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Chrysler Sebring sports coupe acts with aggressive attitude
Bob Plunkett
Date Posted: 5/10/2005
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If looks are everything in a sweet and sporty coupe, then Chrysler's new Sebring has it all.
Sebring's stunning shape, accented by softly curving corners and a bold strip of side cladding stretched below its door line, emerges this spring as the 2-door compact coupe replacement for aged LeBaron in Chrysler's line.
It projects a bold nose with low aero fascia and an arching hoodline highlighted by twin ridge welts leading rearward to a massive expanse of raked glass.
From the side, Sebring presents a definite wedge-shaped profile, but its angular C-pillar adds an assertive notched element toward the rear, where a flat decklid cascades crisply to the multi-colored cluster of lights and snug low fascia strip.
Inside, Sebring provides a caliber of comfort and convenience features to match its exterior good looks, while beneath its slick skin there's the kind of mechanical hardware you'd expect to find in an expensive sports model capable of screaming down a squiggly set of mountain curves or zipping up a freeway's fast lane.
The twist to this exciting new sports coupe is that Sebring is not simply another expensive sports coupe.
Instead, Chrsyler seems to be subsidizing the new car with a pricing strategy that positions Sebring far below its intended imported and domestic rivals.
Get this: Sebring LX lists for $15,434.
And this: Sebring LXi goes for $19,029.
You must add $535 to each of those figures as the fee to deliver Sebring to a Chrysler dealership, but otherwise the two trim levels appear surprisingly complete -- Sebring LX stocked with a sprightly twin-cam 4-cylinder engine and malleable 5-speed manual shifter, Sebring LXi rigged with a more powerful V6, 4-speed automatic, plus luxuries.
What's the catch?
From extensive road tests conducted on California freeways, congested Pasadena streets and sporty curve sets climbing over the towering San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles, I could find no catch, no flaw, no reason not to like this car.
Add that affordable price to Sebring's total equation, and it becomes the car steal of the season.
Personally, I liked the base Sebring best, but I prefer sporty stick shifts and high-revving 4-banger action. Running through the gears over switchback nuances leading up Big Tujunga Canyon Road provided about as much fun as I expect to find on four wheels.
Yet Chrysler estimates the vast majority of Sebring's sales will come with automatic transmissions, particularly when linked to the V6 engine of Sebring LXi. That's also quite fun to drive, and when ripping down steep slopes of Angeles Crest Highway, racing headlong into La Canada on a trajectory for the Foothills Freeway, I steered a car that responded precisely to my commands, even when downshifting that automatic to a lower gear to check the speed.
Sebring in either engine format sounds unexpectedly quiet for a coupe. At freeway speed, you may detect only a hint of wind noise and virtually no sound stemming from the engine compartment. Over those mountains, the 4-in-line engine did complain more than the V6, but it worked harder.
All the while, I felt cozy when strapped in Sebring's driver's bucket, which adjusts to fit in multiple manners.
Ahead, instruments wrapped around the dash in a cockpit configuration which seems quite serious and functional, with easy-read analog dials and easy-reach knobs and buttons.
There's a fat sport steering wheel to grip, a handy center console with storage bin and bonus features like an electric power outlet for your radar detector or cellular telephone, plus a pleasing upscale tone to the texture and appearance of all interior fittings, from carpeting to seat fabrics and surfaces of molded side panels and dashboard.
This overall good feeling, I must confess, is not at all what I had expected from Sebring.
For such a low price, I anticipated much less -- less power, less comfort, less hardware, less design, less sporty action, and far less fun.
But peal away the sensuous exterior styling of Sebring and you'll find underpinnings of Chrysler's Cirrus, the new sedan sensation that captured all the car awards this year.
These essential ingredients -- the stiff chassis, independent double wishbone suspension, speed-sensitive rack and pinion steering and anti-lock brakes -- become a core package shared by Cirrus, Sebring and Dodge Avenger.
Like Avenger, Sebring provides a base 4-cylinder engine, which also shows up in the cute Neon coupe. Here, it pumps 140 hp and can push hard to a redline at 6000 rpm.
With manual transmission, this powertrain package delivers fuel figures as high as 32 miles per gallon.
Sebring's V6, built by Mitsubishi, uses a cast iron block and aluminum alloy heads, with 24-valve format and sequential multiport injection. It reaches 155 hp and mates exclusively with the 4-speed automatic.
Safety systems include dual airbags, built-in structural crash zones and a safety cage for passengers, steel reinforced side doors, 3-point safety belts with adjustable B-piller turning loop, fog lights and the electronically-controlled anti-lock brakes.
A remote keyless entry system with security alarm, optional on Sebring LX, becomes a standard feature of LXi.
Like Cirrus and Avenger, Sebring was styled at Chrysler's new Michigan design studio and is produced in Illinois at the Diamond Star joint-venture plant of Chrysler and Mitsubishi, which also builds Eagle Talon.
Like Avenger, Sebring rides on a chassis that's long enough to provide an unusually spacious rear seat area, with enough room for three riders and their legs.
Sebring's trunk space also seems generous for a coupe, with more than 13 cubic feet of cargo room, plus a low entry level for the lip so you don't have to hike items aboard.
As an interesting twist for color choices, Sebring appears in four monochromatic hues plus four other models that feature dual-tone variations whereby lower body cladding contrasts with upper sheetmetal color.
Check a Sebring in black body with silver cladding and wheels: It looks viciously nice.
1995 CHRYSLER SEBRING COUPE
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| Vehicle Specifications: |
| 1995 CHRYSER SEBRING COUPE Specs |
| Description: |
Compact sports coupe |
| Model Options: |
Compact sports coupe |
| Wheelbase: |
103.7 inches |
| Overall Length: |
187.4 inches
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| Engine Size: |
DOHC 2.0-L I-4 16v
SOHC 2.5-L V6 24v
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| Transmission: |
Manual/5, Auto/4 |
| Drive: |
Front |
| Braking: |
Power disc/drum/ABS
LXi: Power 4-disc/ABS |
| Airbags: |
2 |
| Gas Mileage: |
I-4: 22/32 mpg
V6: 20/28 mpg |
| Price: |
$ 15,969 to $ 21,000 |
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