2008 Chrysler Sebring Convertible
New, with a choice of tops that drop.
By Tom Lankard
Overview
After almost single-handedly resurrecting the U.S. convertible market in the early 1980s, Chrysler has worked hard to retain its foothold in the drop-top niche as competition has expanded and improved. With the 2008 Sebring Convertible, Chrysler raises the ante, offering the first, domestic-brand coupe with a retractable hard top.
Not comfortable letting it all ride on a new roof, the company has improved the Sebring to some degree in virtually every other area. There are now three engine choices, a new, 232-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6 and more powerful versions of the inline-4 and 2.7-liter V6. The 2.7-liter flex-fuel engine is capable of burning regular gasoline or E-85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. The new V6 also has a new, six-speed automatic transmission, a most-welcome step up from the outdated four-speed automatic that carries over with the other two engines.
Interiors get an injection of modern-day style and electronics tempered with classic touches. Black-on-white gauges echo the watch-like, analog clock centered high on the dash. The optional audio/navigation system stores map data and personalized entertainment files on a 20GB hard disk drive accessed via a Universal Serial Bus port. Quality plastic moldings and sleek metallic trim with muted color combinations present a quiet visual landscape.
Seats, though, are borderline with barely sufficient thigh support. Unique to the class is the fitment of a standard, six-way power adjustment to the front passenger seat, which, however, is sorely lacking in lumbar support. Rear seat legroom suffers from the space taken up by the complicated and complex hardware necessary to operate the retractable hard top.
Top operation is a picture of simplicity, managed with the mere press of a button. Latches automatically hook and release. Windows roll down and then back up as appropriate. And with the any of the tops down, there's room in the trunk for the benchmark, two golf bags, which also can be loaded and removed with the tops fixed in the down position. The optional wind blocker significantly minimizes top-down turbulence. When up, the hard top shuts out most wind and road noises, and the soft tops flutter only slightly at freeway speeds.
Overall performance and ride and handling yield mixed results. The Sebring Convertible is 400 pounds heavier than the four-door Sebring Sedan and this translates into lazier acceleration, whether from a stoplight or when merging or passing on a freeway. The added weight means the engine is working harder, and it whines and hums any time the driver asks for more. Also, some of the convertible's added weight is carried relatively high and toward the rear of the car, which does not improve handling.
However, all such thoughts are whisked away when the top is down. A leisurely, weekend drive on a sunny day is the Sebring Convertible's forte.
Model Lineup 
The Chrysler Sebring Convertible returns for 2008 after skipping the 2007 model year. It's still a two-door, four-passenger convertible, only this time there's a choice of three tops. Base is a vinyl top, one step up is a fabric top and the top top is a retractable hardtop.
The Sebring Convertible ($25,470) comes with a 2.4-liter inline-four and a four-speed automatic transmission. Standard features include air conditioning; cruise control; tilt and telescoping steering wheel; power windows and central locking; six-way, power-adjustable driver and front passenger seat with manual driver lumbar; AM/FM/CD/DVD/MP3 stereo with six speakers; center console with sliding armrest; front and rear carpeted floor mats; vinyl top; and P215/65R16, all-season tires on hub-capped, steel wheels. Chrysler offers two, extra-cost paint colors: Inferno Red Crystal Pearl ($225) and Linen Gold Metallic Pearl ($150). Other options include a Travel Convenience Group, with cabin air filtration, upgraded (stain and odor resistant) cloth upholstery and security alarm ($345); Sirius satellite radio ($195, including one-year trial subscription); UConnect hands-free communication system ($360); remote start with fob-controlled automatic top and windows down ($240); body-color molding ($75); daytime running lights ($40); engine block heater ($40); smoker's group ($30); and P215/60R17 all-season tires on cast aluminum wheels ($595).
The Touring ($28,070) has a 2.7-liter, flex-fuel V6 with a four-speed automatic. Standard features in addition to those on the base convertible include power, heated outside mirrors; the upgraded fabric upholstery; remote keyless fob with auto-top and windows-down control; electronic vehicle information center with trip computer; and P215/60R17, all-season tires on cast aluminum wheels. Two option packages are offered: the Electronic Convenience Group, with automatic climate control and cabin air filtration, automatic headlamps, remote start, security alarm, heated (to 140-degrees Fahrenheit) or cooled (to 35-degrees Fahrenheit) cup holder and auto-dim rearview mirror ($820); and the Special Touring Group, with cloth top, top-down wind blocker, leather interior trim, heated front seats, fog lamps and steering wheel-mounted audio controls ($1495). Individual options besides those offered on the base start with an electronic stability program ($425) and continue with MyGig, a navigation and multi-media, personalized entertainment system based on a 20GB hard disk drive ($1895), and Boston Acoustic six-speaker array ($495). Finally, two hardtop setups are available, one stand-alone ($2170), the other when the Special Touring Group is also purchased ($1995).
The Limited ($31,670) occupies the top of the Sebring drop-top line and is powered by a 3.5-liter V6 with a six-speed automatic. The list of standard features grows to embrace a cloth top, leather interior trim, cabin air filtration, Boston Acoustic speakers, fog lamps, auto-dim outside mirror and P255/55R18 all-season tires on aluminum wheels. Besides the hardtop option ($1995), there are but two options exclusive to the Limited: an Electronic Convenience Group, populated with automatic headlamps, remote start, automatic climate control and heated/cooled cup holder ($505), and a Luxury Group, comprising heated front seats, top-down wind blocker and chrome-clad 18-inch wheels ($1095).
Safety features begin with the required front airbags, three-point belts at all seating positions and rear seat child safety seat anchors (LATCH). Tire pressure monitors are standard, with the base convertible getting a simple, low-pressure warning system, the Touring and Limited a digital pressure telltale incorporated into the Electronic Vehicle Information Center. ABS is standard. Brake assist and traction control are part of the optional electronic stability program, which is offered only on the Touring and Limited models.
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The 2008 Chrysler Sebring Convertible at first looks to be a twin of the '07 Sebring sedan, but with only two doors and a shortened, coupe-like greenhouse. And dimensionally, save for the convertible adding precisely 3.2 inches in overall length (front bumper to rear bumper), they are. Both ride on the same, 108.9-inch wheelbase (distance between the tires front to rear) and share the same, 61.8-inch front and rear track (distance between the tires side to side). Suspension design is also the same, four-wheel independent with struts in front and multi-link in back. Tires and wheels are interchangeable, too.
Thus, the differences are in balance, in proportion. And were this convertible the traditional type, just a soft top with, say, choice of fabric or color, we daresay it'd look better, more like its predecessor, the '06 Sebring Convertible. But it's that added length, and the reasons therefore that unsettle the '08 model.
Viewed head on, it's the '07 sedan, with that car's current rendition of the idiomatic Chrysler grille: egg crate with bright horizontal strips and topped by the brand's winged crest. Headlights fill the upper contours of the front fenders. A substantial, but otherwise unremarkable bumper tops a slim lower air intake bracketed by two, smaller, grille-like openings at the outer ends of which pods provide housings for fog lamps. Molded-in strakes patterned after those on the Crossfire, Chrysler's unappreciated sporty coupe, dress up the hood while adding structural rigidity.
From the side, everything looks quite proper and mostly pleasant back to and across the door. Maybe a little busy, or overwrought, just as with the '07 sedan, with the relatively high, angled beltline and deep undercut running across the upper door panel, but still of a piece. But it's the back half where the proportions come adrift. Simply put, the wheelbase is too long and there's too much of the hindquarters for a two-door. If the expanse of metal between the trailing edge of the door and the rear wheel well were halved, while leaving the door the same size, of course, then it'd fit.
But the problem is, there has to be some place to store large segments of an articulated, metal roof, along with the motors, pumps and sundry other hardware necessary to lower and raise it. And in the case of the new Sebring Convertible, this results in a bulbous back end, with a top surface area nearly the equal of the hood. Also, to allow the retracted roof to fit inside the rear quarters, the rearmost edges of the C-pillars (the part of the roof between the side glass and the rear window) must be drawn inward, awkwardly positioning the roof more on top of the rear fenders than smoothly flowing down into the side of the car.
The rear fascia, like the front, copies the '07 sedan. Large, multi-element taillights wrap around the rear fenders, crossing over into the trunk lid. A modest, molded-in lip outlines the upper trailing edge of the trunk lid. Which, by the way, opens like a normal trunk with any of the tops up or down. Only when a top is in motion does it hinge from the rear, opening like a clamshell to swallow or disgorge the top. License plate recess is centered in the bumper.
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Inside, the Sebring Convertible is indistinguishable from the Sebring sedan. Other than, of course, seating four instead of the sedan's five.
The dashboard styling carries into the car the general motif of the Chrysler winged crest, or at least that's what the designers say. It's a stretch, but if you look at it kind of sideways, it works. Picture the winged crest from the grille magnified, say, 100 times, then with the wings severely cropped. Drape this image over the dash, so about half lies on top and the other half hangs down the front, add a couple cut lines, mold in a bead for some character and a hood to shade the black-on-white gauges, and there you have it. Speakers sit on top of the dash, vent registers outboard in a contrasting surround, while the clock, stereo/nav screen and climate control knobs take their usual places.
Front seats are adequate, if a bit short on thigh support. Side and bottom bolsters are proportioned for folk of substantial girth. Of note, too, is that only drivers enjoy a manual lumbar adjustment. Less than two hours in the front passenger seat left us painfully craving even the slightest lumbar support.
Rear-seat legroom drops almost four inches from the sibling sedan's, leaving enough space for an average-height adult only when a front seat is set for somebody no more than five feet six inches tall.
Quality of materials is consistent with the car's price range: good, not great, and looking better than it feels. Fit and finish is a grade above, with consistent and close tolerances between panels. The Touring model's trim finish of satin silver and chrome had the most eye appeal for us. The Limited model's combo of tortoise shell and chrome did not look real. The front center armrest adjusts fore and aft over a range of about three inches, which is helpful for drivers of short stature, but a height adjustment would be helpful, too, for taller drivers. Of concern also is the possible impression that the rear seat head restraints function as roll bars to protect rear seat passengers in a rollover, which they do in some convertibles. In the Sebring, they don't, their function confined to reducing risk of whiplash in rear-end collisions.
There's sufficient storage of the proper variety, with a cup holder for every seating position, map pockets in the lower front door panels and a flexible pouch on the backside of the passenger seat. The damped glove-box door locks, which is a welcome change from the '07 sedan. Chrysler says the trunk loses only half a cubic foot from the sedan and even when the top is down can hold two, full-size golf bags. True, but access with the top retracted is restricted to an opening about the size of the outline of one of those bags. Thus, when you want to put a box more than about a foot square or a piece of luggage any larger than a roller bag back there, the top will have to be up, at least when you start.
Compared with the Toyota Solara, the VW Eos, and the Volvo C70, the Sebring Convertible does reasonably well in terms of interior spaciousness. The Solara has a roomier back seat but a marginally less roomy front seat, and the Eos is a snugger fit all 'round, as is the C70. The latter two also give up almost half their maximum trunk space when their tops retract.
Driving Impressions
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The new Chrysler Sebring Convertible is nice for a leisurely drive on a sunny day and pulls duty as a regular commuter with a fun side.
It isn't a sports car, however. It's fully 400 pounds heavier than the comparable Sebring sedan. That's a lot of weight. While we found the sedan with the inline-4 reasonably responsive, even the convertible's smaller V6 seemed to struggle, sounding very busy while not getting much done. That added weight exacts a small price in fuel economy, dropping the inline-4's EPA estimates by only one mile per gallon in both city and highway ratings and the smaller V6's only two mpg. (Note that the convertible's mpg ratings reflect the EPA's revised calculations for the 2008 model year; generally, this reduces current ratings by at most two mpg.) Much the same holds for the antiquated, four-speed automatic in the base and Touring models. Again, while the same gearbox held its own in the sedan, in terms of quality and sophistication, let alone absolute performance, it falls woefully short of what buyers by right ought to expect in a 2008 automobile. Shifts lack smoothness and precision. The transmission hunts endlessly for the proper gear on mild grades, whether up or down, often shifting up at exactly the wrong moment.
Only the larger V6 with that powertrain's reasonably state-of-the-art, six-speed automatic delivers the level of performance many will expect today in a car with the Sebring Convertible's aspirations. But at a lower level of expectations the Sebring Convertible can be enjoyable. The tops raise and lower smoothly; the process with the hard top is entertaining, watching the clam shell open, the roof separate into three segments and fold, then collapse into the trunk and the clam shell close. Realizing all those pumps, struts and braces have to work together, it's quite impressive. At freeway speeds with the top down, voices needn't be raised for conversation between front seat passengers. The optional wind blocker doesn't make it a closed coupe, but hair and dangly earrings aren't mussed with much. The soft tops flutter lightly at freeway speeds. Integrating the front seatbelt's shoulder strap into the seatback keeps it from flapping annoyingly in the wind when the window is down.
Rough pavement produces some cowl shake, less with the top up; the hard top quells the shudders best. Understeer, where the car wants to go straight instead of turn, is the default mode when corners are entered too fast; the electronic stability program is worth the added cost. Hard acceleration generates mild torque steer (where the car pulls to the right). The brake pedal returns a firm feel. Directional stability is good, although the car feels unbalanced in quick left-right-left transitions; our guess is this may result from much of the weight from the convertible top's hardware and some of the added bracing being positioned relatively high behind the rear seat.
The high cowl leaves a lot of the hood in sight through the windshield. Thick A-pillars that strengthen the windshield for improved occupant protection in the event of a rollover can block sight of cross traffic at intersections and when exiting a driveway or parking lot. The tapering of the roof's rear portions so it can tuck away inside the trunk doesn't leave much room for the rear window and makes for exceptionally deep C-pillars, both of which compromise rear quarter vision. When we rolled down the windows after encountering some rain during our time in the test car, water dripped from the roof onto the armrest and the power window controls, which strikes us as a potentially serious problem.
Against the Solara, Eos and C70, the latter two are tighter and sportier, but also seriously pricier, by as much as $10,000. The Solara, though, easily matches the performance and mechanical sophistication of the Sebring and is competitive on price.
Summary
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The new 2008 Chrysler Sebring Convertible improves in every way on the 2006 model it replaces. In looks, performance, features and most significantly, in offering a retractable hard top, it challenges the competition for most interesting in class, if nothing else. A sports car it is not. Nor is it truly a family car, if that family includes children. But for fun in the sun without unduly compromising creature comforts, accommodations or the bank account, it's hard to beat. NewCarTestDrive.com correspondent Tom Lankard filed this report from Santa Monica, California.
Source By : http://nctd.com
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