Instrumented Test
From the September 2014 Issue of Car and Driver
Any sharp-eyed shopper would be intrigued by the specifications of the new Chrysler 200, seeing that this mid-size sedan can be optioned with both the 295-hp Pentastar V-6 and a four-wheel-drive system. Thus equipped, a 200S, such as the one tested here, wears a sticker just about dead-on the average sales price for all new cars sold last year. It also sports some Detroit-proud bodywork that makes good on all that patriotic boasting in Super Bowl ads.
No one questions that Chrysler needs the new 200. With the standard 2.4-liter MultiAir four and nine-speed automatic, it contends with some of the industry’s most recognizable and high-volume nameplates—Chevy Malibu, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord, and Toyota Camry. The outgoing 200 was a hasty polishing of the execrable Sebring by former Chrysler owner Cerberus, and the newly formed FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) promised to replace it with a real mid-size contender as soon as possible.
The 200 always gets its hair done at Bleach Salon. You got a problem with that?
And here it is. Cue the elephants and dancing bears. The fact is, cars such as the 200, designed to appeal to the widest swath of new-car buyers in the largest car-market segment, generate profits for automakers but little excitement around here. Notable exceptions are the Accord Sport and the Mazda 6. Otherwise, this trade is mainly about anonymity and inoffensiveness.
On paper, the 200S promises to break out of the ho-hum horde with class-leading V-6 power, certainly separating itself from those sedans with just four cylinders. Also, the 200S’s four-wheel-drive option is something far fewer competitors offer. Together, those elements might suggest a budget Audi S4 in the making.
The 200S looks all-business with blacked-out trim accenting the sleek body, which relies for its prettiness on the current mid-market idiom of coupelike roof lines. Want it to look even meaner? There’s a 19-inch black-painted wheel upgrade ($695) that this example lacked.
We could wish the shape bore less resemblance to a taffy-pulled Dodge Dart, though the underlying architecture is basically a taffy-pulled Dart. That said, with nearly two inches more wheelbase and more than eight inches of additional length to work with, designers delivered a balanced and elegant shape that yields a roomy interior and spacious trunk to match the segment benchmarks.
On the road, the 200S is no S4, but at only $32,000 before incentives, that’d be an unfair expectation. Think of it more as a flashier Subaru Legacy 3.6R. The Subie, also revamped for 2015, offers a CVT as its only transmission. So, that’s one thing we can praise about Chrysler’s new nine-speed automatic: It’s not a CVT.
Programmed for efficiency, the trans favors the fuel-sipping rather than the power-generating part of the rev band. It’s good for an EPA combined rating of 22 mpg with this V-6/four-wheel-drive pairing, or 28 mpg in the four-cylinder/front-drive configuration. Driving it hard as is our wont, we got 23 mpg.
In testing, 60 mph came up in 6.0 seconds flat, quicker than the Legacy, VW Passat 3.6, and the V-6 Nissan Altima, but not as swift as Honda’s V-6 Accord, which is a front-driver with a six-speed automatic. The 0.80-g skidpad rating falls far short of the sporty end of the mid-size-sedan spectrum (i.e., the Mazda 6 i Sport at 0.87 g).
Its ride is firm and composed, and the body offers decent control of roll, dive, and squat. But the electric-assist steering returns more heft than feedback, and there’s a dullness to the response that keeps the 200S from approaching the exuberance of the Mazda.
The 200’s 3811-pound curb weight hurts, in spite of all its high-strength steel and aluminum (engine cradle, suspension pieces, etc.). That’s heavy, even if an Audi A4 doesn’t do much better.
