Chrysler Crossfire test drive since 2007
Crossfire is on the attack
In the market of the double sportskup, Chrysler made an offer that is difficult to refuse
Now I can say: Crossfire is the best model under the Chrysler brand for the last ten, if not twenty years - in terms of unity of shape and content. It is stylistically flawless and thoroughly worked out technically. Simply put - beautiful and fast. The dynamic appearance from the brilliant designers of the American company and the ability to make rapid throws from German engineers - this is the full -fledged DaimlerchrySler product. A successful child of marriage by calculation. And the sonorous word Crossfire, meaning monstrous cross -fire, has a certain meaning: the compartment is aimed at the markets on both sides of the ocean, at that of their segment in which the combined concern was practically not represented, and which he will have to be conquered by squeezing strong competitors. Spectacular debut
Swiftly, in the pods of smoke, having left for the catwalk of the 2001 Detroit motor show, the Crossfire concept made so strong that the concern’s leadership immediately announced the decision to launch the car into the series as soon as possible. It took two years to fill the form with decent content, prepare technologically and decide on the production of a car at the Karmann German factory. During this time, the car world has seen a lot of new things, but Crossfire, we must pay tribute to him, did not lose his original attractiveness.
For example, I froze in a hotel in Mainz, as if for the first time when he saw Crossfire - he looked so bright in an unusual, devoid of salon fuss, interior. Its perfect lines are actually fascinating, and I involuntarily thought that in this case, there is nothing to do tuning firms: it seems that every detail is so in harmony with the general appearance that it is worth changing some kind of trifle, and the charm will disappear. An aggressive nose, melting remarkable power under the hood, is simultaneously massive and elegant. Feed (a heavy word) - generally a work of art: wide hind wings, two chrome pipe exhaust system, placed in the center of the bumper, lanterns - everything is unusually harmonious. Even the wheels of various dimensions and diameter (225/40 ZR 18 in front and 255/35 ZR 19 behind) are quite logical. By the way, the volume of the luggage compartment is essentially a sports car - 215 liters.
But that there are specialists, potential consumers - these are the main experts. And they react to Crossfire definitely: I like the car. During the test drive, I watched many times as the Germans restrained in the midst of their new items suddenly turned into temperamental Italians: delight was read in their eyes, they shamelessly approached, looked at the car, certainly wanted to sit in the cabin and inspiredly shared their impressions. And one solid Herr, the owner of the brand new Chrysler 300M, has spoke, it seems, a sacramental phrase: for one appearance I am ready to forgive him everything! However, there is nothing especially to forgive, although I dug up something on duty, but more on that later. In the meantime, we note that the gaps of the body are ideal (by the hardness of the body, by the way, Crossfire surpasses even Porsche 911) and look into the salon.
Here I want to settle for a long time, preferably with my beloved - the car, I remind you, is double. The seat is comfortable like a home chair, but holds you in dense arms so that the body does not fall in steep turns. It is sheathed with two -tone skin, and the back spectacularly ends with the headrest. Personally, the interior of the silver Crossfire made a special impression on me - with the finish of gray and orange skin. Squeeze an orange steering wheel in your hands, believe me, unusual and pleasant. The passenger (or passenger) will, of course, be convenient, but this car is primarily for the driver. Therefore, only its chair is equipped with electrical adjustments in eight directions, including the angle of inclination of the pillow, while a fellow traveler can only adjust the back tilt and move forward and forth. The landing itself, as it should be in such cars, is a very low, window line passes above the shoulders. Travelers shares a massive tunnel with a rather spacious compartment for small luggage and a cup holder of an unusual shape. True, when during the test I had to end on the right, I involuntarily opened this very cup holder with my elbow. The tunnel is finished with silver plastic under aluminum, like the central console. It has a small pocket for trifles, air supply deflectors, climate control unit and many buttons in charge of heating seats, ESP stabilization system, rear spoiler (more than that), central locking and electric windows.
The Infinity Modulus audio system with a six -channel amplifier with a capacity of 240 watts, four columns in the doors and two speakers behind the chairs deserves. It sounds so that even at high speed all the nuances of your favorite composition are distinguishable. And turn it on in full a coil means to lose drum membranes The glove box, the glove box in front of the passenger is also impressive: pulling the handle, you will not just open the lid, but lower the box of 4.8 liters. The lever of the checkpoint, automatic or mechanical, is made of the same material as the door handles, inserts on the steering wheel and pedal - from metal. In general, the interior of Crossfire is distinguished by thoughtful ergonomics, the salon is convenient and in sporting comfort. Of course, the journalistic brethren immediately began to notice the elements familiar by Mercedes (steering wheel switches, ignition lock), but this is rather the advantage of the model than its drawback.
A thunderstorm of the autobans
Special thanks to the organizers of the test for taking place in Germany. Her magnificent autobahns (so far there are still sections on which there are no high -speed restrictions), winding secondary roads with excellent coverage, passing along the hills - almost the best place to get acquainted with sports type cars. Having settled down Crossfire with a 6-speed mechanical gearbox, I tuned in a fighting way. He launched the engine and did not hear anything: noise isolation at a height, the motor declares itself a configured exhaust at high speeds. And this melody cannot but inspire. The clutch pedal is exactly what you expect - tight, with a normal stroke in length, I did not like only not very intelligible feedback. But it is impossible to move spectacular, with smoke from under the rear drive wheels, if you want. Traction Control always works at any speed, excluding all sorts of slippers.
The colleague sitting next to him turned out to be a good navigator, and ten minutes later we left Mainz, finding ourselves in a high -speed autobahn. When the speedometer arrow exceeded the mark of 90 km/h, something clicked behind and rumbled - this specially trained electronics put forward the rear spoiler, which until that moment merged with the lid of the trunk. It can be installed in a combat position and forcibly, pressing the corresponding button. But why, if the on -board computer itself provides additional clamping power - exactly when is it necessary? As soon as the speed drops to 60 km/h, the electronics removes the spoiler.
The legend separately indicated - where exactly the speed restrictions end. Yes, I already understood this myself: the fourth, fifth, sixth - the speedometer arrow moves cheerfully to 260, the last on the dial. Moreover, the acceleration is so fast and confident that it is possible to press the accelerator pedal once, stick to the back of the seat, and then can’t be pulled anymore - just switch the gear in time. Official characteristics claim that the maximum speed of Crossfire is 242 km/h. But here we skip this mark: acceleration continues, although it is not as noticeable as before, and the arrow finally falls into an extreme position. We write off to the usual error of the device, quite a fact that you can rush completely with such speed with impunity, and at the same time feel complete control over the car. Crossfire, which is important, is almost the perfect hanging along the axes - 54% falls on the front and 46% - on the rear. The steering wheel was filled with pleasant weight, and the car does not notice smooth highways of the highway. It is not for nothing that its creators emphasize - the car is able to withstand side acceleration up to 1 g, and the pendants were finished on the famous Nürburgring racing highway. Of course, on an uneven road it will shake, but in such a compartment, springs and shock absorbers are simply required to be tough. Fifty kilometers, reserved for courage at maximum speed, swept in the blink of an eye. It's time to move out of the highway to narrow mountain trails. Here, honestly, I got less pleasure. Yes, the bends of the road are still passing at such a speed that the sutures of leather upholstery begin to feel the sides, but something is wrong with the steering wheel. In stressful turns, the steering wheel, although heavy, but empty, is very difficult to determine which angle is turned on a corner. Yes, and not too noticeable, slurred feeling of adhesion pedal is now not manifested from the best.
On one of the ligaments of the turns, almost at the exit of the turn, Chrysler began to carry a little, and first with his nose out of turn, and then a tendency manifested itself to the skidding of the rear axle. Nothing unusual, to adjust the trajectory is easy to steer. It is noteworthy that in this case, ESP (the target stability system) remained calm and did not enter into force. Perhaps the demolition was instant, and immediately straightened. A little later, for the sake of experiment, my colleague and I brought Crossfire to a frank sliding and ESP earned at a critical moment, clearly and competently straightening the car into a turn. In fairness, I note that the turns were held at a speed of 160, and on most other cars it would have to be actively fighting skidding. Good machine is only good
A long -standing and passionate fan of mechanical gearboxes, especially on sports machines, I must admit: Chrysler Crossfire is more suitable for an automatic machine. It does not at all hide the potential of a 6-cylinder power unit with a volume of 3.2 liters and a capacity of 215 liters. With. (from Mercedes, of course). Turning the automatic transmission to the Drive position and pressing the accelerator all the way, you begin to experience just animal delight. It is curious that the version with the machine gun seemed a little noisier to us than with the mechanics, but, believe me, the extra sound is not a hindrance, it does not cause the slightest inconvenience.
Even at maximum speeds, transmission switch quickly and without any jerks. Another thing is very noteworthy: the acceleration time to 100 km/h and the maximum speed of both versions of Crossfire are the same. So is it worth it to bother yourself with extra movements? Moreover, the automatic transmission does not suffer from thoughtfulness, you just need to press a little more hard on the accelerator, as smart electronics itself will go to the step, or even two lower, and will provide the desired acceleration. By the way, the automatic transmission not only adapts to the individual driving style and allows you to manually switch the transmissions by downloading the lever left or right, but still has two modes - Sport and Winter. Moreover, Sport is set by default, and with the winter algorithm of Crossfire, it touches from the second gear and goes from one speed to another more smoothly. In addition, fuel consumption in a car with automatic transmission is less than that of the version with mechanics, which is also quite rare. The brakes of both versions of Crossfire are great. The pedal is quite tough, but it allows a clear dose force. For a complete stop at a speed of 100 km/h, the car requires only about 35 meters, which is comparable to similar indicators of such sports cars as Porsche or Ferrari. Personally, I have repeatedly happened to be convinced of the efficiency of the brake system with ABS, when I had to sharply besiege the car in front of the next turn or on the freeway, at a speed of 220 to 160, avoiding the kiss of the rear bumper who had decided to overtake the German.
In a word, with regard to running qualities, behavior on the road, Chrysler Crossfire decisively does not resemble most American models. Unless, of course, we are talking about Dodge Viper or Chevrolet Corvette.
Ghost of the deficit
Every year, Daimlerchrysler plans to produce 20 thousand Crossfire, of which a good 85% is intended for the North American market. That is, it is possible to predict the shortage of these coupes in Europe, including in Russia. Will there be hunters to get such a car with us? I think there will be, especially if the corporation finally organizes an intelligible advertising company to promote not only Crossfire, but also other products under the Chrysler brand. The beginning of official sales is scheduled for the last quarter of this year, but the manufacturer has not yet been finalized with prices. I called different numbers, the average arithmetic - about 35 thousand euros. The thing is that for success in the European markets Crossfire should cost no more than its main competitors, to which I would attribute, first of all, Audi TT, Porsche Boxter and Nissan 350z. The main buyers of Crossfire are considered by residents of large cities in the corporation, 70% of which are men with an annual income of more than 100 thousand euros and aged 35 to 50 years.
Andrey Osipov
Brief technical characteristics of Chrysler Crossfire
Engine volume, cubic meter. See: 3199
Number of valves per cylinder: 3
Power, l. With. at about./min.: 215/5700
Max. Torque, Nm/at about. min.: 310/3000
Acceleration to 100 km/h, p.: 6.5
Maximum speed, km/h: 242
Average fuel consumption l./100 km.: 10.4 (10.1)
Fuel tank volume, l.: 60
Dimensions, mm.: 4059x1766x1305
In brackets are given data for the version with automatic gearbox