VIDEO: Chrysler Sebring Coupe hardtop in action
Opinion seems to be split concerning the design of the Chrysler Sebring Covnertible, images of which we posted a couple nights ago. Those of you who have commented on the Sebring's chopped top either love it or hate it. That's an actual improvement over its four-door sedan counterpart, which so far has been almost universally panned on the web for its design.
Convertibles are generally more stylish than sedans, and the Sebring Convertible is no different. We'll admit our icy reaction to the sedan has thawed a bit thanks to the better looking drop top. Chrysler has posted this video on YouTube that allows us to see the three-piece hard top opening and closing, the actual depth of the trunk, and a walkaround of the car and it's interior that better shows off the vehicle's proportions.
[Source: YouTube via DaimlerChrysler}
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Giggles of Doom @ Nov 29th 2006 2:05PM
What is a "Covnertible" in the first line?
J P @ Nov 29th 2006 2:20PM
seems like there are quite a few unsettling clanks and rattles from the mechanisms operating the hardtop. quality does not seem to be astrong point in the design of this car, but we'll see how the sebring convertible fares in reliability.
CJ @ Nov 29th 2006 2:29PM
Meh. It's better than the sedan... but I'm still not too keen on the hardtops. What I always loved about this convertible is how practical it was... full back seat, large trunk (top up AND down). The hardtop kills one of those. Oh well.
ruggels @ Nov 29th 2006 2:36PM
nice, i like the eos in red, and the off hand and horribly awkward conversation... maybe it's not always a best bet to ask an engineer/designer who designs awkward looking cars to provide an awkward walk through... “very expressive face of chrysler / eos without chrome front”.. “chryslereque...” jesus.
hmmm @ Nov 29th 2006 2:51PM
Wow this dude was a natural born speaker (not), and totally corp. brainwashed, btw dude the dash is missing half of it's wing ! and those noises where pretty scary during the top operation, the most important part of this car is not being talked about that will make the vehicle ever sell and that is PRICE PRICE PRICE..............
Juan @ Nov 29th 2006 3:07PM
I'm impressed overall, the only thing I don't like is the panel gap between the trunk and the body, as viewed from the side.
Looks much, much better than the sedan. I think it's those hood stripes they're so proud of that are the problem. They fit on a car that looks a little sporty (amazing what going topless will do), but look out-of-place on a regular family sedan.
I also give major props to the engineering guy to stepping out of his comfort zone and playing PR guy on video. It's harder than it looks.
Derr @ Nov 29th 2006 3:19PM
Did anyone else notice the loud thunk when the roof hit the windshield right after he cycled the top up? God please don't let the BMW's top be that sloppy! We just sold our 02 325CiC to get ready for the new hardtop convertible.
Alex @ Nov 29th 2006 4:07PM
The noise of the motors sound very gross and cheap. Also look at when the trunk goes back down, it does not close evenly. They talk alot about of unique features, but they are not that unique.
Car Designer @ Nov 29th 2006 4:21PM
First off, the man in the video is Joe Dehner, a Director of design for Chrysler, and is rumored to be the next in line for a VP of design position, not an engineer. Secondly, it's much easier to get down on someone else, but let's remember, he is in the car industry while most of you sit at home trying to be armchair quarterbacks all the time. Why don't you give the professionals a break and remember that THEY have the ability to do what they do, and you do not. Lastly, the car shown at the show was no more than a fiberglass model, so you cannot make judgements based on it's fit and finish, or sounds, as it is an "appearance" model, not an actual car. One last point, I am not a DCX employee for those who were thinking it.
Lex @ Nov 29th 2006 4:23PM
Headlights are ok
Front grill is ok
Hood strikes… doesn’t add anything to car look in my opinion
Back seats legroom looks spacitious until u notice that front seats are moved all the way forward, such that its nearly under the steering wheel.
Analog clock is not really a unique feature as it has been unique feature for infinity for many many years.
The hard top mechanism:
About 3 times as loud as other hard top convertibles that I have seen.
Takes up way more trunk space than other hard top convertibles that I have seen.
Roof will get ripped off if car is moving at even a low speed due to the fact that it creates a huge wind resistance surface when it retracts.
Compare it to 2007 BMW 3 retructable hardtop coupe video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYsOHmTzAB4
Just listen to the sound. Watch how neatly and quickly bmw hardtop folds into the trunk and how little room it takes.
I DO realize these 2 cars are in different price range, but this is something Chrysler should look up to if they want to stay competitive.
hmmm @ Nov 29th 2006 4:37PM
He said ahhhhh or uhmmmm 33 times lol I counted ! next time ahhh get a spokesperson ahhh who know's uhmm how to ahhh talk uhmmm, dcx. hmmm
hmmm @ Nov 29th 2006 5:00PM
First off, the man in the video is Joe Dehner, a Director of design for Chrysler, So joe is the one that should be fired when the sales of this vehicle tank real hard ??? he said that he was responsible for the interior and exterior design of this car, so he is the idiot who signed off on that front end ?? there gonna promote this dude to vp of design after making one of the ugliest car designs in years ( yikes) dcx would be in major trouble ! he probably signed off on the Compass also.
and remember that THEY have the ability to do what they do, and you do not , hmmm im pretty sure alot of us would have designed a killer looking car instead of the major ugly vehicle that there hoping for a huge sales success and entering a market where they have not been dominate before and they say this is gonna directly compete with the accord and camry (yikes).....
Derek @ Nov 29th 2006 5:01PM
Stop saying "uh" so damn much!!!
For God's sake you think they could find someone who can speak eloquently especially on a TAPED RECORDING.
dakota @ Nov 29th 2006 5:53PM
"Wow this dude was a natural born speaker (not), and totally corp. brainwashed, btw dude the dash is missing half of it's wing ! and those noises where pretty scary during the top operation, the most important part of this car is not being talked about that will make the vehicle ever sell and that is PRICE PRICE PRICE.............."
How is the designer going to talk about price? He's not a PR guy.
The noises are typical of hardtop operation, also note that if they would have did a demonstration outside it wouldn't have been an issue. The empty room creates an echo.
dakota @ Nov 29th 2006 5:57PM
It's funny that hummmm rips on someone who was obviously nervous on doing the video, but can't even figure out on how to properly make a sentence.
Fabulo @ Nov 29th 2006 7:00PM
At least they put the designer on the line. You definitely feel he's not quite comfortable in front of the camera, it's not his day job.
I still prefer it to an all shiny whitened teeth actor PR guy reciting a canned script perfectly.
For the car, well, it's a siebring (=rental) convertible (= double rental) and I consider it quite well styled. I'm looking forward to rent one on my next vacation.
Kevin L @ Nov 29th 2006 8:07PM
Why is it that so many of you speak so much ill? If nothing satisfies you, why do you come here? I read so little substance in your complaints. Maybe you are here complaining because it is a safer environment than you are used to, I do not know.
So, yes, I am complaining about all you who chose to complain about so much. If the auto manufacturers of the world took you folk seriously, none of them would ever leave the house in the morning. We all would be driving the exact same car. I for one enjoy the variety we have today. Sure, there are similarities between models. But one day, one of you overly critical boobs might try to count how many designs have been created over the 100+ years we have been making cars. Wonder how really challenging it would be to create a wholly new design, then next time you want to grip about how much one car looks like some minuscule component of another, you might think twice about ruining autoblog.com with your pith-less drabble. Pith means substance. (Meaning provided for the benefit of those with limited vocabularies).
Hamud @ Nov 29th 2006 8:10PM
Lex, about the BMW video, it's a promo video, so expect to find some high level software treatment on that one, but I do realize that the BMW is actually way better in the way the top folds and occupies way less space that the Sebring seems to do.
Talking about the Sebring, it has some attractive points, others not so attractive and others that I really would exclude from the car, like the strikes on the hood and the gap on the trunk. But in a generalized way is a good looking car, has good cue points and a good overall quality from what i saw. As stated before, it's a model and not the final car so one should expect some minor changes from this one to the final one.
faheem @ Nov 30th 2006 4:09AM
am I the only one who sees A LOT of styling cues in the Sebring that come right out of the current-gen CLK 'vert?
I mean, no pun intended being that Chrysler is the offspring of Daimler-Benz, but seriously...I can easily mistake it for a CLK 'vert if I wasn't paying close attention
Ed Garsten @ Nov 30th 2006 9:20AM
Need to point out a couple of things. The car in the video is a pre-pre-production model. Any noises or other imperfections will be eliminated before the cars reach showrooms. Number two: I think if I stuck a camera in your face and asked you to speak for six minutes without a script you might say "uh" a few times too. We left the "uhs" in there because that's how real people speak.