Despite the good suspenders, ultimate grip in the Sebring is low. We recorded only 0.75 g on the skidpad but found we could effortlessly corner the Sebring at the edge of sliding. Like every other sedan on the market today, the Sebring safely slides its front wheels when the driver overcooks a corner. We liked how well the sliding front end tucked in with a lift of the throttle, but the Sebring is still a tad soft for our hard-driving tastes. The upside to the Sebring's low grip is a cushy ride that softens harsh roads. For 2001, Chrysler says it stiffened the body structure by 13 percent in torsion and 33 percent in bending. It also filled the cavities at the base of the B-pillar and in the lower sills with foam to further dampen road noise. The Cirrus was on the raucous side of the hugely competitive mid-size-sedan class, and the improvements have now brought the renamed Sebring in line with the most refined. Some of the credit for the new refinement should go to the 2.7-liter aluminum V-6 engine. It replaces a 2.5-liter Mitsubishi-built unit and is shared with the full-size Dodge Intrepid and Chrysler Concorde sedans. In the Sebring, the engine is mounted transversely, and its 200 horsepower is 32 more horsepower than the old unit made. The engine revs with a subdued and smart snarl, but it's saddled with too much weight - 3340 pounds. Among the eight mid-size sedans we compared in September 1999, the new Sebring would have been the most powerful - and the porkiest. Because of its weight, acceleration times are only a hair better than that test's average: 60-mph sprints take 9.1 seconds, and the quarter-mile distance breezes by in 16.9 seconds at 84 mph. (The 3186-pound Stratus we tested back then ran 9.4 to 60 mph.) The Oldsmobile Alero, the quickest car in that comparo, could hit 60 mph in 8.1 seconds and turn the quarter in 16.3 seconds at 85 mph.
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