Chrysler Crossfire ZOOM The Crossfire roadster retains the coupe's shape and art-deco details, including the long sculpted hood, and the distinctive "boat tail." ZOOM Wheels rating: (out of 5) What I drove: 2005 Chrysler Crossfire Roadster Limited, two-door, two-seat convertible Base price: $38,920 (includes destination charge) Price as tested: $39,105 Options on test vehicle: All-season tires Drivetrain layout: Front engine, rear-wheel drive Engine: 3.2-liter V6 producing 215 hp at 5,700 rpm and 229 lb-ft torque at 3,000 rpm Transmissions: 6-speed manual or 5-speed automatic with AutoStick Wheelbase: 94.5 inches Length: 159.8 inches Width: 69.5 inches Height: 51.8 inches Weight: 3,140 pounds (manual), 3,174 pounds (auto) EPA mpg, city/highway: 17/25 (manual), 21/28 (auto) Warranty: Basic: 3 years/36,000 miles; drivetrain: 7 years/70,000 miles; roadside assist: 3 years/36,000 miles Assembled in: Osnabruck, Germany Safety: Dual front air bags, side-impact air bags, LATCH child seat anchors and turn-off switch for passenger-side air bag, antilock brakes, traction control, stability control, tire-pressure monitoring system. Cool: Art-deco design, intimate interior, torque, exhaust note, smooth 6-speed shifter Uncool: Non-tilting steering wheel, tight for tall people Find a Car • Search for a car • Advanced search Find a local dealer: Any ========= Acura Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Audi Bentley BMW Buick Cadillac Chevrolet Chrysler Daewoo DeTomaso Dodge Ferrari Ford GMC Honda Hummer Hyundai Infiniti Isuzu Jaguar Jeep Kia Lamborghini Land Rover Lexus Lincoln Lotus Maserati Mazda Merc.-Benz Mercury Mini Mitsubishi Nissan Oldsmobile Panoz Pontiac Porsche Rolls-Royce Saab Saturn Subaru Suzuki Toyota Volkswagen Volvo ========= Used Recreational Buy motor boats, RVs, campers, trailers, motorcycles and more! • Search local ads Research • Reviews database • In the news • Vehicle history • Car Talk

Getting a jump on the al fresco driving season, Chrysler, maker of America's best-selling convertible, the Sebring, is adding two new stylish soft-tops to its lineup: the PT Cruiser convertible and the Crossfire roadster.

I'll get into the PT convertible next week. This week belongs to the Crossfire roadster, which begins appearing in dealerships this month.

Dedicated design

Introduced last summer, the Crossfire coupe is the most glamorous car ever to emerge from Chrysler. As a coupe, it's a stunner. As a soft-top, it's drop-dead gorgeous.

Rarely does a convertible stay so true to the lines and proportions of the fixed-roof original. (The Nissan 350Z roadster, for example, looks markedly different than the coupe.) The Crossfire roadster retains the coupe's shape and art-deco details, including the long sculpted hood, silver windshield surround, metal strakes on the sides, and the distinctive "boat tail." The soft-top's seam lines flow with and complement the design.

With the top up, the roadster looks as sexy as the Crossfire coupe. Top down, it looks enticing. The roadster's sporty appearance is enhanced by two silver "sport bars" rising up from the tonneau cover behind the driver and passenger seats. These aren't roll bars; they're simply cosmetic.

Like the coupe, the roadster wears 19-inch wheels in back and 18-inch wheels in front, which give it a tilted-forward profile, like a sprinter poised in the starting blocks. As with the coupe, the roadster has a speed-activated rear spoiler that deploys when the car reaches 60 mph, and retracts at around 35 mph.

150-mph roadster

Chrysler designed the drop-top to be a 150-mph roadster and thus blessed it with a super-stiff body (29.2 Hz body torsional stiffness), a well-insulated roof, and high-performance W-rated Continental tires (certified to 168 mph). The Continentals are softer and quieter than the coupe's Y-rated Michelins (rated for 186 mph), and thus provide for a quieter ride during top-down driving.

While the Crossfire's sheet metal was conceived in Michigan, about 40 percent of its mechanical and interior pieces come straight from the Mercedes-Benz SLK 320, including the 215-horsepower 3.2-liter V6. Chrysler's marketing folks boast that this engine produces more torque (229 pound-feet) than the Porsche Boxster (192), Audi TT Quattro (207) and BMW Z4 (214). The engine can be teamed with a six-speed manual transmission or a five-speed automatic with Auto-Stick (manual shifter).

As you like it

The roadster is available in two trim levels - Roadster and Roadster Limited. Both come standard with the six-speed manual transmission; only the Limited can be equipped with the optional five-speed automatic ($1,075).

Standard features on the roadster ($34,960) include a power convertible top with a full-power hard tonneau, power windows, dual-zone climate control, manually adjustable cloth seats, audio system with in-dash CD player, antilock brakes, brake assist, stability control and traction control. The Roadster is available in any color, as long as it's black.

The Limited ($38,920) gains power and heated leather seats, a tire-pressure monitoring system, heated mirrors, fog lamps, a universal garage door opener, a 240-watt Infinity Modulus audio system, and custom-designed "Crossfire" luggage that fits neatly into the 6.5-cubic-foot trunk. The Limited is available in seven colors, including two new super-cool hues: Aero Blue and Classic Yellow (very Miami Beach).

Only two options are offered: all-season tires ($185) and a navigation radio ($1,200), which uses verbal directives - "turn left at Barnby Road" - instead of graphic depictions to guide you to your destination.

Dreamy driver

I spent one day driving both an automatic- and a manual-equipped Roadster Limited. Both transmissions are sweet, but I prefer the manual gearbox, which has been noticeably improved since it was introduced on the coupe last year. Whereas gear engagements felt a tad notchy and rubbery in the 2004 coupe, they felt slick and smooth in this 2005 model.

The day was sunny, so I retracted the power top (a simple 22-second operation) and kept it there for most of the drive, which took us on freeways, city streets, curvy mountain roads, and even a coned-off slalom course. The torquey engine felt wonderfully stalwart, providing plenty of punch at midrange, and a deep and satisfying growl at full throttle.

Steering feel was on-center and direct, and the car was confident and composed in the twisties, with little body lean and lots of tire grip. The car felt tight and solid, without the barest hint of cowl shake or body flex.

When I drove the coupe last year, the Crossfire didn't strike me as a true sports car. After flinging the roadster around a slalom course, I've changed my mind. This car can hold its own. When pressed, it can feel downright muscle car-ish.

Stellar interior

The Crossfire's dreamy design carries into the cockpit, where silver-tone trim appears on the center console, around the instrument gauges, on the door handles and the shifter knob. The pebbly-textured dash material looks and feels rich, and fit and finish is excellent.

The power seats are heavenly, but I had to elevate mine all the way to get a proper purchase on the steering wheel, which telescopes but doesn't tilt. The audio-control buttons are tiny and unmarked, and the window buttons are located in the center console - which takes some getting used to.

With the insulated roof down and a small windscreen affixed in back, the wind wasn't too wild, but anyone with hair would do well to wear a hat. With the roof affixed, the cockpit feels snug and intimate. The ceiling isn't lined, but all the hinges and hardware are neatly tucked away so you don't get the feeling you're in an exposed-beam warehouse. Even at speed, the roof provides remarkably good sound insulation. My passenger and I never had to yell to converse.

New model for summer

While I found the 215-horsepower Crossfire roadster plenty powerful, true power-mongers might want to wait till this summer's debut of the high-performance Crossfire SRT-6 coupe and roadster. The SRT-6 features a hand-built 3.2-liter supercharged V-6, which produces 330 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque. Chrysler says the SRT-6 can rip from zero to 60 mph in under 5 seconds. The SRT-6 Crossfire coupe will sticker for $45,695, and the roadster will be priced at $49,995.

With its stunning looks, solid performance, and German cachet, the Crossfire roadster should prove a hot ticket among drivers who prefer their sport with a little sun in the face. It's a stylish and intimate drop-top coupe - the ideal car for romantic weekend getaways.