[DTs_PTGT]

If you're asking whether or not the Chrysler logo swayed my purchase I'd have to say no.

I think the Cruiser looks really cool. That's what captured my initial interest.

When I checked it out at the dealer, I was surprised at the roomy interior as well as how configurable the interior was. Being a camping and biking nut, the ability to tow the bikes on the back and fold down the rear seats to cram in all my camping gear was a huge plus. I found the seats to be comfortable and I have plenty of headroom.

Coming from a Mazda Protege, it felt good to sit in a car designed for someone 6' tall vs. a car designed for someone who's only 5' tall. I didn't feel all scrunched up. I was also surprised at the available foot space for rear seat passengers.

Looking at the safety features, I was impressed by the dual side-impact beams in the front doors, as well as side-impact airbags.

For me, ABS and 4 wheel disc brakes cover both performance and safety categories for me. Fast driving will probably require fast braking at some point. If my car is designed to go fast (and the GT does go fast! [8D] I haven't taken her past 110mph yet, but I had 2,000RPM until redline at that point), I also want it to be able to brake quickly (4-wheel disc) with the least amount of skid potential (ABS).

For performance, there's of course the turbocharged motor that's bound to put a smile on your face when you lay into it. It can smoke the tires off the line and has excellent acceleration. If I'm at the front of the line, when the light turns green I quickly outpace the second car in line by several car lengths, and that's without breaking the speed limit. That's using roughly 1/4 throttle also.

There's also the styling points. For me, I like the chrome 17" rims, the leather interior and the moonroof. The Deep Cranberry color just does something for me. That's the color of mine, Electric Blue would've been my second choice.

I like the chipped keys as a security feature. The fact that you need two keys to program a new one shows they were thinking ahead (if you leave your car somewhere to be worked on or whatever, they couldn't use a single key to program a new one).

When you sit in it, you can tell lots of thought went into the design and implementation of this car.

Now for my dislikes.

As many others have noted, the wide turning radius is a PITA, but I've gotten used to it. I take it into account when navigating parking lots and other tight fitting areas.

The stereo isn't powerful enough. The sound is good, and the clarity of sound is excellent to my ears, but if you are driving highway speeds with the windows down, it's going to be hard to hear the stereo. With the windows up, the stereo puts out plenty of sound for me.