2015 Chrysler 200S V-6 AWD

The specifications of the recent Chrysler 200 would intrigue any sharp eyed shopper, seeing this midsize sedan can be optioned with a four wheel drive system and the 295-hp Pentastar V-6. So equipped, a 200S, for example the one analyzed here, wears a decal just about dead on the average sales price for all new automobiles sold.

No one questions that Chrysler wants the 200 that is new.

The 200's hair is consistently got by it. You got a problem?

And here it's. Truth be told, cars including the 200, designed to attract the broadest swath of new-car buyers in the biggest auto-market section, produce gains for automakers but little excitement around here. Noteworthy exceptions are the Mazda 6 and the Accord Sport. Otherwise, this commerce is mostly about inoffensiveness and anonymity.

The 200S on paper, promises to break out from the ho hum horde with category-leading V6 power, surely separating itself from those sedans with only four cylinders. In addition, the 200S's four wheel drive alternative is something much fewer opponents offer. Collectively, those components might indicate a budget Audi S4.

The 200S seems all-company with blacked-out trim highlighting the slick body, which relies for its prettiness of coupelike roof lines on the present mid-marketplace idiom. Need it to appear meaner? There is a 19-inch black-painted wheel update (5) that this example lacked.

We're able to wish the contour bore less resemblance into a taffy- pulled on Dodge Dart, although underlying architecture is essentially a taffy-pulled Dart. Having said that, with over eight inches of added span to work with and almost two inches more wheelbase, designers produced a refined and balanced structure that gives open luggage compartment and a roomy interior to fit the section standards.

Consider it more as a more flamboyant Subaru Legacy 3.6R. The Subie, additionally revamped for 2015, offers a CVT. So, that is one thing we can commend about Chrysler's new nine-speed automatic: it is not a CVT.

The trans party favors the fuel-sipping rather compared to the power-producing component of the rev group. It is not bad for an EPA combined evaluation with this V6/four wheel drive pairing, or 28 mpg -cylinder/front drive layout. Driving it is our wont, we got 23 mpg.

But Audi's Quattro generally works to your own advantage, while Chrysler's system is active, so the mass feels parasitic and extraneous. The 200S runs in front drive mode most of the time, with the back axle disconnected to minimize friction losses, in borrowing this four wheel drive set up in the Jeep Cherokee. Just as much as 60 percent can be directed when conditions merit. It is more of a bad weather bandaid--a complex and hefty type of traction control -oriented means of putting electricity down.

We call the Bridgestone Ecopia rubber out for letting the handling down. Tire Rack evaluations reveal the Ecopia to be among the least-grippy and most boring-reacting forms of low-rolling-resistance tires. This option is clear for the 200 range, in attempting to eke out every last tenth to match toughening national mileage standards. Not thus, though, for the more sporty 200S, where better cornering and braking operation would authenticate its heavy-breathing layout clues. No, updating to the 19-inch wheel will not help much; you only get larger Ecopias.

When Chrysler boasts the new 200 has a "silent cottage," it must be comparing it to the preceding version. Despite other attenuation measures and acoustic glass, our noise test is set by it on the loud side of the world that is midsize. Sound may be worst in the four wheel drive variation; most appears to resonate in the luggage compartment that is large.

The ergonomics of the cottage are reasonable and usually sound, making it simple to avoid the managements that are small.

The console is a flying buttress event the dial-used gear selector. The ensuing space underneath is useful for miniature tablet computers or telephones and contains an interface into the bin where the USB/sound/power plugs live to course wires.

The mat is also "signed" by a specific Walter P. Chrysler, so it is rather a busy small bit of rubber.

Walt's signature however, a more powerful connection to the tradition of Chrysler would happen to be a pushbutton gear selector. With nine forward gears--plus reverse, park, and neutral--a calculator-like three-by-four grid would get the job done.

That awareness of motorist involvement which ought to function as the very stage of an S version is not present.

Some tires that are appropriate would cost less compared to cash spiff that Chrysler offers buyers only at that writing, and they'd do more to convince us the 200S really is a sporty alternative in the wars that are midsize. As it's, the 200 is not unimportant for Detroit. It supplies a foundation for expectation that it will be developed by future model year tweaks into an interesting motorist's automobile, one that could be significant everywhere.

The 0.80's ride is composed and firm, and the body offers adequate control of dive, roll, and squat. But the electric-assist steering system returns more heft than feedback, and a dullness to the answer from approaching the exuberance that keeps the 200S.

That is not light, even if an Audi A4 does not do much better.

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