornering and braking maneuvers and the smaller Conquests make more noise.