IndyStar.com's view

A lot of hot air has been blown around the automobile business over the years, but Chrysler can’t be accused of that with its new Plymouth Breeze.

As a midsized car for a relatively economical price — a little more than $14,000 — the 1996 Breeze sedan is in keeping with Plymouth’s philosophy of providing motorists with a simple, hassle-free car.

In its standard form, the Breeze has a 2.0-liter (121.8-cubic-inch) four-cylinder engine, five-speed manual transmission, air conditioning, AM/FM stereo, tilt wheel, tinted glass, rear defogger, dual air bags and some other items that contribute to its comfort and convenience.

On balance, the front-wheel drive Breeze is designed to be a couple of steps above basic transportation. And it is far above “hair-shirt” motoring due to a range of options that include automatic transmission, power accessories, and ABS (anti- lock) brakes.

The options obviously raise the Breeze’s $14,595 base price. the standard model, which the possible addition of the four-speed automatic, the four-door represents an excellent piece of functional transportation.

Built on the Dodge Stratus/Chrysler Cirrus platform, the Breeze eschews the angular box-like exterior of some midsized models and embraces a series of curving surfaces.

I can’t say the styling is outstanding. It is rather conventional aerodynamic. Overall, it’s a nice- looking automobile whose lines flow from front to rear.

The car has its own ornamental touches. A Mayflower sailing ship badge is mounted in the center of the grille, and Plymouth script-letter nameplates adorn the front doors and trunk lid. The wheel covers also have the Mayflower design molded into their outer surfaces.

The car’s strong features are the interior room — which Chrysler claims is tops in its class — and its 15.7 cubic feet of trunk room. If more trunk space is needed, the rear seatbacks fold down to create additional storage room.

The Breeze is a five-seater with a wide interior stance. The doors swing wide open for ease of entrance and exit, and there are numerous storage compartments.

The driver and passenger compartment is state-of-the-art, with wide, individual bucket seats separated by a center console that holds the transmission shift lever.

Of interest is the instrumentation, which includes a 7,000 rpm tachometer in conjunction with the speedometer, fuel and temperature gauges and odometer.

I would say the Breeze’s 120 mph top speed is a little optimistic in view of the fact that its four-cylinder engine is a single overhead cam with two valves per cylinder. That represents 132-horsepower and 129 foot-pounds of torque. This is quite adequate for conventional driving, but I wouldn’t plan on passing too many muscle cars on the Autobahn.

The five-speed obviously offers quicker acceleration, but experience has taught me that doing your own gear selection with a midsized sedan soon becomes old hat.

One thing you can’t argue with is the mileage. The Breeze ha s no problem passing a gas station in five-speed or automatic form. With a five-speed, mileage 25 mpg city. On the open road it’s 34 mpg. For the automatic, the numbers are 22 mpg city and 31 mpg highway.

With either transmission, mark up the excellent mileage to a midsized automobile that weighs but 2,931 pounds despite its 108 inches of wheelbase and 186.3 inches of overall length.

If I had my druthers, in addition to a little more engine, I’d like to see a little more rubber on the ground for enhanced control through high-speed corners.

The wheels and tires are 14 inches. This is, however, not a really high priority, as the P195/70R14 tire size is adequate for the design of the car.