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Comments: 1-15, 16-18
Not one thing.
Car was my high school graduation gift.
It’s so nice to be able to drive a real American car with American styling and proportions that can dominate all others in the same price range.
Exterior: best looking sedan on the road. So much more glamorous and expressive than those wedge things from the EU and me too blob cars from Japan. Some people (nerds) say it’s too flash. But subtlety is for the meek. It’s un-American.
Interior: size and sound restriction is beyond par. the quality of the materials, which is usually a huge weak point in Yank cars, is better than anything else in the 30-40K range and even threatens some up market makes. Will get even better with 2008 redesign.
Performance: 0-60 in 5.6 sec. with a top sped of (no governor) 170!! Suspension hits just the right spot between American jello and euro marble. It’s Wonderful on two-lane country roads in PA. Has moderate body lean that flattens out near the apex of the corner. Predominate handling trait is mild under steer that can be corrected with heavy right foot. RWD is superior to fwd in all aspects unless you have no driving skill. Achieving 17 mpg around the traffic chocked narrow roads and hills of Pittsburgh with its rear tires usually on fire is no small feat. Why would anybody buy a disposable, soulless Camry Accord or Limp-ala over this?
I admit the bold styling of the 300 is impressive and definitely gets attention. But at heart this is just another huge, heavy gas eating beast of a machine. My flavor is for the smaller, more nimble hi-tech cars and to me the 300 is just too big and ungainly. The other problem is that the windows are so small it feels like you're driving in a coffin! If you enjoy it that's great, but whenever I see these cars I can't help but curse at them for making gas prices so high.
Obviously the previous commenter is an "import man" and just can't appreciate the concept of the powerful, 2-door, mid-size sedan. To each his own, but why go out of your way to knock a great car like the 300C? By the way, the 17-25 mpg for these variable cylinder hemis is hardly the reason why gas prices are so high.
Uhh! for your info mercedes bought chrysler years ago and the 300 is a mercedes E-class with a different body thrown on!
Yes you wish.
Are you kidding-- you're one lucky kid... I didn't get anything for graduating high school, let alone a 300C! Good review, though.
I have a 2005 300 c Hemi. I like the body and interior, but it had the transmission rebuilt at 28,000 Km, and now the car likes to drift to the right. It only has 33,000 kms.
I have got an 88 Caprice that has 312,000 kms with the same engine and trans. I think Dodge has built another Intrepid that looks ground breaking when it first comes out, but does not hold up for the long haul.
The 300C is not "an E-class with a different body".
It borrows from the E's suspension more than anything else.
The build quality of the Chrysler is far from the Mercedes as well.
For a domestic vehicle the Chrysler 300 is a fairly nice vehicle, but it doesn't compare with many of the high-line imports as far as refinement & build quality. If you look close enough you'll find plenty of cost-cutting materials on the 300. (The rain gutters on the roof, the cheesy bumper material behind the grille, the flimsy plastic wrap arounds on the rear lower panels) There's a reason it's a $30-35,000. vehicle, and not a $70,000 vehicle. But the Hemi does make power and the ride & handling is pretty good for a large car.
So go ahead and think it's a Mercedes if that makes you happy
(it also makes you gullible)!!!
As for a kid getting a 300C for a High School graduation present, who then brags of a 170mph top speed - I would ask the parents why they just didn't give their kid a loaded gun?
I drove an Opel when I graduated High School, that I paid for myself- gee, what a concept!!!
"0-60 in 5.6 seconds" lol more like 6.5, still pretty quick for what it is though.
"a top speed of (no governor) 170!!"
- YEAH!!! SURE!!!
Actually, I think it can go that fast. With the governor I believe it's limited to 155, but without a governor I wouldn't be surprised if it could make 170. And I agree with the original reviewer about how the 300 is much better then those unreliable status-symbols from Europe or the boring econo boxes from Japan. And with the 6.1 HEMI, it has some major power!
It's a 5.7L Hemi. The 6.1 monster comes with the SRT8.
Actually they are rated at 5.6 to 60 just like the Hemi Charger, but I think the drag would keep you from a 170 mph top speed. And a previous reviewer was right... What are parents thinking giving a kid a car with a Hemi in it? One more possible tragic headline in the making!!
Those parents are STUPID for buying that car for their 18yr. old!!! AS for gas MPG... What about, lets ALL drive extreme gas guzzlers so we can use up all the available oil reserves and gas quicker and MAYBE then the "powers that be" will get serious about alternative fuels!!!
The 300 C IS basically an E - class. It shares most suspension Components, electronics and materials, however not the 6 cylinder engines. But a lot of components of the 8 cylinder engines.
C. Gordon
Airdrie, Chrysler Jeep.
Gas guzzler?
Cruising down the highway in a 300c, or any time the full power of the HEMI is not necessary, the engine shuts off 4 of the 8 cylinders. A V-8 that can get 30 hwy mpg is hardly un-economical.
The 5.7L and 6.1L HEMIs wrapped in the skin of Chrysler's 300 brings to mind the image of an NFL linebacker dressed up in a tuxedo at a black-tie affair managing to conduct himself with class and poise - something unexpected and totally refreshing!
To Chrysler, I say congratulations.
To nay-sayers, I say do your homework. You will find your pre-conceived ideas to be entirely unfounded.