Test drive Dodge Stratus 1994 - 2000 sedan

Space ram

Among motorists, there is a stable opinion that there is no pleasure in managing American cars, with the exception of several sports models. The automatic gearbox, a cotton water steering and a soft suspension are guilty of this. Say, all this is more necessary for the leisurely intersection of the country from the ocean to the ocean in a straight line as an arrow.
The fact that such an opinion is long out of time, convincingly proves our Dodge Stratus test in the ES modification. It became one of the first mass cars of the Chrysler Corporation, designed according to the Cab-Forward scheme, that is, with a salon, strongly moved forward. And he was represented by customers in May 1995.
When looking at the car, the profile shows how the hood almost smoothly passes into the windshield. It seems that a little more-and the sedan will turn into a mini-van similar to Chevrolet Lumina APV. Something a car resembles a ram, dropping his head before rushing to attack, the very one that is depicted on his emblem. And the pediment of the car is crowned by the window binding of the radiator cladding, as if migrated here from a full -size Dodge Ram pickup. The appearance of the car does not amaze with any architectural delights and, rather, closer to the European School of Design. Disassembled appearance has its advantages - traveling all those days that the car was on our test, in Moscow on a brand new foreign car, clearly not cheap, and even without license plates, we did not feel close attention from the traffic police. But there are also disadvantages - in the left row no one is respectful to you, and many cool foreign cars, without recognizing our own, now and then strove to cut. Dodge showed himself as dirty as Samara - in rainy weather, the car splates itself to the ears.
Inside, the Cab -Forward layout gives a sensation of a hunchbacked Cossack - the elongated legs of the driver are at the level of the front wheels. In general, the car interior is not too spacious. Of course, this is not the tightness of the cockpit of the driver's machine, but not an American sofa spaciousness. Most of the decoration is plastic and looks cheap. In addition, the doors sheathing are quite rigid. What is the evidence - a bruise on the left knee of those of us who sat at the wheel of Stratus: there are practically no supports for the left leg of the driver - one visibility.
At the same time, the car interior is leather. It is made in the total color scheme. True, this decoration is custom -made and is not manufactured at Chrysler factories. The seats themselves are not very convenient - after a long trip, everything that was below the lower back hurt long and quite enough. The lumbar support of the driver’s chair, which stuck out of the back with a hump, annoyed most of all. In addition to it, the seat has only three adjustments, including in height. Moreover, the latter is clearly designed that a miniature girl will be behind the wheel. Otherwise, when trying to rise higher, in order to see at least a piece of a sloping hood, you get into the ceiling with the crown (by the way, with the most average height), and a salon mirror appears right in front of the nose.
The windshield, although it has virtually larger area (no less than that of the Rafik!), But due to the large angle of installation, the sector remains, approximately like the victory. In addition, heavily tilted front racks loom into view, so massive that when entering the intersection, you have to swing back and forth to consider whether anyone goes across you. And when the sun shines brightly, the upper part of the instrument panel is reflected in a highly tilted windshield.
The review back is disgusting, and according to this indicator, Dodge Stratus strongly resembles Opel Omega (Motor 13) - the same outer mirrors that can only be viewed along the sides of the machine, and the rear window that collects all the road dust. Therefore, in reverse maneuvers, one has to count on your own intuition most. In addition, not even very high passengers sitting from behind almost touch the back of the rear window, and on the bumps they risk filling the bump. So that the rear passengers do not bake the number in hot weather, the upper part of the glass has a sunscreen.
The instrument panel is quite simple - only four analog devices. All control bulbs are hidden under the black matte glass and are ignited only when the engine is launched or when the corresponding sensor is triggered. The inscription at the bottom of the tachometer scale caused a tenderness, which reminds the driver that the car should be seasoned with only unhealthy gasoline, and at the same time shows that the flood neck is located on the left side of the car. The hint was very useful when I had to call on a gas station for the first time.
And I often had to call - even when you calmly driving around the city, the car consumed about 15 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers of the journey. Well, if the car is spent every now and then, then its appetite increases sharply.
Mitsubishi production was on the machine, and its work with an automatic gearbox deserves the highest rating. Transigns, both up and down, switch without the slightest delays and very smoothly.
The car does not seem too frisky, but the dynamics of acceleration is quite sufficient. It seems to be calmly touching the traffic light and find that Dodge has come off from a stream of fifty meters. The car does not provoke an aggressive driving driver. But if the owner wants, he will be able to get a large dose of Fun-to-Drive-it is under this advertising slogan that the car is sold in the USA.
Dodge is very turntable, and the first time you have to ensure that you do not call the rear wheel on the sidewalk when turning. The steering hydraulic power steering has a progressive characteristic, i.e., with an increase in speed, the force on the steering wheel increases. This hydraulic wrap is standard ES modification equipment, as well as a full electric package, central lock, ABS, foggy and specially configured suspension.
It is tough in sporting, but when regularly driving around the city, it does not cause inconvenience. The car is completely deprived of sofa validity inherent in many Americans. The muscles of the suspension adds confidence on Moscow roads, with the quality of which you are probably familiar. The suspension, although it works out all the bumps of the roadway, but it has never reached breakdown. Thanks to her, in turns, the car holds the road, like a bull terrier for a victim. Not the last role in this is played by wonderful Michelin MXV4 tires in the size of 195/65HR15. The breakdown of the machine in the skid occurs, like other front -wheel drive cars, but the process itself is surprisingly predicting and is very easy to control. You can disrupt only the wheel of the front axle in the skidding, you can - all four, but if it is tired or suddenly became scary, everything quickly stops with a light movement of the right leg.
The design of the brake system is design. The pedal has an excessively large move - you crush, crush it, already managed to get scared, and finally the car begins to slow down. Moreover, the process of slowing down occurs like an avalanche, and the car barely does not stand on the nose. True, almost never comes to the inclusion of ABS. During these days, she worked only once - when braking in a bend strewn with brick crumbs. Yes, and the ABS works softly, without a strong drum fraction on the brake pedal.
Another disadvantage is the work of the head lighting. There are no problems with the near light, and turning on the far, you begin to clearly see the road signs somewhere kilometer from yourself, but everything that is happening right in front of the car is covered with darkness. In addition, it took a lot of time to understand how the foglights are turned on. It turns out that for this it is necessary to pull the cap from the left steering wheel switch.
A separate story deserves an automatic box equipped with Autostick system - the highlight of Chrysler. According to the algorithm of its work, it resembles similar Audi and BMW systems, that is, the box remained still 4-speed hydromechanical, but the driver can forcibly limit the number of working steps during movement-from one to four. Thus, one of the main disadvantages of automatic transmission is nullified - the inability to braking the engine. Management is carried out by swaying the lever to the left and right, and about what stage it works at the moment, the driver informs the scores at the bottom of the speedometer scale. By the way, when the overall light is turned on, the brightness of this indicator is automatically reduced two times. In a quasi -brown mode, from automatic, you can go directly while driving. I must say that the car slows down very noticeably, especially when the first stage is shook - roaring the engine, it is pressed to the road with the whole case. There is no risk of twisting the engine, since the electronic limiter works at 5500 rpm., Although the red zone on the tachometer begins after 6500 rpm.
This duplicity of the box is very suitable, for example, for a family, where the wife can only ride with a locomotive box, and her husband is a fan of a more active driving style. Yes, and it is more pleasant to crawl in the city traffic jams in a fully automatic mode, and having escaped into nature, to give free rein to your emotions. During the passage of a winding track, you get pleasure even more than by car with a purely manual box. The leg is on the gas pedal, one hand is on the steering wheel, and the other is on the joystick of the gearbox. By the way, there is a soft glove compartment cover between the front seats. When manipulating the lever, it is very convenient to put the elbow on it. The steering wheel spin with one finger, you do not need to apply efforts, and you can enjoy the absolute humility of the car with your will.
Bliss! You can also cheer up with some cheerful melody from the stereo system, which, although standard, sounds very good.
In general, if for the pleasure of driving a car you are ready to sacrifice some amenities, then Dodge Stratus ES is a machine for you.
And at the same time you will meet the amount that is not comparable to the price of some BMW. The car in the configuration that was on our test cost $ 34 thousand.
Alexey Khresin
 

Source: Magazine Motor