Hooniverse Weekend Edition: Head to Head with the Chrysler 200.
I just came across this video this afternoon while doing some on-line purchases (I am after all, someone’s Secret Santa!) and it was about the Chrysler 200. Some talent from Autoculture.org, CarDomain.com, Dodgeforum.com, Watchmojo.com, and Bullz-Eye.com contributed their thoughts on this “New” car from Chrysler. Hey, where is the Hooniverse contingent?
Here is the video in all of its glory….
Now, I have to ask this question…. Do you really think that the Chrysler 200 – which is really nothing more than a facelifted Sebring – is really competitive with the Chevrolet Malibu or the Ford Fusion? Now don’t hold back….
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Now that Chrysler is Fiat, I see the Sebring/200 as having moved up to euro chic. Now, I would say it is more a competitor to the 3-series and A4 from its home market.
You gotta be kidding me!
The new Chrysler 200 is like putting lipstick on a pig: It's still a pig (not Spider Pig though!).
Did I say BMW and Audi? I guess since it's so deeply, deeply Italian I should say Maserati. Yeah, definitely Maserati.
Maybe the Chrysler TC by Maserati.
touche
Never trust a "journalist" when they're part of a corporate advertisement. At the very least, their comments are being edited so as to leave out criticism and show the car at its best. Or they're simply just toeing the company line for a paycheck. I'm sure the 200 is much improved over the Sebring, but that's not exactly a high hill to climb. The 2011 Malibu just got a six-speed automatic and is supposed to be redesigned for 2012. I'm sure Ford isn't going to let the Fusion fade either.
Ugh. This is hard to watch. Seriously.
It's a midcycle refresh of a Mitsubishi Galant platform-mate. The bar is set pretty low as far as improvement goes.
Per Allpar, Chrysler studied the Mitsubishi GS platform but re-engineered it into something of their own with a kinship to the Caliber's platform. (But, that was coming from the man whose job it was to distribute Chrysler brand's version of the truth… and the Caliber's platform was already a re-do of Mitsubishi's platform itself.)
I have to give props to Chrysler for LOWERING the beltline on this car as well as the 300/Charger. It's about time.
When I first saw the black car at the beginning of the clip, I thought the unnecessary sheetmetal crease on the doors was gone, but then you see the white car, as well as the black car in different lighting, and it's still there. Too bad, as it would be a much cleaner design with smooth sides. The changes are in the right direction but it still looks too much like its Sebring predecessor.
I thoroughly look forward to renting one this holiday season and/or in the next 6 mos.
No, i don't think it's a match for the Fusion and Malbu, but it's an impressive improvement. That said, I think the Fusion and Malibu are completely overrated.
Competing with the showroom appeal of the Fusion and Malibu is not very ambitious. My exposure to the latest Fusions reminds me of nothing so much as the Chrysler K-cars. There is something very marginal and threadbare about the choices of materials and textures combined with the complete lack of style inside and out. That being said, if I were unable to buy an Accord or Camry and had to settle for one of these mediocrities, there is no way I would ignore consumer data portraying Ford as head and shoulders better at making cars than GM or Chrysler.
The real question is,
when you turn your car on, does it return the favoris it competitive enough to stand in the gap for just a couple years, till the Fiat platform replacement comes out?I think it is. I haven't had the opportunity (or for that matter, desire) to shop midsize cars lately, but these cars at least seem to be what they should have been when they first went on sale. If I was forced to quickly give up one of my Dodges and buy a brand-new midsize sedan I'd now have to shop the Avenger against the Fusion, where before I'd have just gone with the Ford.
The grille reminds me of those disguised cars used in commercials for stuff like insurance.
As long as Ford retains the 6sp manual, they have my vote.
I don't really find the outgoing Sebring so much a bad car as one that's just dripping in mediocrity. It's the official car of high school guidance counselors. So, with added refinement, and less embarrassing styling, it should be a solid car.
Although, maybe it's just me, but the 200ebring/Avenger seem a little on the small side for the class. It might be a product of Chrysler being fairly unique in having a RWD full-size car in the lineup – with those inherent packaging limitations, they might have to keep their midsizer artificially small.
I was not led to believe I would value these peoples opinion on what vehicle I would like.
" I like the steering wheel." Damn, I'm sold, not.
"It's better than a chevy / ford." It's qualities are what ?
" It looks prettier" Ooh. I want it.
Three of the last five vehicles I've bought have been Chrysler products. I find they offer a lot of clank for the buck.
There were a lot of words spoken during that advertisement, but I don't think a single thing was actually said.
Well. Put. Might as well have been Charlie Brown's teacher. "Wah-wah-wahwah-wah, wah-wah?"
I too am 6'2", and I would be shocked if someone produced a midsized car whose driver seat I could not fit into comfortably.
I get annoyed when tall folks complain about not fitting in a car… at 6'3" I fit just fine into pretty much all new cars sold today.
The least comfortable was probably a Honda S2000 CR but only for long stretches… that or the 350Z convertible, which is a car I am quite happy NOT to be driving.
I have the opposite problem. I'm 5'7" and there are several vehicles I've been in where I could not get the seat in a position where the wheel, the pedals, and the radio/HVAC controls were all comfortably reachable. The Toyota Tundra comes to mind.
Tundra you say?
http://vimeo.com/12415265
(yes, any excuse to link to this video…)
I bet you never noticed the ergonomics while flying down the strip.
down the strip? no…
but spending a week with it I did. Things are spaced pretty far inside…
Hm. Considering CaffeineFuelled is 5'3" (or something like that. 5'4", maybe?), and I'm around 6'1", and either of us can fit into her Tundra quite easily, and find everything quite comfortable and easy to reach, I'm gonna hafta say you didn't try very hard.
Which generation is this Tundra? I found the '06-earlier to be better, but the new ones, I just can't get it right. Maybe I have short arms or something.
Hey, am I in there?
I'd rather have a Reatta.
Fun fact: I was present at the event, but the production team – a bunch of very nice people and consummate professionals, I may add – wisely sought to exclude me from the final cut, as I am:
1.) awkward on camera,
2.) suffering from a cold that day,
3.) directed to say positive things about the product…
4.) …which I did feel there were some, but it compounded the awkwardness on camera (see 1),
5.) and didn't spend as much time in the car as I'd liked to have. Oh well, it was a tight timeframe we had.
And they did tell us at the time that they were shooting us for a promotional video, which meant that the positive comments from those who have been sneered at as "journalists" should come as no surprise.
Did they at least feed you?
I don't think you lost any points with this gang for staying out of the final cut.
It did seem that some of the presenters were grasping at straws. "I really like the steering wheel". Really? Is that all you liked?
Seemed like there was a lot of facial hair in the beginning of the video. Is it just me, or does that car looks incongruous with facial hair? I found it hard to picture any of those guys voluntarily using it as a daily driver.
I was told there IS a cut which you appear in and actually come off really good on camera (despite your awkwardness in person.. don't worry I wasn't going to hit you too hard)
Unlike the car it replaces, this is not the most hideous thing to come from a manufacturer since the Aztec. The interior looks nice in pictures but pictures can be deceiving. Given Chrysler's track record of less-than-reliable cars as of late though I would not even consider looking at one let alone purchasing one. There are too many good alternatives on the market in this class that don't have the negative stigma of being a Chrysler. Given the choice I think I would take a Sonata instead. Hyundai just builds better cars than Chrysler. If I sound cruel and biased it's because I am. I don't know of anyone who has bought a Chrysler car in the last 10 years that hasn't had a heap of trouble with it. They may have turned over a new leaf now but it will take more than just some good advertising to bring me into the showroom. Show me several years of great quality cars with excellent fuel economy and maybe I will darken your showroom door. Sorry, but with so many manufacturers making excellent products nowadays there just isn't any reason to purchase one from a company with a reputation for spotty quality and reliability.