2015 Chrysler 200 Thread: It's Out & About in Full Guise...

[Catman]

LOL

[CJ]

I think it looks fantastic.

[68_427]

Doesn't your dad have a white one?

[CJ]

Doesn't your dad have a white one?

He has a white Sonata 2.0T.

[68_427]

He has a white Sonata 2.0T.

I was saying once again that it looks like have the cars in the segment.  Although 295hp and awd with the Cherokees rear dif could be nice...

[Payman]

Solid, good looking competitor in the segment. Crazy to buy one over a Mazda6 though.

[Xer0]

Solid, good looking competitor in the segment. Crazy to buy one over a Mazda6 though.

If it's anything like the current 200, it'll come with $7500 on the hood and a 0% 84 month loan.  At that price, I can see why some would be swayed.

[2o6]

Solid, good looking competitor in the segment. Crazy to buy one over a Mazda6 though.

Mazda 6 still has no big engine. It still only has the 2.5L SkyActiv, where as the 200 has the Pentastar V6 option.....or at least most other competitors have some sort of turbo four.

[TBR]

Looks like it was out in the sun a bit too long.

[SVT666]

Mazda 6 still has no big engine. It still only has the 2.5L SkyActiv, where as the 200 has the Pentastar V6 option.....or at least most other competitors have some sort of turbo four.

That's the one reason I would skip the Mazda6.  I want either a turbo 4 or a V6.

[Atomic]

I think it looks fantastic.

I agree wholeheartedly, CJ.

I had decided to reserve final judgement after seeing the car in person, as I always do whenever a new vehicle is either released or due for freshening. I liked the spy pics of the 2015-MY Chrysler 200 sedan posted at the start of the thread but wasn't too certain about the car's proportions at that stage of my exposure to the unofficial photos. The far clearer pics released by Chrysler just recently blew me away (many shown in this thread) but I wondered if Chrysler had enhanced them as many company's do for advertisement purposes, product literature or mailing. It wasn't until doing much research on a wide array of vehicles from the 2014 NAIAS in Detroit, MI, that I was drawn to the '15 200 and back again several times. I then went to see what friend and show attendee, Dave Katz at Allpar had captured by lens, along with studying shots from others who made it to Detroit this auto show season.

I like the comparisons made here at 'spin between the MY15 200 and the current generation Ford Fusion. The two look better matched than the Chrysler and the modern day Dodge Dart -- liking both very much but seeing each quite unique.

Later tonight, I hope to add some NAIAS pics of the new 2015 200 and perhaps '14 Dodge Dart.

ADDED: 2015-MY Chrysler 200 Sedan and 2014-MY Dodge Dart Photos*



New 2014 Dodge Dart, Above; and Chrysler 200 Sedan, Below





2015 Chrysler 200 Sedan, Above; and All New for MY14, The Dodge Dart Blacktop Edition Featured Below





All New for MY14, A Duo of Dodge Darts, Above

2015-MY Chrysler 200 Sedan, Below



*Additional Pics of Both Added in Subsequent Postings

[Atomic]

2015-MY CHRYSLER 200 SEDAN PICS FROM 2014 NAIAS IN DETROIT



2015 Chrysler 200S Sports the Chrysler Division's Subtle Yet More Contemporary Eagle Wing Badge





2015-MY Chrysler 200C Sedan, Above; MY15 Chrysler 200S, at Top and Below



Above Shot Shows Some Resemblance to Such German Cars as the Audi A7/S7 and Volkswagen Passat





Above, All New '15 Chrysler 200C Sedan



Above, MY15 Chrysler 200C Sedan Standard Leather Interior

[Atomic]

2013 AND 2014-MY DODGE DART MODELS ADDED TO THREAD FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES

[Atomic]

All Wheel Drive and a 9 Speed Transmission and Killer Looks? Wow! I Would Seriously Consider One! Cannot Wait to See it in NYC in April @ Our Annual NAIAS Meet-up 

[Madman]

The more I look at the new 200, the more it looks to me like a stretched Dodge Dart.  Remove the Chrysler badges and it could be damn near anything. 

[2o6]

It is a stretched Dart.

[68_427]

The Mopar 200 looks pretty good honestly

[Madman]

It is a stretched Dart.

Well, I guess that explains it, then! 

[Atomic]

2015 CHRYSLER 200 IS JUST THE START!

Lots of great comments, fellow 'spinners & esteemed guests, i.e., many Chrysler-Jeep-SRT-Mopar, Dodge-Ram-Promaster, Fiat-Alfa-Romeo-Lancia-Maserati enthusiasts.

To one and all, some information regarding production date, AWD variants and other tidbits on the upcoming from one highly respected source and friend of Carspin, Dave Katz and his Allpar news source...

- MY15 Chrysler 200

- Today and Tomorrow's Dodge Dart

- The '14 Dodge Avenger and Dodge's Plan for it's Replacement

- The Latest on the Highly Speculative Chrysler (?), Dodge (?), SRT Branded or Return of Plymouth for Use of "Barracuda" and an sportier Cuda Variant

- More: TBA

(Allpar) The "true" next generation 2015 Chrysler 200 — to be built starting around March 2014— was unveiled on January 13, 2014. It has a Chrysler 2.4 and 3.6 liter V6 with optional AWD (200C/200S only, V6 required), and a standard nine-speed ZF automatic. Top fuel mileage is 35 mpg with the four (highway). A planned 38 mpg version was apparently killed early.

Despite announcements that Dodge Avenger would be killed off, which are still being echoed in the media, Dodge Avenger now seems to be moving to a rear wheel drive version of the midsized cars, which it will share with an Alfa Romeo and SRT Barracuda (which we think will just be called Avenger after all). The rear wheel drive midsized setup was reportedly approved in early 2013. Detroit News claimed that the existing front-drive Avenger would be kept on for two more years, hedging Chrysler's bets on the new 200, but this seems unlikely.

RVC wrote, echoing other sources, "This new D architecture is a joint project, developed in Detroit with permanently embedded Fiat engineers ... Having a RWD D-segment architecture is costly, and took two years of tinkering between finance and marketing ... E-Evo was discarded [for this purpose, in 2012], when it became obvious that if you shorten it too much you can't produce an aerodynamic, sexy looking D-segment car."

Thus, we now expect Dodge Avenger to be a rear wheel drive four-door sedan and SRT Barracuda-or-Avenger to be a limited production coupe, powered by a 6.2 liter supercharged Hemi, sharing with an Alfa Romeo coupe and hatch. These are due for model year 2016 (which could mean production will start in 2015 or early 2016). The supercharged Hemi V8, dubbed HellCat, is now said to be pushing 680 horsepower.

Chrysler 100 and/or 100C appears to have been dropped from the plans, but we think that Dodge Dart might eventually move over to Chrysler.

The SRT Dart has been dropped for the moment, with a Dart R/T (above the GT) possible with milder but still formidable performance. All wheel drive and a nine-speed automatic are both in the Dart's future.

[Atomic]

MORE DIFFERENTIATION NOTED BETWEEN 200 CHYRSLER SEDAN TRIM LEVELS, INCLUDING,
THE LIMITED, 200S, 200C MODELS FOR 2015 IS ALWAYS WELCOMED
WHEN TRYING TO EXPRESS YOUR INDIVIDUALITY











Chrysler 200C Photos, Above; Below, Pics of the 200S

[Atomic]

2015 Chrysler 200 Debuts at 2014 Detroit Auto Show

By: Todd Lassa Share 

For: Automobile Magazine

On: January 12, 2014

The outgoing Chrysler 200 has been around since the nadir of the brand's existence. It arrived in showrooms as the 2007 Chrysler Sebring, just before Daimler unloaded the automaker on Cerberus. Eight model years is nearly twice the timeline of the average mainstream, front-wheel-drive mid-size sedan, although under Fiat, Chrysler executed a significant facelift for the 2011 model year, complete with a new name and a Super Bowl XLV commercial featuring Eminem.

In retrospect, it might have made sense to keep the Sebring name for that car and save "200" for this new, Fiat-based 2015 model, even though the facelift and generous discounting pushed sales back up to respectable levels in the last couple of years. Chrysler sold 122,480 200s in the U.S. in 2012 and perhaps a few hundred more, rebadged as Lancia Flavias, in Italy.

The 2015 Chrysler 200 has lost all the gawkiness of the 2007-14 Sebring/200, and corporate design chief Ralph Gilles, wistfully recalling the models of the Tom Gale/cab-forward era, says it reveals "nothing short of an absolutely new design language for Chrysler." The 2015 Chrysler 200 is scheduled to begin production in the second quarter of this year.
   
Chrysler marketing plans to talk up the car's "Imported from Detroit" image and the $1 billion it has invested to upgrade the Sterling Heights, Michigan, assembly plant where the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Avenger are produced. Less than five years ago, the plan was to shutter the factory as Chrysler emerged from its bankruptcy.

Chrysler division design chief Brandon Faurote says his team was careful to make sure the new 200 "exudes" American design. It does do that, even while riding on a stretched version of the Fiat-based platform that was widened to make the Dodge Dart. Being a mid-size car, the new 200 has a longer wheelbase and greater overall length.

"The silhouette is not your traditional three-box design," Faurote says, adding that it has a "very fast roofline." That's made possible by an upsweep of the beltline between the B- and C-pillars, a familiar design trick that tends to result in a claustrophobic-feeling back seat in family sedans. In a preview of the car, the back seat felt at least as commodious as most of its competitors, though without the family-friendly capaciousness and outward visibility of the current mid-size benchmark, the Honda Accord.

Faurote also highlights the hockey-stick-shape, full-LED daytime running lights and "signature" lighting; the low, sloping hood line; HID high- and low-beam headlights; and available 19-inch wheels.

The 2015 Chrysler 200 will come standard with the company's new nine-speed automatic transmission for transverse-engine cars and with an electronic rotary knob shifter. Engine choices are a 184-horsepower, 2.4-liter Tigershark four-cylinder with a 6- to 13-percent fuel-economy gain over the current I-4, and a 295-horsepower, 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6.

A new optional on-demand all-wheel-drive system, available with the Pentastar V-6, is fully automatic and can disconnect at either the front or rear wheels. Suspension is MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link independent rear.

Available safety and tech features include automated parallel and perpendicular parking, a blind-spot information system, rear cross-path monitors, lane-departure warning, and a 911 emergency call feature.
As it did with the redesigned 300/300C, Chrysler is de-coupling the 200's trim levels with engine choice. You won't have to opt for the V-6 to go for the glitz. Paddle-shifters for the nine-speed automatic are available with the 200C or the 200S V-6, for example.

The new Chrysler 200S will have blacked-out daylight-opening trim and grille, hyper-black 19-inch wheels, sport seats, sport suspension with torque-vectoring AWD, and the 295-hp V-6. The 200C gets a premium interior and real wood trim. Chrysler has indicated that it is looking to cover a large swath of the midsize sedan segment with a loaded version that can potentially rival the Lincoln MKZ. With the 2015 Chrysler 200's base price $95 cheaper than that of the current car -- $22,695 with destination – the 200 will continue to try and challenge rental-fleet-trim Ford Fusions, as well.

Chrysler declined to confirm a new generation of its 200 folding-hard-top convertible or a Dodge Avenger sibling. Rumors have a rear-wheel-drive replacement for the Avenger being built off a new smaller-than-Chrysler 300 platform that would be shared with the SRT Barracuda and Alfa Romeo sedans. The Barracuda and Alfa projects appear to be delayed, however; Chrysler could cover the Dodge sedan lineup with the Dart and the Charger.
   

[Tave]

The current one looks unbelievably bad, like they chopped apart three cars and glued the pieces together. Almost impossible to not improve but nonetheless they did a decent job. Might as well use the Dart motif, it's their prettiest vehicle.

[MrH]

The blob of cast skin on the dash needs to go.  That looks awful.

[Madman]

Jaguar called.  They want their rotary-knob gear selector back! 

[SVT666]

Jaguar called.  They want their rotary-knob gear selector back! 

Ram has had it for a few years now.

[MX793]

Ram has had it for a few years now.

Ram got it in 2013.  Jag's had it since the XF came out back in '08.

[Tave]

There are worse auto companies than Jaguar that Chrysler could have copied. Like Chrysler, for example.

[MX793]

Chrysler should have revived the pushbutton gear selector like they had way back when...