Buying a sporty coupe is almost always an exercise in left-brain/right-brain conflict.
Sure, you want snazzy good looks and lots of mile-eating performance, but you'd also
appreciate some comfort, fuel economy and civility as well. Including room in the back
for adult-size passengers. Is that too much to ask from one car?
Chrysler thinks not, and offers up its Sebring--and the near-identical Dodge
Avenger--sport coupes as proof. On the surface, they seem like the ideal
have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too cars; all gain, no pain. Sebring and Avenger suggest
that you can enjoy driving pleasure and distinctive styling without having to endure a
harsh ride or contort rear-seat passengers into pretzels.
Seen from this perspective, Sebring and Avenger seem to have no direct competition.
The Mazda MX-6 and Mitsubishi Eclipse (for example) are smaller, the Ford Thunderbird
and Chevrolet Monte Carlo are bigger. Others are faster but not as comfort-oriented.
This is a serious effort on Chrysler's part, but it's no bet-the-farm major gamble.
What you see on the outside is new, but Sebring and Avenger are based on familiar
hardware, mostly from Mitsubishi, and are built in the Normal, Illinois facility that
turns out Mitsubishi Galants and Eclipses, as well as Eagle Talons.
The Mitsubishi connection pays dividends in the area of quality. Simply stated,
Sebring and Avenger are the greatest-built Chrysler products we've encountered in recent
experience, displaying high levels of finish and material quality.
There are two models of Chrysler's cloned coupes--the Sebring LX and LXi, the base and
ES Avenger. As you'd expect, the more expensive Sebring lineup includes more standard
comfort and convenience features. The basic Avenger ($14,040) is a little less
hedonistic, though far from bare bones.
Our test car was a Sebring LXi.
Few current
Chrysler products are lacking in visual drama. There's certainly plenty to
look at in this case, from the cab-forward basic form--a company trademark these
days--to the aggressive nose treatment.
Sebring differs from its Avenger stablemate in many details, but basic elements are
the same for both. The large sloping grill, with a larger air intake flanked by fog
lights below, is distinctive, and may be to more viewers' liking than the intake slats
on the Avenger.
In profile, the duo look very much alike, though the Sebring has full lower side
cladding (in body color except on white cars, where the plastic panels are in light
gray) covering the convex shapes found on the Avenger's all-steel flanks.
The proportions are unusual for the class, eschewing the traditional long hood-short
rear deck form for a compact minimal-overhang nose and long tail. Another element that
may take some getting used to is the sudden upsweep of the body that begins in the
middle of the doors and is carried all the way to the tail.
Rear views differ in detail; both are dominated by large taillights. The rump-rearward
design does have a practical side as it creates an unusually large cargo area for a
two-door coupe.
Individual reactions may vary, but There is no denying that Sebring and Avenger are
attention-getters. In our experience, most onlookers' reactions have been positive,
and that's one of the reasons folks buy sport coupes.
