X-Fire..cheap sports car??

[Dreamcast18]

http://www.pe.com/lifestyles/driving/stories/PE_Fea_Driving_D_crossfire0107.ca787b.html

I wonder how long Chrysler will keep making them..I see alot of them on the lots @ the Pasadena Chrysler..

[halicat]

the crossfire is a different kind of car....
I like it... it has great attention to detail probably because it is assembled in Germany....
but some colors...look like hell.. they just don't accent the bodylines very well...

the Most awesome looking Crossfires i have seen are the white convertibles.....the black tops really set off the white bodies....

There are a couple of 2005's on the lot here....$53,000 canadian.....

I don't think so....

[GT]

site wants me to register...any possibility of copy/paste here Dreamcast?
Thanks.

[GT]

My wife Eleanor drives a 2004... sapphire silver blue... Sweet ride.
Handles great, accelerates like a bat outta hell. VERY nice appointments all the way around. She loves it.

[Dreamcast18]

Here you go GT:

Crossing over
Chrysler drives into the sports car market with what can be a bargain


10:46 AM PST on Saturday, January 7, 2006

By JOHN and BRENDA PRIDDY / Special to The Press-Enterprise
CAR REVIEW

2005 CHRYSLER CROSSFIRE COUPE

BASE PRICE: $30,070

ENGINE: 3.2-liter, 215-horsepower V-6

LAYOUT: Front engine, rear-wheel drive

BODY/SEATS: Two-door coupe/two

CURB WEIGHT: 3,010 pounds

OVERALL LENGTH: 159.8 inches

FUEL ECONOMY: 17 mpg city/25 mpg highway




Ask a hundred people on the street the names of sports cars, and you probably won't hear Chrysler mentioned once. Corvette, Ferrari, Porsche -- all the familiar names will undoubtedly be on their lists, and maybe Mercedes-Benz as well. But it's been longer than most can remember since Chrysler had its name on anything resembling a sports car.

With the exception of the last Prowler, which inherited the Chrysler moniker when Plymouth was thrown overboard, four-door sedans, minivans and Sebring convertibles have made up the bulk of Chrysler products for the last decade.

But since the Chrysler/Mercedes merger in 1998, Chrysler's product line-up has slowly expanded and improved to include Pacifica, the 300 series and the 2-seat Crossfire.

Although overshadowed by the suddenly "hip" big sedans, the Crossfire was first introduced in 2001 as a concept car in coupe form and then as a production car as both a coupe and a convertible. Based on the first-generation Mercedes-Benz 230 SLK sports car, the Crossfire has a handsome body wrapped over the proven and capable SLK platform.

The body is a nostalgic blend of classic flat-deck hood with grooved speed lines along the sides. Chrysler's Sky King winged emblem sits above the familiar Pacifica-style grille and imparts an art deco touch to the car's "face." A raised central rib runs through the hood and roof and ties the front to the rest of the body.

At some angles, the bobbed tail and fastback roof bring flashbacks of the Nash Airflyte and Rambler Marlin, both ancestors of the Crossfire. A complex series of surfaces that intersect on the body sides inspired the Crossfire name that is spelled out on large art deco chrome letters across the rear hatch.

Looking nothing like its Mercedes-Benz cousin, the SLK, the Crossfire coupe and convertible are assembled in Osnabrueck, Germany, by Karmann, the low-production, high-quality coachbuilder that in the distant past built Volkswagen Karmann-Ghias and other specialty vehicles.

In addition to the two body styles, coupe and convertible, the Crossfire comes in three trim levels: Base, Limited and SRT-6. Only available in black with cloth seats and a manual transmission, the austere Base model answers the call for a bargain-basement Crossfire that makes the Limited appear luxurious by comparison. Though the Base model Crossfire starts at around $30,000, Chrysler has been offering hefty rebates on Crossfires which can bring the price down to around $25,000, making the car something of a bargain.

SRT-6 models include sport-tuned suspension, 330-hp supercharged V-6 and an $11,000 premium over the Limited.

Built on a 94.5-inch wheelbase, the Crossfire uses the same double wishbone front suspension and five-link independent rear suspension from the last-generation SLK, as well as that car's 215-hp single-overhead-cam V-6 engine and six-speed manual transmission (a five-speed automatic is optional). The Crossfire's unitized body is even more rigid that SLK's. And the Crossfire sports big 18-inch front and 19-inch rear tires.

For a week, we drove a 2005 Aero Blue Limited Coupe with a manual transmission and two-tone interior; there are no significant changes to Crossfire models for 2006.

At more than 3,000 pounds, the Crossfire is quite heavy, which means it offers brisk, if not exhilarating performance. The 3-valve Mercedes-Benz V-6 really comes alive above 4000 rpm and pulls smoothly to redline.

The car's well-balanced handling and ride provide crisp cornering with no stiff competition-style harshness. The smooth shifting 6-speed gearshift with a solid aluminum knob is well-placed for ease of operation. But in daily rush-hour traffic, the manual transmission becomes a chore for all but the die-hard manual shift enthusiasts.

Four-wheel disc brakes with ABS and traction control are standard, as are side air bags. And note the car's excellent crash-test ratings.

The interior layout is a curious blend of Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz. There's a contemporary Chrysler steering wheel and a set of proper German instruments. But there's no way to disguise the hard-to-adjust dual climate controls inherited from the SLK. There's a lot of aluminum-look plastic on the center stack and console, and a feeble cup holder dares you to use it.

But the seats are comfortable and visibility is better than the fastback roof might suggest. It does require some contortionist technique to get inside the car, but once there, the roof bubble provides adequate headroom.

Non-SRT cars are equipped with an active rear spoiler that raises automatically at 60 mph and lowers back into place when the vehicle speed drops. Whether it actually contributes to handling at usual freeway speeds is debatable. But it looks cool and fits the character of the Crossfire.

The Crossfire may not be the most dynamic sports car on the road. But it is undemanding to drive, requiring no driving-school-honed skills to enjoy it. And it's certainly nice to see Chrysler offering a sports car.