2008 Chrysler Sebring Cabrio
The car is nicely proportioned and actually looks its best with the roof lowered. The same body is offered with either soft or hardtop. It is a full size convertible, with seating for four, although back seat passengers suffer from tight legroom, when front seats are not moved forward. Chrysler have covered a number of bases by offering the Sebring with two open tops, as let's face it while it's fun to have the roof off, much of the time we need a roof, whether to handle the extremes of climate and for security purposes. The Sebring features Chrysler's first folding metal hardtop, which delivers the best of both worlds. With the roof up no one would ever know that the car is a convertible. The Touring model has a fabric soft top, while the Limited has a folding metal roof. Both have one touch automatic controls for the roof on the console or the key fob. The soft top can be raised or lowered in 27 seconds and the hard top just 3 seconds more.
Both roofs disappear into the boot, enhancing the profile of the car. On the road the Sebring has an extremely rigid feel, and ride is quiet with balanced handling. The Sebring Cabrio has been substantially reinforced and strengthened and perhaps as an indictment on the sedan, is a whopping 239 percent stiffer according to Chrysler! There is a unique rear bulkhead for torsion improvements, which contribute to the increase in body weight of 170kg in the hardtop. The Sebring is equipped with a six-speed automatic mated to a 2.7-litre V6. This unit produces 137kW at 5500 rpm and 265Nm of torque at 4000 rpm. The gears are close ratio 1-5, with 6th an overdrive gear for open road touring. The Sebring is a pleasure to drive with power delivered to the front wheels and the sequential gearshift is slick and purposeful. Letting the Sebring down a little is the interior package, which unfortunately suffers from a budget look. There are many surface materials and colours. and dash build quality is ordinary.
On our test model there were substantial gaps where surfaces joined and the centre console surface actually flexed inwards when pushed. The ignition key location is also weird, being to the left of the steering column obscured by the steering wheel. The glove box is also ergonically poor, dropping onto the passenger's knees when opened. The Sebring convertible is well equipped with the base model featuring 17-inch alloys, electronic stability control, dual front and side airbags, auto climate control, six-speaker CD stereo, cruise control, electric adjust driver's seat, tyre pressure monitoring and a leather wrap steering wheel. The Limited adds heated and cooled cup holders, 18-inch alloys, automatic headlight washers, leather upholstery, heated front seats, premium stereo system and six speaker MyGig 20GB stereo. The Touring model cabrio is priced at $43,990 and the Limited $51,490. The only options are premium paint ($300), 18" alloys (Touring at $750) and satellite navigation and Bluetooth hands free ($2,750).
Brian Tanner
