2007 Chrysler Aspen Preview

Fashionably Late

Chrysler's first SUV is a dressed up Dodge Durango and a long time coming.

This fall Chrysler will start selling its first sport utility vehicle, called the 2007 Chrysler Aspen. It's based on the Dodge Durango and seats up to eight.

Chrysler positions the Aspen as a premium full-size SUV at a value price. It likely will cost more than the Durango, which has a base MRSP of $28,845.

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A 235-horsepower, 4.7-liter V8 and a 335-horsepower, 5.7- liter Hemi V8 are the available engines. The latter employs Chrysler's Multi-Displacement System that shuts down half of the engine's cylinders when a lot of power isn't needed to help improve fuel economy. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates highway fuel-economy to be 22 mpg.

The Aspen is outfitted in leather, brushed aluminum and light burl wood inside. Options include heated first- and second-row seats, a power rear lift-gate, remote starter, rear-seat DVD entertainment system and a navigation system. A built-in power inverter powerful enough for laptops, as well as coolers and stain-resistant fabrics are noteworthy thoughtful features.

The Aspen will also offer a high level of standard safety equipment, including Electronic Roll Mitigation (to help detect and prevent rollovers), side-curtain airbags for all three rows of seating, parking assist and tire-pressure monitoring.

The Aspen’s bumpers have been designed to line-up with passenger cars' bumpers so that if a collision with a car occurs, the larger and taller Aspen won't plow over the car's bumper and careen into the passenger compartment, causing fatalities.