Road Test
The blended DNA of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler Corporation produced its first offspring in 2003, and hairdressers rejoiced. The Crossfire is just the kind of florid prêt-à-porter that appeals to people in the look-good business. To be sure, the Crossfire does look good.
The car's name is also an unintentional pun about DaimlerChrysler; in the days since the 1998 merger, executives have been regularly mowed down by crossfire between Stuttgart and Detroit. The latest forced exit was Chrysler Group COO Wolfgang Bernhard, crossfired in May for being too vocal about problems at Mercedes and resisting a plan to spend $7 billion bailing out Mitsubishi.
Maybe he thought the money should be used to induce more people to buy Crossfires. As of May 1, according to trade magazine Automotive News, enough of the torpedo-tailed coupes were sitting in stock that the Karmann factory in Osnabrück, Germany, could go on a five-month lunch break before Chrysler dealers would run short. The company believes the magic laxative may be pulling the base price below $30,000 for 2005 by yanking out some standard features such as heated seats.
Meanwhile, the dandy-dressed Crossfire, which shares both skeleton and muscle with the first-generation Mercedes-Benz SLK roadster, is the first Chrysler product to attain the performance-enhancing SRT label, heretofore bestowed only on Dodges.
The "street and racing technology" shtick—adding more horsepower, bigger tires, and big attitude—has already been done to a few Dodges, notably, the Ram SRT-10 and Neon-based SRT-4 (all Vipers carry an SRT-10 badge). Buyers who prefer a quick quarter-mile served with essence of tire smoke have approved of the 500-hp pickup and 230-hp subcompact (in fact, various Mopar bolt-on kits will bump the SRT-4's horsepower all the way to 300). These first vehicles have given the SRT moniker a reputation for delivering the real deal. Anticipation runs high for the SRT versions of the Chrysler 300C sedan and Dodge Magnum wagon, now only months away, we are advised.
While we wait, the Crossfire SRT-6 will blaze into dealerships this June as both the $45,695 automatic coupe pictured here and a $49,995 automatic convertible. Criminally, no manual is offered in the SRT-6.
We have written that the base Crossfire has eye-snaring looks and pleasing handling but an engine at least 50 horsepower short of the boiling point. The SRT mods are substantial, as is the price increase. From base Crossfire coupe to SRT-6 coupe, the extra $11,200 buys first and foremost an intercooled supercharger that wrenches another 115 horses from the 3.2-liter, 18-valve V-6. Blown, the V-6 makes 330 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque, a twistability increase of 81 pound-feet. And there are only 109 more pounds of curb weight (3220 in all) for the coupe to haul.
Shorn of its decorative plastic sombrero, this Mercedes engine would look more familiar. It rolls out of the AMG handicraft shop in Affalterbach, Germany, and previously found work in the SLK32 AMG and C32 AMG. Both of those models have since gone to V-8s, and Mercedes has developed a new 268-hp, twin-cam, four-valve naturally aspirated V-6 for its 2005 SLK350 ( C/D, June 2004). So the Crossfire SRT-6 is the last customer of a very nice hand-me-down.
