I love it so far, it would ne nice if the 6-speed auto shifted better when left to it's own devices though. It shifts up as soon as it can and to get it to kick down you really need to punch it and on occasion it disagrees with me (did that climbing a hill last weekend, wasn't thrilled by that.......) I find that I do prefer to have a cable running between my foot and the TB, that can be a little slow at times too, especially when the traction control is left on. In some cases, the difference can be like going from having a bag of fresh jumbo marshmellows under your foot to a box of stale Peeps with the TC turned off woth the drive by wire. Some of it could be me going from a long line of relatively old tech cars to something this modern (even if it's a heavily revised Sebring) too. Gas mileage is still around 5mpg better than my XJ gets and I do have the E-85 option if I'm near a station that sells it (it is hardr to find an E-85 station than it is to find a recharge station for plug-in's and EV's
) I'm still getting used to having torque steer again too, it happens but isn't as violent as my Lebaron GTS Turbo was, that thing could scare somebody riding shot gun and the last non family member who drove that nearly crapped himself (probably second time that day too) when he told me he took it for a test drive after redoing the oversized exhaust.......a second time...... The braking and cornering is very good while the acceleration is fantastic! In testing and researching youtube reviews on the car, I found that it's a solid 14 second car in the 1/4 mile and there is no doubt in my mind that it is just that quick too. I found a 200 owners forum (not as awesome as
, but it is still young
) and one of the guys on there has run 14.38 in his Touring sedan that is equipped with the Mopar CAI and Mppar/Corsa cat back, although he hasn't done anything to tune the car via computer to get the full advantage out of those parts as of yet.
The 200 line is pretty well set up, especially for the price.
The LX model is their basic model which only has the 2.4l I-4 and 4-speed auto IIRC.
The Touring like mine is one of the real bang for a buck car, the suspension is tuned more towards handling than tbe LX and Limited (which is what Eminem drove in the Superbowl ad) you can get the 6-speed on the 2.4l or you can opt for the 3.6l V-6/6-speed combo like I did without having to load the car down with weight adding extras. It's about as close to the '68-'70 Plymouth Road Runners as you can get from Chrysler right now.
The Limited is their nicer, softer riding highway cruiser that tends to be the more premium model over the LX and Touring.
Then there is the S, if Touring's like mine can be considered Road Runner-ish, then the S is the '68-'70 Plymouth GTX of the 200 line. The drivetrain and suspension is the same as my Touring, but some of the interior furnishings are even nicer than the Limited's, the sound sysyem is better, the sunroof is standard, the rims were specific as were the black chrome accents (both of which is now available on the lowly Touring, for no charge.....much to the whining of S owners.....
)
One thing I found funny is that as I researched the car, the typical print sources pan the car as a whole, yet the independant YouTube reviewers tend to be quite happy with them and people who've actually gone and looked at all midsized sedans and have bought their 200's on performance and value over much of the other cars in it's class. Many of those same buyers will actually call out the reviewers that knock the car, asking if they even drove the 200 and all but asking if the reviewer is being paid off by the makers of the car's competitors!
