The 2015 Chrysler 200 V6 AWD Rated at a Surprisingly Low 29mpg

The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) fuel economy website has only posted numbers for the 2015 Chrysler 200 in V6 all wheel drive form with official figures of 18 miles per gallon around town, 29 miles per gallon on the highway and 22 miles per gallon combined. Those numbers put the new 200 slightly below the turbo 2.0L AWD Ford Fusion which is the key American competitor for the new Chrysler with a 2.0L turbo engine and all wheel drive affording the Ford 22mpg around town, 31 on the highway and 25 combined. The Fusion offers a touch more torque to go with the higher fuel economy, but the 200 has a massive advantage in horsepower – besting the Ford by a margin of 295 to 240.

While the 2015 Chrysler 200 V6 AWD best competes with the Ford Fusion 2.0T AWD in terms of pricing, the 2014 Lincoln MKZ AWD is a far better comparison in terms of drivetrain features and interior quality. Like the 200, the MKZ comes with both a naturally aspirated V6 and an advanced all wheel drive system, with the Lincoln offering a slight advantage in horsepower (300 to 295) and torque (277 to 262). That Lincoln offers the same 18 miles per gallon around town, but thanks to the Chrysler’s 9-speed automatic transmission, the MKZ offers only 26mpg on the highway and 21mpg combined.

Considering that the 2015 Chrysler 200 V6 AWD is more efficient than the Lincoln MKZ AWD and only a touch less efficient than the slightly less powerful Ford Fusion, you might be wondering why I refer to the numbers of the new 200 being “surprisingly low”. Well, I’ve had the luxury of running up a couple hundred miles on a new 200C with the V6 engine and AWD. During those miles, I routinely saw figures above 31mpg on the highway with an average number that hovered around 24mpg. Mind you, those numbers were captured by the on board diagnostics system over the course of about ¾ tank of gas; they were not figured out by real world math. When I calculate my fuel economy figures for reviews, I perform tests to find out the real world fuel numbers, but I often find that the numbers offered up by the vehicles diagnostic system are generally very accurate.

Based on that, I would expect that the new 2015 Chrysler 200 with the Pentastar V6 and AWD will be able to exceed those EPA figures – but the window sticker for these top of the line models will advertise figures of 18, 29 and 22. We can expect slightly better numbers when the official fuel economy figures are released for the new 200 with the V6 and front wheel drive while the 2.4L Tigershark 4-cylinder will most certainly offer the best MPGs of any of the new Chrysler midsized sedans.

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