Vehicle: 2004 Chrysler Crossfire coupe with Autostick manumatic
Price as tested: CDN$50745

Handling: You would have thought Crossfire is a capable handler given its based on the outgoing SLK platform, a chassis that is famous for its rigidty and stiffness. Unfortunately, Crossfire’s dynamic abilities are nothing but underwhelming. The steering feels numb, unresponsive and imprecise. While I am not surprise since it shares the same recirculating-ball variety as SLK, Mercedes’s steering feels better than Chrysler. There are lots of body rolls through the slalom. Its also a remedy that Crossfire has more understeer than oversteer when pushed hard. The ESP is very instrusive that it won’t allow any kind of oversteer. It brakes the offending wheel so aggressively which make the driver extremely hard to control whether its going to under or oversteer. As for ride quality, Chrysler seems to use high spring rates to make it sportier but doesn’t have the right compromise between its mashmellow suspension. When a soft suspension mismatched with hard springs, the compromise of ride and handling is nothing but undesirable.

Performance: Although the handling/ride compromise is underwhelming, Crossfire still got a decent powerplant thanks to Mercedes-Benz. The 3.2L 18-valver SOHC engine that powered SLK320 remains a smooth, refined and flexible engine that has plenty of low-end grunt. 215hp and 229 lb/ft of torque are more than enough when you considered how lame Crossfire’s dynamics are. The Autostick is smooth and go excellent kick-down, up and downshifts are also responsive. Throttle response is decent without being too abrupt.

Brakes: The pedal feel still feels like a Mercedes which means its firm and easy to modulate, even in wet weather conditions.

Interior: Other than the switchgears that are so familiar to SLK owners, like large rotary dial for climate control and instrumentation gauges. The interior is finished in pieces of hard plastic. There are cheap plastic and cheap plastic and cheap plastic right across the center console. The whole oiece of dashboard is made out of hard and brittle plastic material. The armrest is too low while the cupholder cover is simply a joke, like a flimsy piece of soft drink cover. The glovebox has a loose screw when it opened. Visibility is a nightmare thanks to its high cowl and tiny rear window. Good luck when you are backing in. When the rear spoiler raise, it makes the visibility even worsen than already is.

Cargo area is another joke. The liftover is high and too swallow to put in any regular-sized luggage.

Conclusion: Crossfire doesn’t handle particular well, its not particularly fast, its doesn’t have a high-quality interior, its not particularly comfortable, it can’t be even considered as anything practical and its not cheap at all. With formiddable competitors like Audi TT 3.2 V6, Nissan 350Z, Infiniti G35 coupe and BMW 330Ci. I don’t know why would anyone would choose Crossfire over anyone of them above.

OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2004 CHRYSLER CROSSFIRE COUPE
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Performance: 2/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 1/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 2/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 2/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 1/5
Value-for-money: 1/5

Overall rating: 2/5