Photo Gallery:
2015 Chrysler 200
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
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I handed the keys to the Sonata over and picked up the keys to this 2015 Chrysler 200C AWD this week. I noticed the key fob itself seemed heftier than that of the Sonata and I immediately wondered how that translated to the car itself.
I jumped into the Chrysler 200 and headed back to the office and immediately was struck by a few things. The sound of the V6 engine in the Chrysler was pleasing, certainly much more so than the ticking the Sonata possessed when cold. The interior of the 200 was much improved over the previous generation, but at first glance seems very disjointed.
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Then I got back to the office and found out that I’m driving an all-wheel-drive 200C, with the Pentastar V6 and nine-speed transmission and that it is priced at over $40,000 — that was the shocker.
So a car that I thought would be the perfect comparison to the Sonata that I just dropped off was now getting close to competing with the Genesis I had a few weeks ago, interesting change of pace.
This car is loaded with technology, including park assist (parallel and perpendicular), navigation, HID headlamps with LED day-time running lamps, blind spot detection, adaptive cruise with stop and go and much more.
A day later and I still think the interior is a little disjointed — but more on that later.
Pricing: 2015 Chysler 200C AWD
Base price: $32,495
Options: SafetyTec Group — $1,995; Sun/Sound — $1,495; Premium — $995; Premium Lighting — $895; Uconnect — $550; 19-inch wheel package — $595
A/C tax: $100
Destination: $1,695
Price as tested: $40,815
Competitors:
Ford Fusion
Honda Accord
Hyundai Sonata
Kia Optima
Toyota Camry
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
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As I mentioned on day one, the interior seems a little disjointed on the Chrysler 200C — at least on my tester. It is almost like it was designed by a committee who decided they needed certain elements to appease certain markets so they slapped everyone’s designs on top of each other.
We have the black centre console and door panels which seem “normal” and up to date, then someone decided that to be luxurious and upscale that white leather should be used — great idea it does look really good. But someone else said that black leather was more in tune with the car so they decided on a steering wheel that was half black and half white — what?
But it didn’t stop there, obviously someone brought up the fact that wood trim was needed in a luxury vehicle, so they slapped on some wood, while another person shouted out — “HEY GUYS DO NOT FORGET THE CHROME!” And there you have it, white leather with black leather accents, wood trim on top of black plastic with a hint of chrome for added luxury — it is odd.
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But hey to some it may look great, at first glance I thought it was okay but I have a feeling it will age very poorly. Kind of like the late eighties with the full colour interior (all red, all blue etc) — such a horrible idea.
The interior layout though is actually really great. The absence of a shift lever allowed the designers to create a panel of important controls right at the driver’s finger tips — this includes HVAC and radio controls, although heated/ventilated seat controls and heated steering wheel are regulated to the onscreen controls which is a pet peeve of mine.
The centre console layout is also genius in terms of efficient use of space. With a huge area under the control panel for storage and a cup-holder/armrest area that lifts and slides the centre console compartments are extremely large and useful — the most I have seen in any sedan.
The rear seats are comfortable but headroom is a little tight for taller people due to the large panoramic sunroof. The rear seats do fold 60/40 which is nice, but they also offer a middle armrest, cup-holders and a ski pass through.
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
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When I first got into the 200 and headed away from the dealership I was a little disappointed. The road was rough and the suspension on the 200 was clunking fairly loudly — this a road I had just traveled in the Sonata hadn’t noticed any clunking or noises.
This had me concerned right away but over the week though I’ve come to grips with the suspension. It is smooth on smooth roads and on moderately torn up roads it is just fine, but on badly maintained roads the suspension will clunk away.
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On a positive note the engine sound wonderful, especially at full throttle. But even with mild acceleration it offers a nice smooth V6 symphony. While doing so it pulls strongly, this same engine in the previous generation 200 also pulled well but the chassis felt like a wet noodle when you used any of that power — this has been handily resolved.
It is hard to comment on the all-wheel drive system when I’ve only driven the car on paved roadways, but like most modern all-wheel drive systems I’m sure it handles foul weather just fine. What is a little concerning though are the brakes, it seems at times they give up or at least feel soft and non-responsive. I’ve noticed when this happens it feels like the transmission is trying to downshift to keep up and the car kind of jerks forward and back — an odd feeling indeed.
The other notable are the gremlins in the climate system. Twice I got in the car and the ventilated drivers seat was activated, I thought perhaps the system feels I need to cool down — okay I can live with that, although it is odd. But at the same time I also noticed that the temperature setting on the passenger side was set to “LO” which is below 13-degrees, while the driver side was set to 23. I synced the two sides and didn’t think much of it until I stopped at the local grocery store on the way home and when I restarted the car it reset itself back to this odd set of LO and 23.
I could also rant about the park assist feature that guides the vehicle into position either parallel or perpendicular but the issues with it are reserved for the technology not the car itself… in short if you can’t park your car yourself please take the bus.
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
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It may sound like I don’t like the 2015 Chrysler 200C as I have said a few negative things about it. It isn’t that I don’t like the car, it is that it seems to me that less expensive cars are capable of pulling off what I consider to be a more fitting ride for the category.
When tallying everything up for our rating system it is quite clear that the 200C actually does well. It looks good on the outside (almost like a mini Telsa Model S), it has a comfortable interior despite some of its shortcomings and it has great get-up and go.
To top it all off, I managed to average a frankly amazing 8.8 L/100 km over the course of the week. Remember, this is a V6 powered mid-sized sedan with all-wheel drive that is putting down almost 300 hp (295 to be exact). The nine-speed transmission must be doing some good here, although ninth gear was ever-elusive.
The Chrysler 200 starts at just over $21,000 and that is where this car will really shine compared to the competition.
