I also think our vehicles are too heavy, But there is a reason. Chrysler prides itself on the amount of products that meet the Gov's "5 STAR" crash ratings. That adds weight! How many other car co.'s advertise "5 star" crash ratings? What I can't believe is that new little Mustang weighs 4000 lbs.?

 

Well Chrysler needs to get a bit more efficient,excess dead weight is a drag-I remember when Ford used to brag that the "Pinto had more ground hugging weight then the imports"-Kevin

 

They also could have said the Pinto had more "explosive power"

Safety definitely plays a role in the weight, the government wants cars with 'X' efficiency but they also have to meet 'X' requirements over here and 'X requirements over there some of which are actually counter-productive to each other (for example the more heavy safety equipment is added to the vehicle the harder it will be to make it efficient). Another example is pedestrian impact standards, bumper has to be a certain height, have certain characteristics, this obviously limits some of what can be done with aero...

Personally I think some basic safety regulations are a good thing but our government has taken regulations in general way overboard when it comes to the automotive industry. They're sitting on top of an industry they've tied down with regulations going "come on, get up and run, what's wrong with you?".

 

Man, this thread is behind the times.

 

Isn't safety the most important thing when it comes to vehicles? Because if you died in an accidence you won't be around to brag about the great gas mileage your getting.

 

Yeh Chrysler does have some sick cars that I wish I could have.

Viper no. But the other cars are just filler cars. I agree.

 

First, Chrysler needs to get rid of some vehicles.

Second, just because a vehicle is heavy does not mean its safer. And, like wise, just because a vehicle is more lightweight does not mean its less safe. It's all about where the reinforcements are (where the weight is at). This is what engineers are paid for.

 

there are plenty of vehicles in the world that meet safety standards without weighing 4500lbs.

 

Most new cars are pigs. The Mustang is too heavy. I feel perfectly safe in my 88 5.0 LX that only weighs 3180lbs. They now weigh in at almost 1000lbs more!!!
As for Dodges that don't sell? I seen ton's of Ram trucks around here as well a lot of Calibers, Avengers and Grand Caravans. I also see many Durangos and Chrysler Pacificas.
We have two Ford plants here in town, but Dodge sells pretty well here as well.
For reasons that I do not understand, there seem to be a lot of Caliber bashers out there. It is a cool little car that works well for a 6'2" guy like myself. Plenty of up front leg room and sits up high enough that I can enter and exit fairly easy. They get pretty good gas mileage as well. Hell the wife drives 7 miles each way to work in stop and go traffic after letting it warm up on reformulated fuel and it still gets 20mpg. On the highway, it gets over 30 mpg with a 2.0/CVT-II . True, it's no Neon, but still a good car.

I don't know why Chrysler couldn't retool a plant with the existing Neon tooling and start producing them again. They sold well and with some minor updates, would sell again.

If I could afford to, I would help out and buy an 09 Ram. But it is not in the budget since I bought 3 new Dodges last year. I don't think that I can get a 09 Ram comparable to my 08 for the same $289 a month

 

To tell you the truth, I don't recall ever seeing a Pacifica off the lot. I don't have anything bad to say about the Caliber, but I've never driven one. It does look a little too much like an Aztec though.