  2013 Chrysler 200S. Click image to enlarge |
Review and photos by Jonathan Yarkony
The Chrysler 200 is hands-down the favourite whipping boy of many members in our Autos.ca forum. Chrysler, however, can be forgiven for not hearing their complaints over the sound of overwhelming sales success since the redesign that gave us the 200 over the substandard and ungainly Sebring. Those sales may not measure in the same league as the Camry and Accord in the US market, but almost doubling their sales in Canadian market and improving by 50 percent in the US market can’t all boil down to a great Super Bowl ad.
While the 200 is much improved in the looks department over the Sebring, to my eyes the 200 doesn’t entirely solve the overall awkwardness of Chrysler’s mid-size sedan design. At least they have eliminated or improved some of the more offensive design elements, like the claw marks on the hood and the bulbous headlight lenses. The 200 is significantly sleeker and more modern, its headlights and grille trying to borrow on the 300’s aura. But the profile, particularly the bulging roof and C-pillar, and sloping hood still fail to inspire any desire or interest for this car’s abilities at first glance.
The 200 competes in a crowded mid-size sedan segment, in which household names like the Camry and Accord have risen to the challenges of reinvented American sedans like the Fusion and Malibu while staying ahead of the Korean Sonata and Optima. There are a lot of good cars in this segment, the new Mazda6 and more affordable VW Passat also offering their brands’ unique variations on the theme of practical, easy-to-live-with motoring.
On this front, the Sebring is easy to live with, and as practical as most mid-size sedans are. That awkward roof means rear headroom is reasonable, and the trunk can handle 385 L – this trails the leaders in the segment by quite a bit, but still seems sufficient for most tasks and easily handled my hockey bag and stroller test. However, the trunk lid lacks a handle and on my tester, the spring that pops it open a fraction to allow a hand under its lip was broken so I had to wedge my fingertips into the narrow gap to pry it open.
    2013 Chrysler 200S. Click image to enlarge |
The front seats in this sample were leather-lined and as comfortable for my body as any typical sofa. The driver’s seat is power adjustable eight ways and seems wide enough to accommodate any type of occupant.
 2013 Chrysler 200S. Click image to enlarge |
Interior quality, like the design, is much improved, and I have to say that it is equivalent to many in this class, though not the leaders, and the stalk actions for lights, wipers and other functions are very crude and clunky. Design, is of course, a matter of opinion, but this one seems to lack any overarching theme, though it is simple. And while the analog clock is nice, it doesn’t instantly transform the rest of the cabin into an elegant lounge. Everything is in its normal place and easy to use, but the main menu buttons flanking the touchscreen are labelled with rather small text, so until everything becomes intuitive, owners might struggle to find the desired menu button.
The stereo, to my ears, delivered excellent quality (with bass, mid and treble equalizer) accessible through the Uconnect 6.5-inch touchscreen interface, which overall was simple and straightforward to use. But this system is still a generation behind Chrysler’s latest release in the Dodge Dart and updated Grand Cherokee with its far more intuitive and simple design and menus.
