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1984-1986 Dodge Daytona

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1984  The G-Body Chrysler Laser and its corporate cousin, the Dodge Daytona, debuted onto the automotive scene on October 1st, 1983. These cars would become one of the best-looking, and most sophisticated sport coupes that Chrysler would ever build. All Daytona's had 2+2 seating, with a rear hatchback, and were front wheel drive, and were initially powered by 4-cylinder engines. The Daytona emphasized boy-racer street performance, whereas, the Laser emphasized European luxury, and was intended to be an "executive personal luxury coupe". The Daytona was sleek, low-slung, and aerodynamic, with a drag coefficient of only .35. The car had a large rear hatchback, with a standard rear spoiler on all Daytonas. The car looked like it was going fast even when it was standing still.

 

The Daytona came in 2 models, the base Daytona, and the Daytona Turbo. All Daytonas featured dual action Iso-Strut mounts with progressive rate jounce bumpers, and front and rear sway bars. The suspension package on the Daytona turbo featured stiffer rate springs, a larger front anti-sway bar, and nitrogen filled gas charged shocks in the front and rear. The standard power brakes on all models were front disk and rear drums. Standard tires on the Daytona were P185/70R14 steel belted radials. The Daytona Turbo was fitted with P195/60VR15 Eagle GT performance tires.

 

Unlike the Mopars of old, which used huge gas guzzling V-8's to give their cars high performance, performance for the Daytona was provided by 2 high-tech four-cylinder engines, displacing 2.2 liters and featuring a Single Overhead Cam (SOHC), with standard electronic fuel injection. The base 2.2 liter engine, with single point electronic fuel injection, was more for economy than performance, with an output of 99hp and 121lb/ft torque. The fuel economy figures of the motor were actually quite impressive - 24 mpg city, and 43 mpg on the highway (with the 5-speed manual). The hot engine was the 2.2 liter turbo motor, which was optional on the Daytona and standard on the Daytona Turbo. Using multi-point electronic fuel injection, and a Garrett AiResearch TC-3 housing assembly, Chrysler then designed the compressor, turbine housing, and wastegate assembly. Providing up to 7.2 pounds of boost, the turbo 2.2's output was 142 hp, and 160 lb/ft torque, good for 0-60 times of 8-9 seconds. One of the great features of the turbo engine was the water coolant passage that was designed around the turbine bearing. This helped prevent the bearing from being destroyed if the car was shut off soon after hard performance. This greatly improved the durability of the turbo engine.

 

There were 2 transaxle choices on the Daytona. Standard on all models was a 5-speed manual, with a 3-speed automatic optional. The top gear ratio for the 5-speed was 2.57, 3.02 for the automatic.  

 

The interior of the Daytona emphasized performance. All Daytonas came with bucket seats and a center console. The instrumentation for all Daytonas were electro-mechanical needle gauges. All Daytonas had a graphic message center in the center console, which monitored car functions such as an open door, low fuel, open hatch, or low washer fluid. Also optional on all Daytonas was an electronic navigator, which would give information on mileage, miles traveled, distance to destination, and elapsed driving time. A fun toy to play with, but could be expensive to fix.

 

The really hot car for 1984 was the Dodge Daytona Turbo Z. This was actually an option package on the Daytona Turbo. On the outside, the Turbo Z package added a unique front air dam and front facia extensions. The bodysides had special bodyside moldings, with rocker panel extensions that really made the Turbo Z look hot. The rear spoiler on the other Daytona's was replaced by a 3-piece spoiler that was integrated into the rear hatch. These components actually reduced the drag coefficient on the Turbo Z from .35 to .34.

 

 

1985  The Daytona moved into 1985 with few changes. Four new colors were added, with all cars now coming with clear coat paint as standard. The great looking 3-piece rear spoiler that was available only on the Turbo Z in 1984 was now standard on all Daytonas. Interestingly, the drag coefficient for the Turbo Z is listed as .33, down from .34 in 1984. A new electronically controlled wastegate in the turbocharger now allowed the maximum boost pressure to increase to 9.0 psi for the automatically equipped cars (8.0 psi for the 5-speed cars) for short periods of time. An optional tire size for the base Daytona of P195/70R14 was added. The standard tire size for the Daytona Turbo was increased to P205/60HR15. The power output for the Turbo 2.2 increased to 146 horsepower, with 168 lb/ft torque.

 

An interesting item to note. Apparently six T-Top test-mule Daytonas were built in 1985. Five of them were destroyed , but apparently one of them still exists. A total of 391 production Daytonas were also equipped with T-Tops late in the year. 

 

1986  T-Tops became available on all Daytonas this year. With the T-Tops came power mirrors, power windows, and map lights. The T-Tops were removable glass roof panels with locks and storage bags. The rear cargo area had tie downs for storing them when not in use. 

 

The Daytona Turbo model was dropped this year. The Turbo Z, which was a package on the Daytona Turbo, became a separate model in 1986. In addition, a new option for the Turbo Z, the C/S Handling package (the C/S stood for Carroll Shelby), became available. This package included P225/50VR15 tires, performance tuned gas charged shocks and struts, and larger 32 mm front and 28 mm rear anti-sway bars. The C/S package also included 15-inch by 6.5-inch cast aluminum wheels unique to this package.

 

Another change was the introduction of the 2.5 liter engine. The 2.5 liter was a 2.2 liter motor with longer connecting rods. However, this engine ran smoother thanks to new counter rotating balance shafts that were driven at twice the engine speed by the camshaft. With a SOHC and single point electronic fuel injection, the 2.5 liter put out 100 hp and 136 lb/ft torque.