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"Don&amp;#039;t call it d\u00E9j vu just yet.   The long-play Super Bowl commercial, the &amp;quot;Imported from Detroit&amp;quot; bravado, even the name\u2014it all feels a bit 2011, right? But this all-new 2015 200, says&amp;amp;nbsp;Chrysler, is what the original should&amp;#039;ve been. Whereas its predecessor\u2014a vehicle appropriately remanded to fleet hell\u2014retained the Sebring&amp;#039;s archaic&amp;amp;nbsp;underpinnings, this 200 is a legitimate mid-sized offering. It&amp;#039;s built on a stretched Alfa Romeo Giulietta platform with an all-wheel drive option and 295&amp;amp;nbsp;hp.  All four trims (base LX, Limited, performance-skewed S, and luxury-oriented C) come standard with the 2.4-liter TigerShark four-cylinder, good for 184 hp&amp;amp;nbsp;and 173 lb-ft of torque, and front-wheel drive. Higher trims get optional all-wheel drive, paired with a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 that achieves the&amp;amp;nbsp;aforementioned 295 hp and 262 lb-ft of torque. Fuel economy is yet to be announced, but all Chrysler 200 models use a nine-speed automatic transmission. Prices start at $21,700 for a bare LX, and peak at $36,005 in decked-out C guise. We were given the sportiest configuration\u2014a six-cylinder, all-wheel drive 200S with black-out trim, dual exhaust, sports seats, tweaked dampers, and a sticker price of $34,365. Outside, the 200&amp;#039;s tapered nose helps achieve a Scion FRS-matching 0.27 drag coefficient, while strong sedan shoulders and a pronounced, integrated trunk spoiler finish things up out back. The standard LED-framed taillights add Teslalike swagger. It&amp;#039;s certainly handsome enough for the D-segment, particularly when outfitted with optional $795 LED headlights.  Aces ergonomics, tries too hard otherwise. Utilizing Fiat&amp;#039;s mercifully intuitive Uconnect infotainment system and a &amp;#039;floating&amp;#039; center console, everything inside the 200 is arranged as it should be. Paddle shifters, adaptive cruise control, and Bluetooth all coexist on the steering wheel without hindering drivability. Buttons, adjustments, and small storage compartments fill the cockpit out nicely, but being inside the 200 is never overwhelming. Kudos, Chrysler. The dash, door panels, and armrest are nicely grained, with well-bolstered &amp;#039;S&amp;#039; embossed sport seats. Still, it&amp;#039;s lacking in rear legroom: 36.2 inches versus the Accord&amp;#039;s 38.5. There&amp;#039;s also some questionable, easy-to-scuff plastic trim. In person, the cabin comes off more drab than serious, falling a bit short of the warm, immersive drawing room Chrysler is trying for.  It&amp;#039;s fun to drive in the bends (seriously). Yes, the nameplate once synonymous with rental car pudding now feels like a sports sedan. The handling is much better than expected, and a boon to Average Joe&amp;#039;s blistering 6/10ths limitation on &amp;quot;that fun road&amp;quot; by his office. It really makes the Camry look like even more of a slop bucket than it already is. You don&amp;#039;t want a 200. I don&amp;#039;t want a 200. But Chrysler did an admirable job recognizing what people perceive as &amp;#039;sporty&amp;#039; (off-center steering weight, minimal body roll, soft springs paired with stiff dampers) and exploiting those things. It&amp;#039;s very Richard Parry Jones. It&amp;#039;s a miracle the 200S is so agile, too, considering its piggish 3940 lbs. curb weight (nearly 260 lbs. more than an equivalent Ford Fusion). Blame the all-wheel drive assembly, which uses a fully-disconnecting front wet clutch and vectors up to 60 percent torque rearward\u2014but comes at a 325 lbs. weight penalty over the front-drive V6. Despite lacking European polish, the system reacts quickly and, with Sport mode engaged, will let you play around some before the last line of electronic nannies put the clamp on.  Go home, transmission, you&amp;#039;re drunk. Those 295 horses pull admirably alongside hearty mid-range torque, and we&amp;#039;d imagine a low-6-second 0-60 mph time were if not for an utterly tragic nine-speed transmission. The 200S finds cogs like an overloaded jukebox searching for the right album. It fumbles to downshift, flashing an infuriating &amp;quot;shift not allowed&amp;quot; message across the dash, and hangs high in the rev-range before stomping up a gear. Not pleasant. Chrysler says it&amp;#039;s well aware of the issue, and will recalibrate the transmission software before launch. Our test drive was a few weeks ago. For everyone&amp;#039;s sake, let&amp;#039;s hope it&amp;#039;s sorted now. So, is the 2015 200 a success? That depends on your measuring stick. It&amp;#039;s leaps and bounds past the outgoing model, but far from an outright favorite amongst the Accord, Optima, and Camry. Chrysler has always experienced brand confusion in the mid-sized segment, and this top-trim model is a bit too close to Cadillac ATS money for our liking. That being said, the 200S differentiates itself from much of the Japanese and Korean competition with a sportier drive. We applaud the idea and, assuming the nine-speed &amp;#039;box is ironed out by delivery, can appreciate the execution. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/first-drives/reviews/a7408/2015-chrysler-200s-v6-awd/>