I had been in the market for a new car for the past year or so. The PT Cruiser had really appealed to me, mostly because it excelled in almost all the aspects which I desired in a vehicle: utility, size, cost, handling, efficiency, and appearance. Despite all these strengths, however, the Cruiser was crippled by a severely underpowered engine; coupled with a relatively heavy small car, the Cruiser struggled at merging at highway speeds, and attempting to pass other cars required a substantial amount of planning. The 2003 GT Cruiser changed all that. After a test drive and a bit of wrangling, we secured our own 2003 GT Cruiser, and after 2 months of ownership, I'm ready to give a full review.

Chrysler has listened to the most prevalent complaint from the market--that the PT Cruiser was all looks, that its engine could not produce the power that the curvy, retro-speedster body promised. By redesigning the powertrain from the ground up for the 2003 GT model, Chrysler upped the power output to 215 horsepower at 5000 rpm and 245 lb-feet of torque (90% of the torque is delivered between 2500 and 5000 rpm). This is an increase of about 30%, and it makes all the difference in the world. The engine pulls strongly, whether from a dead stop or at 60mph on the highway; there is essentially no turbo lag, despite being paired with an automatic transmission (Chrysler also offers a 5-speed Getrag manual transmission). Turbo noise has been virtually eliminated by means of special baffles engineered into the turbo assembly. The cruiser has no problems getting off the line in a hurry, and cruising at 80 mph on the Interstate is smooth and quiet. We've found the engine to have a low, satisfying growl, and at idle there is a bit of roughness in the exhaust note that hints at the power under the hood.

The automatic transmission is surprisingly good. The lag and power-robbing critiques often leveled at automatics are virtually non-applicable here. The shifting is smooth, responsive, and very very quiet. The standard addition of the "AutoStick" functionality allows you to manually control the shifting, which is useful on occasions, and actually makes driving more fun. A traction control is now added standard, but it can be disabled by a button on the center dash if desired.

In terms of utility, much has been said about the Cruiser, so I won't rehash all of that in detail. The back seats are individually removable, but can also fold down and be "tumbled" forward to latch behind the front seats. There are a number of possible configurations, and it is no problem to fit an eight-foot ladder in the cruiser and still close the hatch. The privacy shelf in the back can also be moved around at different heights, and has a flip-down leg so that it can be used as a table/shelf for tailgating. I've found the shelf a bit hard to configure, but it is more a matter of practice.

The GT comes with a rather odd assortment of options as standard. You get the very nice 17" chromed wheels, as well as leather on the inside. A moonroof is available (and I recommend it) as are heated seats (also quite nice). However, the chrome grille (part of a chrome package), available on the Limited Edition, is not available for the GT, even as a separate addition. No dealer (I contacted eight different dealers) were able to explain why this was the case, except that the GT is supposed to be "sporty", while the Limited Edition is supposed to be "classy". This makes no sense, especially given the huge (but beautiful) chromed wheels on the GT model.

Now onto the bad news. Firstly, the gas mileage is not good. The original Cruisers were not stellar in this category either, but the turbo on the GT model does not help. Sticker lists the mileage as 20 city/25 highway. I have yet to hit those numbers. I have gotten about 18 city, 23 highway on average...but it has been as bad as 12 mpg city, 18 highway. If you live in an area that uses reformulated, oxygenated gasoline, this will make your mileage worse; the GT also seems to do worse, mileage-wise, in colder weather.

Secondly, the turning radius of the GT is ridiculously large...about the same as a Jeep Cherokee, which is a much larger vehicle. For a car roughly the size of a Neon, the Cruiser is relatively unwieldy when trying to park or navigate tight spaces like parking garages. On the highway, it handles wonderfully; pulling into a tight spot takes some practice. The relatively large rear pillars contribute to difficulty in parking, because they create larger than normal blind spots.

Overall, I love my new Cruiser. It has all the qualities I wanted in a new car. It looks fantastic, holds everything I want or need to carry, and it is a LOT of fun to drive with the new powerplant. I really wish Chrysler could address the mileage issue, however, and perhaps tweak the steering to allow for tighter turning. At the price, however, the 2003 GT Cruiser offers unmatched utility and fun.
Amount Paid (US$): 25000.00
Condition: New
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: 2003 GT, Automatic