1978 Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon Test: Borrowing from the Best

Car and Driver

05-06-2025

From the January 1978 issue of Car and Driver.
What you see here is not a VW Rabbit. It may look like a Rabbit and contain some genuine Volkswagen parts, but this car is in fact a Plymouth. The new Horizon and its Dodge twin, the Omni, represent the small-car plunge Chrysler has waited seven years to take.
In many ways, the end result justifies the delay. Chrysler has been roundly criticized for not going after Pinto, Vega, and Grem­lin business even though corporate officials claim they "went to the brink" year after year to justify a Chrysler subcompact. Each year hard-nosed analysts told them to pass. Americans have never demonstrat­ed a strong taste for chopped or miniatur­ized big cars, which is really all we've been offered in a domestic label so far. The al­ternative is an import, and "buying for­eign" has been such an attractive proposi­tion that even Ford, Chrysler, and GM stock their small-car shelves from across the water. The Omni and Horizon will scramble this system because they are nei­ther imported nor shrunken big cars. With a transverse-mounted, front-wheel-drive powertrain and highly efficient body, these cars are the state of the small-car art.
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You're probably as surprised as we are to see Chrysler leap frog the competition like this. Just when its highly touted image of engineering superiority was starting to tarnish, it jumped GM by a full year and Ford by two years in the race to front-­wheel-drive sedans. In truth it wasn't engi­neering progress, but rather anti-crisis ac­tion that boosted Chrysler over the front.
Like all the revolutionary engineering programs for 1978, this one was born of Detroit's Doomsday, the winter of 1974. In the grip of an energy crisis and decimat­ed big-car sales, Chrysler had to stretch Christmas holidays to weeks for every em­ployee, and to months for many. Plants were shut down to deflate swelling inven­tories, whole engineering groups were sent on mandatory leave and operating costs were slashed to the bone. The lights were all but shut out.
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As the cataclysm passed and the compa­ny recovered from shock, the message was clear. Chrysler's Commandment Number One for future survival had to be a funda­mental shift to more efficient automobiles. And without the usual waffling or waiting, here it is. The Omni and Horizon are this company's commitment to the future.
Richard Halatek, Chrysler's chief of small-car planning has suggested the name "Phoenix" for the Omni/Horizon pro­gram, because it really has risen from the ashes of Chrysler's old cheap-energy atti­tudes. We can all applaud Rabbit-like cars built in America by a company now pre­pared to take efficiency seriously, but the Omni and Horizon will begin their lives bearing a strong Wolfsburg imprint. No other car has trespassed so far beyond po­lite limits of plagiarism. Chrysler's ride and drive engineers have in fact mistaken VW Rabbits for their own prototypes on early test trips. And under the hood, the VW-Audi engine and transaxle casting marks are present for all to see.
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The inevitable "not guiltys" that come in reply to these charges are weak. Chrys­ler planners credit the Rabbit's shape and layout as the one best suited to maximum efficiency in a four-passenger car. They feel that Omni and Horizon styling has been determined by function—four sitting comfortably erect with plenty of room for themselves and their luggage behind—rather than by artistic whim. Giugiaro, who created the Rabbit's crisp lines, must be a little piqued by such a Xerox of his ideas, but it is inevitable that cars of this type from every manufacturer will soon be moving our families.
While Chrysler doesn't seem to mind a short ride on the Rabbit's reputation for initial impressions, that is where the simi­larity ends. The Omni and Horizon are American cars, and even though they're the smallest thing Chrysler has ever built, they are meant to deliver a full measure of what this company believes Americans prize most: ride and comfort. This means adjustments of the Rabbit blueprint amounting to a 4.7-inch longer wheelbase, 9.5 inches more length, 2.8 inches more width and roughly 200 pounds more weight. (Just to complete the longer, lower, wider triad, the roof is lower than a Rab­bit's by 2.1 inches.) The longer wheelbase and heavier weight smooth out ride mo­tions and the bigger exterior dimensions pay off in more interior room. However, the roominess advantages over a Rabbit are modest (about an inch in most impor­tant dimensions) when compared to the ex­terior's swelling.
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At least the EPA is convinced. Its index of interior roominess measurements have classified the Omni and Horizon as "com­pacts," while VW Rabbits, Honda Accords, and Ford Fiestas are one size down as "subcompacts."
The prototype cars we have driven did not offer a satisfactory basis for final ride judgments, but they did demonstrate ex­actly what Chrysler engineers are after. Extra-long wheel travel (6.6 inches in front, 7.7 inches in back, compared to 6.1 and 7.9 inches respectively in a Rabbit) is this car's claim to fame, even though such an attribute is rare in American cars. The long travel theory of suspension design al­lows soft spring rates for absorbing little bumps, with less likelihood of bottoming out over big bumps. Body roll is managed by front and rear anti-sway bars. This is a typically European approach, but while VW or Fiat would finish the job with tight damping, Chrysler has chosen very low shock-absorber control. This lessens the in­fluence of small bumps on comfort but also makes the car slow to settle after wavy pavement. On fast steering maneuvers, the Omni and Horizon react in a lazy fash­ion—they're still zigging when you're ready to zag. The idea here is not to make former VW owners feel at home, but rather former big-car owners, who might be ready for more efficient transportation.
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They will be asked to bear few sacrifices. The options sheet is fat with goodies new to this size car. In spite of the engineers' best recommendations, power steering is at the top of the extra-cost list. It's not at all necessary from a functional standpoint, but the marketing types had no desire to cold turkey their power-assist addicts.
Inside, there has been no skimping—no exposed heaters, no bare metal panels, no rubber floor mats—and this should tell you the Omni and Horizon start out at im­port-deluxe levels of trim. How far you take them in the luxo-garnish-molding di­rection is limited primarily by your imagi­nation. You can pick from two upgrades of interior and exterior trim, outside wood­grain, or even premium outside woodgrain. Vinyl bucket seats are standard, but you may choose from five other vinyl, or cloth and vinyl combinations in two different backrest designs. Cut-pile carpeting is standard with all interiors.
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The overall impression is plenty of com­fort but less quality than most imports have built their reputations on. Again, we'd rather wait for real cars for final as­sessments, but daily contact items like door handles and controls seems a little rough around the edges. The outside door latch looks like a pull will open it, but in­stead it takes a squeeze. The parcel shelf requires an awkward two-handed maneu­ver to release. And rear lift-over is the highest of any car in this class. It is weak detail execution that reveals Chrysler as a newcomer to little-car business.
Four-cylinder engines are also new to Chrysler (the last domestic-built one came in 1932 Plymouths), but even so, the new four-banger seems right at home in the Omni and Horizon. Very little vibration shakes through, and in normal cruising, the 40-pound blanket of sound insulation is worth its weight in quietness. We mea­sured a noise level of 75.0 decibels at 70 mph, exactly what we've found in both the VW Rabbit and Honda Accord. At full throttle, the Omni/Horizon does blast through a loud, resonant voice at 85.0 dec­ibels, compared with the Honda's 84.0 dec­ibels and 77.0 decibels in the Rabbit.
Everything you feel, see or hear while driving reflects the Chrysler touch, so ev­ery sensation after the first glance reinforc­es the Omni/Horizon's made-in-America label. Everything, that is, but a close in­spection of the parts. The big bought-out item is the powertrain. Volkswagenwerk AG will ship assembled short block, cylin­der head, and four-speed transaxle assem­blies to Chrysler's Trenton, Michigan en­gine plant. There, the American labor force will take over to "dress" engines with external components such as carburetors, ignition, and emissions controls and pre­pare them for cars that will be screwed to­gether in Chrysler's Belvedere, Illinois as­sembly plant.
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The basic design of the engine is shared with the Rabbit—an in-line four with a belt-driven overhead camshaft and an alu­minum non-crossflow cylinder head. While VWs and Audis sharing this engine have shifted to a smaller 1457 cc displacement for 1978, Chrysler has opted for a larger 1710 cc long-stroke version for more torque. (1976–77 Rabbits used a 1588 cc en­gine.) The larger displacement also helps offset the power lost moving from VW's Bosch fuel injection to the Omni/Hori­zon's Holley two-barrel carburetor. Power output is a healthy 75 hp at 5600 rpm, making this the highest specific output en­gine of any car made in America. Chrysler has added one key refinement of its own, a Lean Burn electronic ignition system.
While VW supplies Rabbit four-speed manual-shift transaxles for the Omni and Horizon, the optional three-speed auto­matic is a variation of the ever-popular Chrysler TorqueFlite.
Even though Chrysler buys nothing but powertrains from VW, they have "bor­rowed" a number of chassis design con­cepts. The front suspension is MacPherson strut with coil springs—just like the Rab­bit's—and also features a negative scrub radius layout. (The steering axis intersects the ground outboard of the tire contact patch center. This produces automatic steering forces to maintain straightline sta­bility when traction differs on left and right sides of the car.) The coil spring is purposely not concentric with the strut tube, so bending-induced friction is partial­ly cancelled. Minute VW details such as ball-joint attachments and control-arm pivot connections have also been religious­ly duplicated by Chrysler. At least when the engineers decided to copy someone else's paper, they picked the brightest kid in the class.
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The Omni and Horizon's rear suspen­sion is familiar, although it is neither the Rabbit's "torsion-crank" design nor the Dasher's beam axle/trailing arm configu­ration. Like the VW Polo (a Honda Civic­-sized car not exported to America), Chrys­ler has chosen a pair of trailing arms linked by a transverse member midway between the suspension's pivot axis and the axle centerline. Really, this layout was chosen more for fuel-tank packaging than any sus­pension function. Chrysler has dubbed the design "semi-independent," since the transverse member does partially tie to­gether left and right wheel movements. Rear coil springs and shock absorbers are concentric, a common design practice for lightweight rear suspensions.
All of this adds up to a driving feel that is clearly aimed more at family use than hard charging. The steering is numb and slow, so you're not likely to provoke a ma­neuver you can't manage. However, when forced to prove itself, this car does know how to sink its tires into the pavement. We measured a cornering grip of 0.71 g. As long as you keep the power on, understeer limits cornering speed. To make things a little more interesting, you need only lift off the throttle and the car promptly tight­ens its line. This might help aggressive drivers find their apexes, but it's bound to be a source of surprise to the 55-mph set.
Braking is the Omni/Horizon's forte, and here the new little kid on the block can beat every other car Chrysler builds. Stop­ping distance from 70 is a very short 206 feet. The system is disc-front and drum­-rear, with an optional power booster. We found the power assist unnecessary. With­out it, pedal effort is 32 pounds at 0.5 g deceleration, about optimum for good control. Part of the excellent braking feel and linearity is a result of Chrysler's choice of leading-and-trailing-shoe (rather than duo-­servo) rear brakes.
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All sporting intentions have been pur­posely muted in the Omni and Horizon. But just for now. In time, the five-door body style will be teamed up with a more aggressive three-door. (Just hope it's not a Scirocco duplicate.) An American-built 2200 cc four-cylinder engine is under devel­opment and turbocharger rumors have been circulating for months.
Chrysler hereby joins the world-car scheme of manufacturing, with a new twist on this increasingly popular approach. Rather than design one car for local con­struction in many markets, the engineers have shopped around the world for the best parts to bring back home for their new small car. They may be mostly VW under­neath, but the Omni and Horizon are un­deniably Chrysler's ride to the future.
Specifications
Specifications
1978 Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon
Vehicle Type: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 4-door hatchback
PRICE
As Tested: N/A
ENGINE
SOHC inline-4, iron block and aluminum head, port fuel injection
Displacement: 105 in3, 1710 cm3
Power: 75 hp @ 5600 rpm
Torque: 90 lb-ft @ 3200 rpm
TRANSMISSION
4-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/multilink
Brakes, F/R: 9.1-in disc/7.9-in drum
Tires: FIrestone Deluxe Champion Radial
P155/80R-13
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 99.2 in
Length: 164.8 in
Width: 66.2 in
Height: 53.4 in
Curb Weight: 2170 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 11.7 sec
1/4-Mile: 18.8 sec @ 74 mph
90 mph: 41.9 sec
Top Speed (observed): 92 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 206 ft
Roadholding: 0.80 g
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED