While it might have been hard to image a Chrysler that could hit the 36 mile per gallon (MPG) mark just a few years back, the engineers have nailed the number with the 2015 Chrysler 200. But fuel efficiency is just the starting point for the completely redesigned model. The 2015 200 is new from the ground up, packed with technology, and brilliantly executed. It’s time to leave your impressions of the outgoing model (and the Sebring on which it was based) behind.
The 2015 puts Chrysler into the thick of the hotly contested mid-size sedan market.
The new model is available with a 2.4-liter Tigershark MultiAir2 inline four-cylinder and 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engines, in either front-wheel (FWD) or all-wheel-drive (AWD). The Tigershark produces 184 horsepower (HP) and 173 foot-pounds of torque and is rated at 23 city / 36 / 28 combined in FWD form. This represents a very respectable five mile per gallon jump in the highway rating compared to the 2014.
The Pentastar V6 engine cranks out a formidable 295 HP and 262 foot-pounds of torque, and is rated at 19 city / 32 highway / 23 combined (three MPG better on the highway than the 2014 V6). Both drivetrains reward those who employ a light-footed driving technique.
In my initial test drives of pre-production models, I achieved combined mileage in the low thirties in the I4 and near thirty in the V6 over a variety of terrain and elevations.
Superior aerodynamics and advanced drivetrain technologies allow the 200 to deliver the numbers. A .27 coefficient of drag is enabled by sleek design, extensive under-car aero belly pans, and grill shutters, while the nine-speed ZF automatic transmission provides optimized gearing for every road condition.
I had the good fortune to test drive the 2015 Chrysler 200 at a media event in Kentucky in March and shot the 200’s reveal at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, back in January. It’s an honor and a pleasure to share the time spend time I spent with the 200’s engineers and designers with you.
– by Daniel Gray
NOTE: MPGomatic produced the video segments for Autobytel.
Do you think this model will be as “sexy” and in demand to millenials as some of the compact foreign models have been like the Mini, Scion, even Prius? If the surveys are accurate, and efficiency and connectedness are the most important factors to this generation, where do you think this model fits?