1996 Chrysler Sebring Driving Impressions Review at Automotive.com
»Locate a Dealer»Find a Used Car»Get Financing

1996 Chrysler Sebring Review: Road Test

Find a Car
 

1996 Chrysler Sebring Review

Lots of image, lots of room.
Driving Impressions
For the majority of drivers, those who spend a great deal of travel time on city

streets and interstate highways, the Sebring will do the job very well. It rides

smoothly, is quiet, and has enough power for passing or hill-climbing. If, that is,

the Sebring--or Avenger--in question has the Mitsubishi-built V6 engine. The smaller

Neon-derived inline-4 is less powerful and substantially louder. Although the Neon

4-cyl. is one of the most spirited engines in the world of compact cars, in

Sebring-Avenger applications it's pulling a car that's substantially heavier.

If the 4-cyl. powerplant holds any appeal, it is in the availability of a 5-speed

manual transmission; the V6 comes with 4-speed automatic only.

The Sebring's chassis is largely carried over from the Mitsubishi Galant sedan. It's

stiff, and has all the right pieces, including double-wishbone suspension front and

rear and ABS (V6 models have disc brakes all around, base versions use drums in back),

but suspension tuning has compromised handling in favor of a sedan-like ride. While

that's just fine for daily use, we'd have preferred a slightly stiffer setup that

would deliver more driving pleasure as well.

To its driver, the Sebring feels far heavier than the curb weight indicates. It is

reluctant to get into the spirit of back-road driving, leans more than we'd like, and

in general lacks the kind of precise behavior expected in a sporting car. The Honda

Prelude and Ford Probe, to name just two, are much stronger performers in this regard.

So are the Mitsubishi Eclipse and Eagle Talon.

One major drawback is the power steering which, like similar units that vary boost

based on engine speed, sometimes picks inopportune moments to reduce effort. Next Page



1996 Chrysler Sebring