RLSH700

I have been thinking about this a lot lately, how it seems that Chrysler's formula has been very hit or miss in the last few years and wanted to know what your opinions were on models that have been less than successful or less popular than they should have been.

Avenger:
I personally like the Avenger and think it was a breath of fresh air from the Stratus sedan which I didn't like because of what I considered to be a very dull looking interior and lack of performance from the powertrain choices. I think the problem the Avenger has currently is that although its an improvement over the Stratus, it wasn't enough to be competitive with the best in the industry. Chrysler like the rest of the industry has been using more and more hard plastics (which I really hate). Although I think the interior looks interesting, I think they need a wider color choices and offer contrasting colors to make it more interesting.

The powertrain choices although an improvement (somewhat) did not hit the potential they could have been. The new World Engine is one of the more powerful engine choices, the problem is the transmission they have hooked up to it. The 40TES although a slight improvement over the previous 41TE with the added VLP, is still only a 4-speed unit in an industry that has mostly switched over to a 5-speed to be competitive if not a 6-speed. They should have made a version of the 6-speed for it to be more competitive. The 2.7L is an engine that I think has worn out its welcome. The oil sludge problems that tarnished Chrysler image in the 2nd gen LH cars and Stratus/Sebring returned with these problems resolved but with two remaining problems, lack of power and lack of refinement. I can tell a very little difference between this and the I4. They should have looked into possibly reviving the 3.2l SOHC and giving it the 6-speed with taller gearing for the middle engine choice. The 3.5L engine choice was a good one, the problem was they didn't let it reach its full potential. The version they dropped in produces roughly 235hp & 232ft-lbs of tq, which is 20hp & 26ft-lbs less than than the best output that engine ever experienced. The full 255hp & 258ft-lbs of tq would be the bare minimum offering for the current marketplace dominated by the Japanese competition which is producing 268hp and 248ft-lbs of tq for the less performance minded offerings with the more performance minded ones producing 270hp & 258 ft-lbs of tq. To combat the more performance minded competition, Dodge would have to chose one from one of two decision: more performance through more displacement and NA, or more performance through less displacement and forced air induction. The best decision would probably be to offer the 4.0L like they have done with the SEMA storm trooper model as this is a more mainstream and higher probability that people will want to get it since forced air induction models tend to have higher insurance premiums, though it might be a good decision offer the SRT-4 to make this compete directly against the Mazda Speed6 as a car to get the youth's attention.

I have mixed feelings over the styling. Although I like it, I think that Dodge could be chasing away people who don't like boxy styling and losing the crowd that they gained so much popularity with through aerodynamic styling. Perhaps making the Avenger look more like the smooth looking original Avenger might have been the wiser decision.

Sebring:
The interior in the current Sebring in my opinion just looks weird. Less hard plastic, more soft materials that looks more like a luxury sedan and less like something from Mars. The exterior styling though I liked it in the pictures in the beginning, I'm liking less and less as time goes on. They definitely need to go for a more aerodynamic treatment, but keep it interesting. Perhaps base it off that sedan concept that looked like an Eagle Talon. The powertrain changes are also necessary. The base e