Is the Crossfire in for another slagging by Top Gear?

Top Gear 17th July
Motoring magazine presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, and featuring The Stig. A trio of convertibles head for Iceland - the Audi TT, Nissan 350Z and Chrysler Crossfire; a new car from Ferrari - the F430; and this week's 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' is Tim Rice

I'll let you know.

 

Aren't our Crossfires supposed to be better than the Audi TT? Our Crossfires are called the " TT beaters " when it was launched in Europe. I would like to know what the comparison will be between the 350Z and our crossfires!

 

Yeah, but the British motoring press hates American cars. Period. Even if it's a foreign car with a Yankee badge on it (like our Crossfires, which "Car" noted was "nice from far, but far from nice".

Never mind the explosive acceleration and near supercar handling of the Corvette, the great comfort/style/speed combination of the 300C, or the glorious V8 burble under the hood of the Caddy CTS V-series, it's not to their liking if it's a "yank tank".

They seem to gush over Fiats, Citroens, and lots of other crap that we drove from these shores long ago. And, they love Euro Fords such as the Focus (which IMO, screams "cheap" in every detail and from experience with relatives' cars tend to break down in ways so terrible that it's almost amusing). But that's okay. It's just further proof that American tastes are very different than European tastes. About the only thing we can agree on is what makes a fine luxury car or exotic. Well, sometimes anyhow. The British motor press loves every Jag. But, we recognize the X-Type and the S-Type as being Fords in drag on these shores (and far off the pace of the best luxury sedans we can buy).

 

Yeah - Probably. It is disappointing that people in the UK actually believe what Top Gear presenters say. Who knows what backhanders they take from manufacturers to plug particular cars, or other vested interests they have.

I do like watching Top Gear and some of their comments make sense. However you have to consider the fact that the small guy likes Porsche, the big guy likes Italian cars, and the buffoon seems to like British (or should that be BMW and Ford?). If I was consistently driving supercars, I expect I could even find the performance of the XF lacking. On our roads with the Police and cameras and traffic jams, you don't need 300+HP. It is more fun to keep up with a more powerful car down some of our A-Roads cause you can drive you car better than the other guy. [Had some Merc 320AMG estate blast past me down the A30. I couldn't match him for speed on the straight, I was doing between 135-140mph and he was away - caught him up on the curves.]

You should make up your own mind and buy what is right for you. I like DC as a brand. You get a lot of car for your money; they drive OK; and they are different from your average wind-tunnel designed car. I expect the TT, RX8 etc are all pretty good cars but I wouldn't have one by choice. I do like the Saleen S7 and the new Noble M400.

 

they do bash american cars to a terrible level but i still like the show, its the only show that at least gives your a real opinion. It is funny though how they think jags and astons are better than anything in their class. He also said the new 911 looks exactly like the old one and is boring to drive. The headlights are completely different and it went back to what every porsche fan loves, the round headlights. The guy used to be a talk show host, like dave letterman, then got this show. It was way better when tiff was on it. I don't know if you guys watch the show, i do all the time on WinAmps internet t.v., but they have a competition where celebrities come in and drive some entry level car around their track. The host is placed somewhere around 20th on the time bored. Shows how much he knows about cars.

 

The usual comparison trio when it's about upper mid-class sport cars with 3.2l+ motors. I've seen and read similar comparative tests with this trio. Crossfire never made it to #1. But we, owners, know better ... right?!
Top Gear is good fun. I watch it often, but really just for entertainment. Good show, good jokes and sketches. But not really informative about the cars. No technical characteristics. Only type of engine, PS, top speed and price.
I guess they'll prefer the TT, if it's the 3.2 quattro.

 

I'll keep the Crossfire over that list! I had a track Z.

 

That show is funny.

 

IMHO...
The problem is that the Crossfire doesn't deliver on it's looks. Top Gear loved the look of the thing but pointed out that it did have some flaws:
1) Crappy plastic interior painted silver (look at the competition and you'll see real metal)
2) A 3.2L engine should be more powerful, if the S2000 can do 240 bhp from 2L, why do we get less with over 50% more displacement
3) Poor steering and feedback - not bad, it does the job, but when you're caning it round zig zag country roads, you want as much feedback as possible. Drive even just an MX5/Miata and you'll discover what the Crossfire is lacking.
4) Poor gears - Mercedes are famed for their poor manual gearbox, and didn't prove anybody wrong. European driving is stop/start, quick bursts up to 60 mph, then stomping on the breaks when you see a speed trap, the gears are OK, but no where as slick as rivals. Oh and in the UK, automatics are for old people ;-)
5) Price - and this is the killer. In the UK this was originally on sale for £28,000.. that's USD 52,000, heading up to Porsche Boxter prices and directly competing with the S2000 and 350Z.

I bought my Crossfire after driving and S2000 for five years, but I got it for £4000 below list price and bought it knowing that it wouldn't be as involving a drive. I was older (not necessarily wiser) and wanted a more civilized ride and something that's rare and beautiful (much like the S2000 five years ago).

Top Gear was right to criticize it... Chrysler was greedy, and priced it into the wrong bracket, they don't have the strong brand in Europe that will allow them to charge top dollar, so the Crossfire needed to be both better than all of the direct competition and even the sector above it to get the sales. If it would have been priced at £20K, it would have been hailed as the best car for your money and Chrysler would be beating the customers off with a stick, and the whole brand would have been strengthened.

 

The crossfire was never meant to be a race car from the beginning. And all the magazines don't like the crossfire, they find it under powered and outdated. Has nothing to do with them hating on american cars.

Top Gear did love the Ford GT. They had nothing bad to say about it. In fact, it was nothing but praise.

 

...I would argue that the Ford GT is a rare case, indeed. If you read the magazine regularly, can you think of any other American cars that have met with good reviews in the UK recently? Please note, most of the Fords they get over there are not American Fords (though I will concede that the GT, built less than a mile from where I am typing this, is.) List up ten (or even half of that) and I'll eat my words.

I would find the Mazda Miata (and a lot of sports cars like it) to be underpowered, yet it meets with rave reviews by the British motor press. In fact, I would find a lot of Euro market cars (whether Japanese or European) to be very underpowered by American tastes. Take a look at the 0-60 times in the back of any of those British mags, then compare it to ours. Some of this is no doubt due to gearing differences between American and European markets, but some of it is also due to less hp on tap due to the huge cost of fuel over there. After you do that, see where your Crossfire comes in, acceleration wise.

As for outdated machinery, the British make some cars for literally decades on end without revising them. Bristol, Morgan, Jaguar, and until recently Rolls and Bentley all are guilty of this. So is Lotus, for that matter. Yet, in many cases, these cars still get decent reviews. The Crossfire, by contrast, was introduced in 2004. The SLK on which it is based was first launched in the latter half of the nineties. That's not old by British standards.

Sure, the Crossfire is not a hardcore sports car. However, I still find it extremely fun when pushed through the twisties, and yet it won't beat you up when you just want to get home from the office after a long day. One more thing - I would put money on it feeling more tight and rattle-free than nearly anything else would in its class, after five years of driving on Michigan's cracked and pot-holed roads. But old fashioned and underpowered?

 

In the series 4 (2004.07.25) the GT was placed on the CoolWall right on the saparation line between 'uncool' and 'seriously uncool' ... Bus as per their hompage it's to 'sub zero' again ... lol

 

true and although jeremy owns a GT40 perhaps the exception proves the rule.

Well he used to be a motor journalist and then a TV presenter, then did the chat show thing.

Key is don't take any of them too seriously, remember their views might well be compromised and their senses have been dulled by over exposure to the best.

Like the program but agree Tiff was / is great.

 

The jaguar's standards are still up to par with the competition. 400hp XJR and such. And the mondeo based x-type is actually the only jaguar that sell, though even at a discount. Don't know much about bristol, but morgan's are sleek roadsters and have blistering performance, same goes for the lotus. There performance numbers are what keep them interesting and still a favorite. And they are classics. Not outdated. And bentley and rolls are driving on new chassis's with new drive trains. So not sure where you going with that.

And as far as the miata and cars like that go. They do not list at 35 grand. When forking over that kind of cash, you are in a new market and the ante is stepped up. For example a MS Miata can be had for around 22k, And will pretty much out perform the crossfire in every category. See these other cars match or exceed the crossfire performance for a fraction of the price.

As a car magazine once said. The crossfire is 50 hp short of stardom. Just my .02

 

The SRT-6 is kinda fast isn't it?

Ebay is just a click away man, get rid of that thing already.

You can use the money to put a chevy big block on a bicycle frame and do 0 to 150 in 9 seconds!

 

Regarding the Bentley and the Rolls, note that I said "until recently". Recently, each has obtained a new platform, courtesy of German ownership. Most Morgans that sell, year to year, are the Plus four and Plus eight varieties. It has been this way since the thirties. And the car has not changed much since then (right down to its "sliding pillar" front suspension and ash-framed body). The Aero cars are a newer development, that apes only the look of other Morgans (past and present). Lotus hung on to the Esprit four three decades. Three decades! The Elise was developed and released courtesy of foreign ownership. I guess it will be around in another twenty years or so.

Oh, and my Crossfire can be had for 24.5 grand, 'cause that's what I paid for my '05 new. For me, the choice really could have been between a (Mazdaspeed) Miata and this car. But I cross shopped it against older Corvettes, Pontiac GTO, and Nissan 350Z. These cars are vastly different in character and intent, with the heavy as* (but quick) 350Z being the most similar.

And, what would you buy if you were in the market for a compact sports sedan - Audi A4, BMW 3-series, Acura TL, Lexus IS300, etc... or a Jaguar X-Type? Is the X-Type really competent in that crowd? My money would say "no". Not anymore than an S-Type is a real alternative to a BMW 5-series. The only Jag I would ever have a hankering for, is the big cat.

 

I love all of the European automotive-based TV shows, but I think that they are so caught-up in their cultural stereotypes that they become so biased, regardless if a car is American, Japanese, etc... I really hate it when I see Jeremy constantly changing his opinions on many different things. For example, if you saw the video of him reviewing the Carrera GT, he absolutely loved it for it's power, it's speed, and it's looks. But, in a more recent review, he just had no interest in the car (on this episode, Jeremy was comparing the new supercars to the older ones). Yet another example of Jeremy's changing opinions is with paddle shifters. On the Aston Martin Vanquish, he hated them, yet on the Enzo Ferrari he loved them! And, whoever said that Jeremy liked the Crossfire's looks is wrong...he said, that the rear of the Crossfire looks like the rear-view of a dog taking a poop!

 

Sorry I didn't see the until recently. But, you have to admit even though the esprit is an old platform it still could perform. I remember it one magazine, it toped out at 187 bouncing off the rev limiter in 5th gear. Not to mention went 12.6@113 or 112. Was tested back in 99' or 97'. Can't remember. No but the x-type sells. If I wanted a sports sedan, and was on a budget as I am. I would look no further than a Legacy GT 2.5 5 speed. Its a nice car, can't beat it for the price. You may have gotten it for $24,500 but the avg. buyer does not know that. Still for 25k-ish, I would buy a used STi or a 03' Cobra. But that is the speed freak in me.

 

I'm a huge fan of the Subarus, as well. I thought about doing a WRX for a long time, to get my turbocharger fix. But after years of doing the sport compact thing (I had a Protege5 with a lot of mods on it), I wanted something a little more rakish and impractical. IMO, a true auto enthusiast would not at all be disappointed by any number of Subarus - Legacy 2.5 GT, WRX (standard and STI), or the ultimate sleeper - the turbo Forester (deceptively fast). They build performance cars using a formula that no one else in the world follows - four door cars with front mounted, horizontally opposed, flat four engines with turbo chargers on them, driving all four wheels. The Evo is as good as an STI, but IMO, a lot less original in its thinking. Oh, and nothing sounds similar to the sweet burble coming off of a free breathing Subaru flat four. An uncorked WRX is magic!

And, regarding that Lotus - for a 30 year old car, it still had legs. Still does, to this day. Credit a good basic design, low curb weight, and a great looking profile. It's a bargain among extotics. It is an old car, no denying that. And, in a lot of ways, it shows its age. But, for people that always wanted one, that probably doesn't matter one bit. Another complaint is that they are impossible to see out of, especially in the rearview... sound familiar?

 

Strange thing happened last night flicking throw the channels and a repeat of Top Gear with the infumous Crossfire review was on then half hour later on another channel was the Fifth Gear review with Tiff. Now tonight is the first review of the Roadstrer I've seen on T.V. I've read in the T.V. guide that they are DRIVING the Crossfire, Nissan and Audi to Iceland which should be very interesting.

I HOPE SOMEONE IS GOING TO RECORD IT FOR THE INTERNET