2012 Chrysler 200 Touring
MSRP $30.00
“The 2012 Chrysler 200 Touring is the kind of car we want to love, and in some ways we do. But it’s also the type of car that, while charming and lovable like our hard-working office interns, isn’t one we want to spend a long time with.”
Avg
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Powerful and efficient Pentastar V6
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Impressive fuel economy
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Comfortable interior
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A convertible adds a lot of fun to the driving experience
Against
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Lack of technical features
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The redesign doesn’t do enough to erase the memory of the Sebring
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Subdued style
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Poor handling and stiff ride
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Outdated audio interface
Most of us (even those without a business degree) will agree that successful branding is a vital aspect of any business. Generally speaking, if your product is unattractive, you have two options: go back to the drawing board and invent something great, or just polish that piece of crap and give it a new name. Chrysler, in all its automotive wisdom, has taken a quasi-hybrid approach with its “new” 2012 200 Touring.
Why the openly skeptical “new” disclaimer? Because, despite the changed numerical nomenclature, the Chrysler 200 is not exactly completely new. In many ways, it’s a clear derivative of the now-discontinued Sebring, a vehicle that spent more time in the fleet than your average sailor. Instead of building an entirely new platform for its Sebring successor, the company restyled it a bit and gave it a shiny new sheet metal suit.
Even so, having (mostly) put the auto recession and bailouts in hindsight, the now-Italian-owned automaker has emerged relatively unscathed since the dust settled on Detroit, thanks to an overall increase in vehicle quality and some smart and emotional marketing campaigns. Does that improved quality carry over to the 200 Touring convertible? Let’s find out, shall we?
Haven’t we met before?
Despite its familiar design, the 2012 Chrysler 200 Touring Convertible is no hideous-looking creature. It may not have the visual cache that others in its segment have, but it’s smartly designed for what it is. The 200’s exterior styling has a calm, almost stoic quality and provides an understated aesthetic that most will appreciate but not be wowed by.
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
At the front, the Chrysler 200 features a five-level chrome front grille that flows into the car’s hood and features Chrysler’s new winged logo. LED accents are placed to polish the look of the front end, while chrome accents line the flared jaw of the front air scoop.
At the rear, the shape of the taillights has been smoothed out and has an injection of character thanks to a “C” shaped LED outline, while a chrome bar bridges both ends, with the Chrysler logo once again prominent in the center of the rear section. . Mopar dual exhaust tips add a degree of sportiness to the 200, which we appreciated. However, the 200 visually separates you a little from the reality that it is supposedly a redesigned Sebring.
Pleasantly boring
There’s a lot to like inside the 2012 Chrysler Touring Convertible, assuming you don’t mind a more muted cabin. The front seats are spacious, simple and provide great comfort. The three-spoke steering wheel comes covered in leather. Here, the buttons for controlling the vehicle’s cruise control, the side menu with instruments — located to the left of the gauge clusters — and Bluetooth voice commands are laid out in a fairly simple way, while the volume control is located just behind the steering wheel.
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
It’s certainly not the most luxurious or visually impressive cabin we’ve had the pleasure of stepping into, but what the Chrysler 200 lacks in style, it makes up for in comfort. There’s plenty of room for the driver and front passenger in the front, with an admirable amount of room for passengers in the back. And for a convertible, the 200 Touring provides a decent amount of trunk space with the convertible up or down.
Overall, the cabin won’t really impress, but Chrysler has at least managed to add some life to the party with chrome accents on nearly every aspect of the interior, from the shifter to the outline of the drink holder — even the door handle, which helps inject some soul into the otherwise sterile cockpit.
Technically limited
We like to give credit where it’s due, and as we’ve mentioned before, the 2012 Chrysler 200 Touring is a comfortable car. Standard amenities include keyless entry, heated mirrors, cruise control, air conditioning, AM/FM radio, and a single-disc CD player with MP3 playback.
For the Touring convertible, Chrysler adds 17-inch aluminum wheels that replace the standard steel rims, an upgraded transmission (more on that in a minute), automatic headlights, automatic climate control, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shifter, as well as a six-speaker sound system. speakers with satellite radio. Optional upgrades included in our review unit consisted of a Cold Weather Package with heated front seats, an excellent remote start system, and UConnect voice command, which adds Bluetooth for audio streaming and phone calls. But by far the biggest feature that graces the 200 Touring is its folding roof, which is made of fabric, takes about 30 seconds to fully open or close, and is easily operated via a button located above the cup holders.
While the 200 Touring manages to come with a decent list of amenities, it’s not packed with all the tech benefits we’ve come to love (and expect, really) from a modern car, which is hugely disappointing. And of the technical features it included, the implementation seems more like a bad afterthought. For example, pairing our smartphone was easy enough and worked relatively well—but when we used our iPod to listen to music via the remote USB port located under the center console, the 200’s processing power struggled under the weight of our extensive library. Granted, we have over 80 concerts of music, but at this point in the game, reading these devices shouldn’t be difficult.
Adding to the technological drought of the 200 Touring model is the absence of a navigation/infotainment system. This is even more intolerable when you consider the base price of the vehicle, which starts at $26,575, which is well within the realm of being able to offer a decent system. To be fair, Chrysler does offer a touchscreen audio interface with DVD audio playback and digital music storage, but it’s optional. The specs, or lack thereof, in the 2012 Chrysler 200 are embarrassing. And when you consider that our tester reached $30,070 but still doesn’t include those features — well, it just doesn’t cut it.
Pentastar power
Two different powertrains are available on the 2012 Chrysler 200 Touring: a standard 2.4-liter four-cylinder that produces 173 horsepower and 166 Nft of torque, and an optional 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. Fortunately, our review unit consisted of the latter and was, much to our surprise, quite responsive. Acceleration is strong for the most part, but occasionally struggles to get up to speed. We attribute that to the fact that the 2012 Chrysler 200 Touring is quite the Ruben’s ride, tipping the scales at 4,600 pounds.
In general, the vehicle performs best when it sticks to a simple task, such as highway driving. From the start, we thought the Chrysler 200 was a decent road cruiser, and we were right. Throw the 200 into tougher conditions and the hydraulic steering provides some depth and road feel, but generally falls flat. Simply put, the 2012 Chrysler 200 lacks the kind of road manners and sophistication we’ve come to expect from cars in its class.
Another disappointing characteristic rears its ugly head when you ask the 200 to accelerate out of corners at anything above moderate speeds. Here, the influx of torque causes the 200 to lose some of its stability and require a firm grip on the handlebars to stay afloat. At first this isn’t too much of a concern, but we imagine it could prove uncomfortable, even dangerous, for some of the “upstanding citizens” we see in this vehicle.
Surprisingly, the 200 Touring convertible’s fuel economy isn’t as bad as we thought it would be given its weight and powerful engine. EPA fuel economy is 19 mpg city, 29 mpg highway and 22 mpg combined. Of course, fuel estimates for non-convertible models will give slightly better numbers. Although, given that the best thing about the 200 is the available convertible top, we don’t recommend going for the sedan model to save a few liters (sorry, Mother Earth). Also, we’d like to add that while the EPA estimates can often prove to be meaningless, it seems to be pretty much in the same spot as the 200 Touring, with our returns on par with, if not slightly below, the EPA’s.
Goal
In short, the 2012 Chrysler 200 Touring is the kind of car we want to like, and we kind of do. But it’s also the type of car that, while charming and likable as our hard-working office interns, isn’t one we want to spend any length of time with. Chrysler can and should be given credit for improving the old Sebring with the 200 – the redesigned and upgraded interior is admittedly well done and does a lot to move the vehicle forward in terms of quality – but the automaker just hasn’t done enough to warrant a place for the 200 in your garage . Add to that an archaic list of lacking technical features and stiff, unresponsive handling, and the deck is simply completely stacked against the 200. Not even its impressive fuel economy and throaty engine can save it from the doldrums. Perhaps the only saving grace is its convertible top — but how many of us live in places where we can use it year-round? Oh, that’s right, in Florida, where we imagine the vast majority of 200s will live out their days spread out around many Hertz. In the meantime, we’d rather wait for a complete design overhaul from Chrysler.
The tallest:
- Powerful and efficient Pentastar V6
- Impressive fuel economy
- Comfortable interior
- A convertible adds a lot of fun to the driving experience
Lowest values:
- Lack of technical features
- The redesign doesn’t do enough to erase the memory of the Sebring
- Subdued style
- Poor handling and stiff ride
- Outdated audio interface
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Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn