As Intakes on most modern vehicles are Heated by the Coolant a blown Intake Gasket will do exactly what you described above. It may even improve performance by allowing a small amount of water into the Upper Cylinder and give you the false impression that it's fine no matter what else is billowing out from under the hood.
Normally driving something to destruction isn't an overly clever idea. The only time I have ever accepted the need to drive something to destruction was Jacky driving a Porsche 959 into a check point in the Dakar with the front left wheel missing the entire left hand side 18 inches shorter than it should have been and a big bit of the lower part of the engine missing.
No lubricant of any description in the poor thing after hitting a big rock at high speed in the desert left them only one alternative drive to the next check point and get a lift out home of die where they where. Wasn't much of a choice in my books but then again I did like the 959 that they left in the desert.
Col
