Test drive Chrysler Sebring Sedan 2001 - 2003 sedan

Beauty in American

Chrysler Sebring - a car for those who want to stand out
 
Moscow. Evening. Parking at the central children's world. Along the rows of cars, it is not clear who, who calls himself a parking player, is pacing, and gives all the boots of paper with a mark of time approaching. Not wanting to spoil the mood before the weekend and explain that this providence is outlawed, I prepared a couple of ten -ruble. To get rid of. He approaches an inexpensive foreign car that stopped nearby, the next in the row I - on Chrysler Sebring. And - an amazing thing - he seems to not see my car! In the same way, not noticing the Mercedes S-class and eight Audi that had arrived a minute ago. Here it is! The parking worker prefers not to contact the owners of expensive foreign cars - you never know who is inside. So unexpectedly, perhaps, the main advantage of the updated Chrysler Sebring sedan was revealed - its solidity.
 
We do not count on the huge numbers of sales of this model, ”Anna Shadrina, PR manager of the Daimlerchrysler representative office in Russia, told me at the meeting. - The machine is intended mainly for those who want to stand out from the crowd. Well, since such a thing, then I will relate to Sebring from this point of view. Moreover, it is very close to me in spirit.
 
Here he is, standing in the parking lot, gleams with varnish of a dark body and chrome of pathos (sorry for the frequent use of this word - such a car) wheels with low -profile rubber. Big American sedan. Neither let not take it - the Yankees of pure blood. The design of the machine is really for an amateur or connoisseur, if you want. The fact is that Chrysler has been adhering to a very peculiar direction for several years in the design of the appearance of its models - the so -called Cab Forward style, that is, the cabin is visually shifted towards the hood. In his next embodiment, Sebring retained these family features, but began to look more rapidly and even menacing - everything is true, the model is designed for Europe, and there are more sharp forms. The merit of this is the massive front bumper -clin, the new grille of the radiator (unfortunately, it is exactly the license plate in the middle, which, however, will not be difficult to transfer a little lower) and headlights. All these details are made in the same vein as on the eldest in rank Chrysler 300M, which at one time excelled the automobile world with an unusual appearance. The appearance of the new Sebring is certainly no less significant than its running qualities.
 
A little later, having left the parking lot, I only strengthened in my opinion. To say that they gave way to me is to say nothing. As if from the boorish road orders of Moscow, I suddenly transferred to a quiet town somewhere in the middle of the Swiss Alps, where everyone is warning and polite. As soon as I turned on the turning signal, the car driving in the next strip slowed down and missed Sebring. Of course, not always, but in most cases it happened just like that. Even pedestrians in the parking lot at our office, which I completely blocked the road, stoically endured my long attempts to park in reverse, not touching any of the restrictive columns. The fact that this process from the habit took me quite a lot of time, the rear window is to blame. Outside, his strong tilt looks quite organic and swift, but this is what turns into the inconvenience during parking. Yes, the car is clearly lacking in parking, which can be installed in any of the official dealers of the brand.
 
When the motor is good
 
However, back to the road. The formidable and dynamic appearance of the Sebring can be reinforced by one of two engines-four-cylinder 2.0 (140 forces) or V-shaped six-liner six (201 hp). I got just the last option, which is supplied exclusively by an automatic gearbox (and how else - the car comes from America). For this, by the way, special thanks: in conditions of constant traffic jams, such a checkpoint is indispensable. The machine operates, for nothing that the old four -band design is very decent. In advance, quickly and practically without jerking, it changes the transmission, quite quickly recognizes the inclusion of the Kik-Dawn mode, when the driver needs to accelerate sharply, and jumps to one or a couple of steps down. In general, even with dynamic driving, the box does not create problems.
 
Fans, however, will completely give up the automobile control process to the taste of Autostick, which allows you to change gear manually. True, you will not have to download the lever back and forth, as is customary for many manufacturers, but right and right, which personally did not cause me any inconvenience, and it was even more understandable and logical. The only thing that is slightly upsetting is the delays when changing the ranges, which, in my opinion, are too big.
 
Nevertheless, only in manual mode I was fully able to evaluate the automation of the engine. It honestly untwists to the maximum 6500 rpm, providing a difficult, in general, sedan quite decent acceleration. And let the digital expression of acceleration up to 100 km/h - 9.5 s - does not bother the reader. The sensations of a person sitting at that moment behind the wheel of a car are quite sharp. This is the case when the designers of the car, even if it was not possible to achieve outstanding dynamic characteristics from it, but the existing potential is perceived very harmoniously.
 
And what about the suspension? It is American, classic - rather soft, lulling, and at the same time slightly noisy. But still, she is far from the real dreadnoughts of the New World, who in a turn weigh the road with a real curtsy, now and then trying to hook it with a bottom. Sebring compared to them is an order of magnitude tougher. Road irregularities respond in the cabin only with slap tires and light tapping. But more with the pits had to be careful - once the chassis worked out the ditch for the hunger and I decided not to continue experiments on cross -country ability and endurance.
 
The cruising speed of the machine, in my opinion, is about 150 km/h. Having tried to put the speedometer arrow on the desert MKAD on the maximum mark 216 (by the way, the white scale in the sporting scale is longly marked up to 240), I quickly abandoned this venture. About 190 km/h, I slowed down - the feeling of a car gradually disappeared, there was not enough reactive effect on the steering wheel, the amplifier of which, apparently, was constantly working. Do not think that the car got out of my control. By no means. Just such a speed is not his element. Sebring was born in order to flane out the city avenues with a sense of self -esteem or quickly go along the suburban highway, providing passengers with a high level of comfort. But do not rush headlong or light on narrow mountain serpentines.
 
The driver and passengers protect frontal airbags and inflatable curtains mounted in the ceiling. Moreover, this equipment has its own, independent power source, so Airbag will work even if the entire power system on board fails. In addition, the ball was completely redesigned the power cell of the body, additional safety bars appeared in the doorway, protecting health during lateral blows. However, the matter is unlikely to reach tragic events - the car will rather stop thanks to the new ABS Plus system, which distributes the brake efforts through the wheels depending on the speed and load on each of them. It would be even more intelligible to make the pedal effort, which seemed slightly downs, and the SBRING brakes could be called almost perfect.
 
A little more, a little more
 
At any speed, the sebring salon pleasantly surprises in silence. The merit of this is not only new insulating materials used in the design, but also the altered aerodynamics of the hood and the external rear -view mirrors. They have become more streamlined, which is why they practically do not sound in motion. And what really sounds is a radio. Its design and the location of the buttons seemed to me not entirely successful (too all rounded), but the sound is beyond praise. By the way, you can manage it without taking off your hands from the steering wheel: there are two remote control units on its back, which is used to using it is a matter of several minutes.
 
The interior itself looks rather rich and again pathetic. Wide chairs, lined with leather with suede inserts on which you do not get tired, even if you spend the whole day driving, the white scales of devices, illuminated in the darkness of the dead blue neon, the front panel is decorated with inserts under the tree. In general, the salon is in complete harmony with the luxurious appearance of the car.
 
An unpleasant precipitate from communication with the car remained only one occasion - I personally had a feeling of a certain inattention to the little things. Yes, compared to the previous generation model, SEBRING flaunts a vast list of basic equipment. From now on, it was now added to the remote control panel of the door locks, with a separate button that opens the trunk, mirrors with backlight in anti -linen visors, locks on a glove box and a niche under the central armrest of the front, air conditioning. But why, tell me, in the recirculation mode, the ventilation system automatically directs the air in all directions in the cabin and make it so as to keep your legs warm, and it is not possible in the cold? Want to control streams yourself - you will have to inhale the aromas of the street or the color of the body. Outside, everything is just perfect, but on the thresholds, it is worth opening any of the doors, the enamel, apparently, saved - the matte surface is striking.
 
However, all these are small flaws, of which you can find almost any car. In general, as they say, she left, but the feeling remains - very good. A spacious salon with a claim to luxury, a painful engine, a decent smoothness of the move. But still, I will remember the moment described at the very beginning - tell me what other car from 24,900 to 29900 euros is so pathos that are so afraid and respected by the parking workers? ..
 
Sergey Ilyinsky
 
Brief technical characteristics of Chrysler Sebring
Engine volume, cubic meter. See: 2736 (1996)
Power, l. With. at about./min.: 201/5900 (140/5700)
Max. Torque, Nm/at about. min.: 260/4950 (188/4350)
Acceleration to 100 km/h, p.: 9.5 (10.5)
Maximum speed, km/h: 216 (200)
Average fuel consumption l./100 km.: 10.7 (8.3)
Fuel tank volume, l.: 61
Dimensions, mm.: 4844x1792x1394
 

Source: "Automobile Izvestia"