It’s been five years since the “merger of equals” led to the creation of the DaimlerChrysler Corporation, and whatever you may think of the founding fiction, this car represents the first real offspring of that union.
Consider the genetics: sheetmetal conceived in Auburn Hills, Michigan; hardware conceived in Stuttgart, Germany; gestation and birth courtesy of limited-production specialist Karmann in Osnabrück, Germany. Limited in this case means 20,000 units per annum, some 17,000 of them destined for North America. The numbers are calculated to preserve a measure of exclusivity and also recognize the realities of the marketplace. Even so, with a sports-car market that’s increasingly crowded, thanks to the arrival of the Nissan 350Z and Mazda RX-8, that goal looks ambitious. Consider Chrysler’s last foray into the realm of limited-production high-profile cars, the Prowler: 2631 copies went out the door in 2000, its best sales year.
Then again, to understate things a trifle, the Crossfire is a far better effort than the Prowler, which was essentially a kit car with a factory warranty. And an expensive kit car at that. The Crossfire, starting at a healthy $34,495, is solid goods, with never a quiver from its railroad-trestle chassis, and its formidable foundations-Chrysler claims a body-shell rigidity number north of 51 hertz, which would be consistent with an Abrams tank-are clad in some of the most seductive sheetmetal we’ve seen in this era of uninhibited styles. Christina Aguilera has software in her closet that might attract more attention, but it would be close.
Although it’s clearly the stylish fastback exterior that’s going to get butts into the Crossfire’s bucket seats, it’s the Benz bones and powertrain that will be responsible for keeping them there to the point of actual purchase. The bones, as we’ve already suggested, are robust, with rigidity characteristics that are not entirely astonishing, in light of their origin: the same platform supports the Mercedes SLK-class roadster. The wheelbase of the two cars is identical at 94.5 inches, and the Crossfire interior-design team was limited by the same hard points: notably, the front and rear bulkheads, making the cockpit a little snug for drivers six feet or taller. More on this later.
Although the SLK is far from rubbery, its rigidity doesn’t compare with the Crossfire’s, which tells you something about cars with fixed roofs versus cars whose roofs are foldable. Chrysler says its coupe is stiffer than a Porsche 911, and our experiences provided nothing to refute this startling assertion. The design may be American, but there’s plenty of Teuton in the Crossfire’s backbone, and it knows how to follow orders.
The suspension pieces bolted to this mobile minicitadel are also from the Stuttgart parts bin. The upper front control arms are from the previous-generation E-class sedan, the lower from the C-class sedan (and SLK), and the multilink rear suspension is also from the SLK. Chrysler did make some adjustments to the foregoing, in part to accommodate the enormous (7.5-by-18-inch front, 9.0-by-19-inch rear) aluminum alloy wheels, in part to give the Crossfire its own dynamic persona. The coupe has a heftier rear anti-roll bar (19 millimeters versus 16) and firmer damping in its gas shocks.
Considering the bigger wheels (the biggest SLK wheels are 17-inchers), you might expect larger brake rotors tucked in behind them. But the cost-conscious development team stuck with the SLK320’s brakes: 11.8-inch vented front rotors, 10.9-inch solid rears, with four-channel ABS. And the parts-bin brakes obviously do a good job, arresting the car from 70 mph in 161 feet, with never a trace of fade.
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