Talking Up Torque
by Ross Finlay (23 Apr 02)

As our feature on power and torque makes clear, there's no point in enthusing about bhp figures if the torque curve takes too long to climb. Well, there are no complaints on that score about the new Chrysler PT Cruiser with the 2.2-litre common rail turbo diesel engine.

One of the most significant things about DaimlerChrysler is that, while Stuttgart may not be interested in platform sharing, it's very interested indeed in spreading its own-design engines around. There's a lot of cross-make income in that kind of thing. Having access to these top-class engines has made a significant difference to Chrysler, and in particular to the PT Cruiser, which has been available until now only with a fairly unremarkable US-style two-litre petrol engine.

The new 2.2-litre CRD engine is an up-to-date Mercedes-Benz affair with a different batch of letters in its name, just to confuse the unwary. Chrysler says it's "derived from" the Mercedes unit, but the derivation is pretty direct. Mind you, the Chrysler engine has balancer shafts right from the start. The benefits in smooth revving and lack of vibration are obvious.

With the petrol engine, the PT Cruiser has 140bhp under the bonnet. The CRD may offer only 119bhp, but it wipes the floor with the other model as far as torque is concerned. And it's not just the amount of torque, but how low down the range it comes - 221lb/ft from 1600rpm.

A 0-62mph time of 12.1 seconds and a top speed of 113mph, both down on the petrol version's figures, may not seem much to write home about. As usual, though, those two most commonly used measurements give no indication at all of the turbo diesel's on-the-move performance. Its mid-range acceleration leaves the two-litre for dead.

It Shows On The Hills

You can tell the difference both in the much improved hillclimbing ability - the petrol car does tend to fade, or at least feel happier with a downward change, on long inclines - and in the way the CRD attacks sporting terrain. On some familiar moorland roads, where brisk middle-gear acceleration along shortish straights is a sine qua non, as we say in the CARkeys rest room, the diesel was very much crisper, with bang-on throttle response.

In fact, it's a curious thing that a car meant to be in its retro element cruising the mean streets of New York, or, more realistically, bowling along the motorway, is so much at home on hilly or dodge-about country roads. This is no sports saloon, of course, but once set up for a corner it will tuck in quite neatly, and the ride copes too.

Noise levels? Well, on the launch exercise it was almost a re-run of that rather annoying business of "I didn't realise this was a diesel." At least, once I cranked up the engine (clutch pedal depressed, in the familiar Chrysler way) and moved off, I didn't give the diesel-decibel thing another thought.

Going quickly, the Cruiser picks up quite a lot of road noise, and at motorway speeds there's a noticeable rush of air past the door mirrors. But whatever engine noise gets through isn't obtrusive.

The CRD is impressive in economy terms too. For a car of this size and weight, with such tall bodywork and no pretensions about being ground-hugging, fuel consumption figures of 50.4mpg on the urban cycle and 40.9mpg combined are pretty impressive. CO2 emissions are 185g/km.

Chrysler likes to point out that the PT Cruiser isn't as long as you might think - "almost six inches shorter than a Renault Megane" is the latest comparison. Of course, that's largely because the Cruiser doesn't have a stick-out boot. But the passenger space is mighty impressive, especially in the rear, where legroom is generous and headroom almost excessive.

It's unusual in these days of "wedge" designs to see a car whose roofline stays so high towards the rear, and which has such large side windows aft of the B-pillar. In the Cruiser there's none of this nonsense of peering through what might as well be portholes.

Same Styling

Inside and out, the CRD looks just like its petrol counterpart, with all the retro touches which, as Chrysler well knows, people either love or . . . of which they just don't see the point.

It knows quite a lot about the customers for the PT Cruiser. For the first while after the UK launch in June 2000, it reckons this was "an unusual car people bought for unusual reasons".

The first-year allocation for the UK market was only 2500, of which 2450 were bought during the period. Last year, the figure increased to 4360, and there was a gender change, or, at any rate, the ratio of male to female buyers altered. Early on, the customer pattern was around 75/25 men and women. Now it's more like 60/40, which confirms the casual impression we've gained when seeing these cars being driven around locally.

Interestingly, many people who buy PT Cruisers have also considered a VW Beetle. You can see the point - retro rules OK. Something like 90% of all Cruisers buyers say that what attracted them was either "design" or "uniqueness".

Chrysler isn't offering the CRD engine in the entry-level Classic version of the Cruiser. It comes at £17,495 in the Touring and £18,895 in the Limited with its leather/suede upholstery, heated front seats, lumbar support for the driver and chromed alloy wheels. Like the Classic, these two models now come with body-coloured bumpers.

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