Test drive Chrysler PT Cruiser 2000 - 2006 Minivan

An impossible task

Chrysler Pt Cruiser designers received a seemingly impossible task. And they made the impossible. Watch how closely they are, how peacefully coexist in the car the past and the present! The best practical embodiment of the idea is not to be found back into the future.
 
Chrysler Pt Cruiser, made in a rethinking in a modern Hotrod-janre, excites young people, and at the same time, resurrecting the aesthetics of the forties, arouses nostalgic feelings among the older generation. Just look at this wide crocodile hood adjacent to glued windshield; on convex wings with crystal optics; on button door handles made according to ancient recipes, but from plastic; on a steep stern with a composite bumper grown to it; On stylized thresholds, wide low -profile rubber and cast discs ... great!
 
Already more than 300 thousand people have expressed a desire to purchase a car. In order to satisfy the excitement demand, Chrysler intends to expand the production of a model - to help the plant in Mexico with a design capacity of 180 thousand a year, it is planned to launch another 50 thousand cars in Austria for the next summer.
 
Perhaps PT Cruiser can be defined as an original minivan or, more precisely, as a station wagon of increased capacity. The car slightly resembles the famous London taxi. The progenitor of the car - the concept of the Pronto Cruizer concept shown two years ago at the Geneva Motor Show, which was the aggregate base of which was the filling of the compact Chrysler Neon. A year later, in Detroit, the car under the current name appeared before the public as a pre -production sample. The final option was shown there a year later, and in three forms: Pt Cruiser and the charged GT Cruiser and the Panel Cruiser van differing from it with the design of the front and back.
 
A compartment, a convertible and pickup should appear in the family. The European market is addressed to two modifications of PT Cruiser - with a two -liter gasoline engine and a turbodiesel in three performance, increasing: Classic Edition, Touring Edition and Limited Edition. The American continent also provides an option with a 2.4-liter 150-horsepower gasoline engine. Our Cruiser is aggregated by a gasoline engine (2 liters, 140 hp) and a manual gearbox, and is equipped with the maximum configuration - Limited Edition.
 
Thanks to the high body, wide doorways and inner footboards, getting into the car is a continuous pleasure. There is no need to bend into three deaths, as in some ordinary cars, but also bend down.
 
The front seats - tall, full -size, with convenient manual settings - provide comfort for the duration of a trip of any duration. By the way, the driver's seat has an electric adjustment in height.
 
A vast space is reserved behind the legs of a tall person, and a thick air layer between the head and the ceiling. As it usually happens, the sharing of the third passenger on the gallery is problematic. The back of the sofa here is too horizontal - in order not to move off it during braking, you have to rest your feet on the floor. But separated in a ratio of 40:60 The rear seat is folded in two light movements. Or - just as simple - is generally dismantled. Moreover, the briquettes into which both parts are turned, equipped with wheels and handles - for transportation.
 
Without a rear seat, the trunk (with a volume of 1820 L) resembles an hangar capable of accommodating the entire multibillian belongings of a summer resident, equipment of an athlete or traveler. Most non -standard (such as surfer) of cargo also do not have to go to sliding crossbars on the roof - longs can be placed over the entire length of the cabin, folding and the back of the right front seat. In combination, it serves as a table for the driver - a familiar solution (for example, according to Mazda cars) and very practical.
 
The shelf of the luggage compartment, the volume of which is in the usual position of more than half a thousand liters, is very strong (at least sit down), can be located at three levels or, as unnecessary, vertically (close to the back of the rear seat). And being put forward to the street, it allows you to get a table under a canopy from the raised rear door.
 
The front panel with plastic inserts in the color of the body, three rounds of devices with white dials, a long lever of the KP with a large spherical knob and the pseudo -Archaic steering wheel skillfully create an atmosphere of the past. The dissonance brings impudently a protruding central console (however, you can’t refuse to functionality).
 
Pt Cruiser is still not a rarity, but imitation, therefore, it is equipped in accordance with the requirements of the current day. Limited Edition, in particular, has an electrical packet, cruise and tracshn control, ABS, air conditioning, CD magnet, ceiling information display, front and lateral eirbegs, immobilizer and many others.
 
In general, the apartments of the new Chrysler make a good impression. Emotions are declining only when you knock on the oak plastic of the front panel ...
 
A curious discovery was waiting for us later: when the well-fed (205/55R16) wheels begin to push the roadway from under the belly of the car, it is suddenly found that the handsome man refuses to go. Not literally, of course. It’s just too much phlegmatic.
 
Yes, from a car equipped with a 2-liter 16-valve engine with a capacity of 140 hp, even with such a decent equipped mass (1383 kg), you expect more. After all, our Cruiser is equipped - in a European way - not a thoughtful automatic machine, but a 5 -speed mechanics.
 
By the clock, a speed set of 100 km/h lasts 12-13 seconds. Licking acceleration revives when the tachometer arrow exceeds 3500 min-1. However, Pt Cruiser will wnches the nose of the Vazovskaya nine. Again, at a moderate pace of movement, the aerodynamic noise (especially tangible with the rear side window open) not only does not press on the ears, as at high speed, but is almost missing.
 
The programs are long, the lever is extremely accurate and obedient, although the wide amplitude of its scope when turned on - due to a large shoulder - may not like the activists of the steering wheel.
 
The gas pedal is specific, because, recessed to the end, the whole plane lies on the floor, forcing to pull the sock. The clutch and brakes are impeccable - both by strokes and by the effort. Disk brake mechanisms on all wheels extinguish speed without excessive zeal, but confident. Therefore, it is very easy to control the slowdown. On slippery coating, the delicacy of the anti -lock system captivates.
 
Pt Cruiser meets the road irregularities with dignity. Ordinary potholes are easily damped by the elastic elements of the chassis. However, in front of the pits of a larger size, which are quite edible for foreign cars of this class, Cruiser begins to pass. In the old -world suspension (suspension characteristics are different in machines for European and American markets) short moves, so rigidity is the main feature of its character. But in turns, a tall car stands great. Anyway, PT obeys the helm, as a smart dog - a beloved owner.
 
From a high driver's seat, a complete panorama of the road lying in front opens. Through external mirrors, the review is quite satisfactory. But visibility through a small rear window is limited by the central headrest.
 
The scope of the Chrysler Pt Cruiser is not as wide as it might seem at first glance. The closest to him is the city rhythm with frequent shopping and business trips. Here Pt Cruiser is in his element (as, indeed, on the rolled path of a forest park or beach area). In the new Chrysler, some see a tribute to the past, others - a maneuverable car for a metropolis, and others - a universal mini -carrier. But, be that as it may, Pt Cruiser, first of all, is a work of art. And it is estimated, respectively, at $ 35,000.
 
Technical characteristics Chrysler PT Cruiser 2.0
 
The body is 5 -door
Number of places, people. - five
Equipped mass, kg - 1383
Complete mass, kg - 1773
Dimensions (length/width/height), mm - 4288/1705/1601
Base, mm - 2616
Maximum speed, km/h - 178
Control consumption of fuel, l/100 km:
- City cycle - 11.5
- Country cycle - 7
- Mixed cycle - 9.5
Engine:
- Type- gasoline., Row, 4-cylinder., 16-valve.
- working volume, cm3 - 1995
- Power, L.S. at MIN -1 - 140/5700
- Torque, NM at MIN -1 - 188/4150
- power supply - distributed injection
Transmission - mechanical., 5 -speed
Tire size - 205/55R16
Wheel suspension:
- front - type Mcpherson, with a reptile stabilizer
- rear - a spring -loaded beam, with a stabilizer
Brakes (with ABS):
- front - disk, ventilated
- rear - disk
Steering - such as a gear -rake, with a hydraulic wrap
The volume of the trunk, l:
- In the usual position - 538
- with folded rear seats - 1820
Fuel tank volume, L - 57
Price (in the Limited Edition configuration), $ - 35000
 
Text: Igor Kuznetsov
 

A source: Magazine 5 wheel