First Drive Review
Mention "DaimlerChrysler" and "sales domination" in the same breath, and the light bulb that flashes in your head probably has minivans or Jeeps painted on it. But Chrysler has also owned the sales crown for convertibles in this country for many of the years since 1982, when it ended America's five-year drought of four-seat droptops. Well, the biggest and best ragtop from our pentastar pals has just undergone its first major face lift, and it's more major than meets the eye.
Singing from the Don't Mess with Success hymnal, the roomiest-in-class interior and the snug-fitting multilayered top with glass rear window remain largely unaltered. Ditto the doors and therefore the basic body-side character, which gives the impression this is just a front, rear, and dashboard makeover. But the latest round of body gusseting to meet pending crash standards required modifying or replacing 85 percent of the body panels and made the car 44 percent stiffer in bending (and 50 pounds heavier). New locating pins mounted high on the door jams lock the door to the body to better resist side impacts and bending stresses. A new tuned-mass damper mounted on the windshield frame just above the rearview mirror helps to quell mirror shake on bumpy stretches.
The rest of the hidden improvements mimic those made on the Sebring and Stratus four-door sedans, which are now hatched from the same birthing center in Sterling Heights, Michigan, alongside the convertible. Chief among these is the installation of Chrysler's superb all-aluminum 2.7-liter V-6 with four chain-driven cams. Mated to a four-speed automatic, this is now the only powertrain choice (the four-banger, which lowered residual values so precipitously that even rental fleets shunned it, was dropped last year). Larger, higher-capacity brakes with vastly improved pedal feel help arrest the increased giddyap. New seatbelt pretensioners, multistage airbags, higher headrests, and an emergency trunk release improve the Sebring's safety resume.
The suspension design is unchanged, but its tuning has been tweaked to take advantage of the stiffer structure. Spring rates are up eight percent in front and nearly five percent in back. The front anti-roll bar is eight percent smaller and rides in slipperier bushings. The front shocks now include rebound springs, and the steering has been firmed up a bit. The new setup doesn't exactly rival that of the BMW 330Ci cabrio, but its body-motion control is noticeably improved.
The rest of the spiffing efforts expended on this redo were aimed at improving refinement. The new engine's tuned intake system lowers noise 15 dBA relative to the old V-6. Expanding foam is injected into noise-transmitting body cavities, and new front fender liners help stifle tire sizzle.
But it's the interior and exterior revisions that really sweeten this already svelte shape. In front there's the now trademark ex-Ferrari, Chrysler-egg-crate grille, flanked by larger headlamps that throw 25 percent more light down the road. A more distinguished derriere features a large chrome license-plate surround and around-the-corner taillamps. It's classy, though some will see a lot of Lincoln in the look. If the arse apes a Lincoln's, the interior mimics a Rolls or Bentley motif on the top-dog Limited model. The seats are covered in smooth, soft cream-colored leather, and practically everything else is an almost black royal blue, with accents of chrome and fake wood. The cows aren't from Connolly, but all that's missing is the contrasting stitching and six-digit price. (Cloth is standard on the LX, and LXi models get a deeply grained Alfa Romeo-esque leather.)
We drove Sebring prototypes briefly against the competition, and we're convinced this is still the state-of-the-family-convertible art. The Toyota Camry Solara is the closest competitor. Its engine is quieter and smoother, and it rides more softly (at some expense to handling). But as a convertible, it trails the Sebring in cockpit draft and noise, and its chopped-top construction feels slightly less rigid than Chrysler's designed-and-built-as-a-convertible Sebring.
With prices expected to change little (figure $25,000 to start, $30,000 for a Limited), we think this sleeker, more sophisticated Sebring probably has what it takes to remain the queen bee of the convertible class.
