They had the annual MOPARS on the mountain this Saturday.
There were some very rare Chrysler Muscle cars there, including an original Hemi Cuda.
Anyway, since it is sponsored by the Chrysler Dealership, they were also using it as a way to draw people in (of course).
They had a Crossfire SRT-6, 300C SRT-8, and a Charger SRT-8 all available for demo rides.
Since I have a friend that works there, he thought we should go for a ride. Of course the 300C is my favorite Chrysler, and their only product other than a Cummins turbo diesel that I would actually consider buying.
So the 300C it was.
They are really cool cars. I really love the styling, but those pillars, make outward visibility....challenging. The 300C is pretty awesome, but the SRT-8 is just that much better. The exhaust note for a stock car is AWESOME!
The interior, is roomy, although not hugely so, the interior materials are all of fairly high quality, and the upper portions of the dash, door panels etc, are all soft touch, although the rest of the plastic is very hard, and doesn't seem as high quality as some other European/Japanese models that are sold for less. Maybe it seemed to be more of a sore area because they didn't have any padding where you would typically place things like elbows. The interior has also been criticized in the press for being minimalist, but I think that is generally a good thing. This case included.
The absolute best part of the this interior was the front seats. They are apparently an option, and I would recommend them to anyone who buys one. They are supportive, comfortable and look great. The leather was pretty good too. I am not real wide though, so others may disagree.
In typical American Fashion, the AC is plenty strong, and quickly cooled down the car.
We took it out on some backroads (my friend was still driving), and full on drifted that MOFO. It does pretty nice sideways powerslides, I must say. But it won't burn out. I am certain you could power brake it, to much different results, but with 425HP I expected it to lay at least a few feet of rubber when you gave it a good hard launch, but to no avail. In all fairness, it was still very green (69 miles on the ODO), but I highly doubt that it is going to wake up and suddenly be scary fast. My friend supported this when he said that the one we had drives normal for an SRT-8 300C. Sometimes with a small block power curve, the feeling of acceleration can seem misleading, but I don't think that was the case here, because of the RATE of acceleration (0-60 etc). I never once looked down and was going faster than I thought I was, or should be.
The handling for such a large, stock car was pretty phenomenal. On the small road we were on, corner entry was fast enough to start to get scary, but the car did nothing wrong, and just hung and turned.
I had no intention of buying a $47,000 dollar car, so I wasn't nearly as crazy as my friend, but I did get on it.
Honestly, for as much power as it had and as quick as it is supposed to be, I really wasn't that impressed. It was quick, but I really expected more. I was more impressed as a passenger than I was driving it. Especially for what the payment would be and the size of the fuel bill... I honestly think, that between the 300C and a good swapped H22 or even an Accord V6 6 speed coupe, it would very much be a drivers race.
It had decent passing power, but nothing that even raised my heart rate.
It sucks that it isn't available with a manual, but honestly, I wouldn't get one with a manny anyway, because it doesn't fit with the charachter of the car, IMO.
Definitely packing style, and sound, it handled great, had just about every feature you could want, and seems to be better built than pretty much every American car I have seen in decades.
It also struck me as odd that I didn't get back in to my CB, and lament how old it felt as I do after I drive many new cars... It isn't really a knock on the 300, it just seemed odd. Maybe it was my mood, I don't know.
If there were more American cars like this one, I might start shopping domestic again.
There were some very rare Chrysler Muscle cars there, including an original Hemi Cuda.
Anyway, since it is sponsored by the Chrysler Dealership, they were also using it as a way to draw people in (of course).
They had a Crossfire SRT-6, 300C SRT-8, and a Charger SRT-8 all available for demo rides.
Since I have a friend that works there, he thought we should go for a ride. Of course the 300C is my favorite Chrysler, and their only product other than a Cummins turbo diesel that I would actually consider buying.
So the 300C it was.
They are really cool cars. I really love the styling, but those pillars, make outward visibility....challenging. The 300C is pretty awesome, but the SRT-8 is just that much better. The exhaust note for a stock car is AWESOME!
The interior, is roomy, although not hugely so, the interior materials are all of fairly high quality, and the upper portions of the dash, door panels etc, are all soft touch, although the rest of the plastic is very hard, and doesn't seem as high quality as some other European/Japanese models that are sold for less. Maybe it seemed to be more of a sore area because they didn't have any padding where you would typically place things like elbows. The interior has also been criticized in the press for being minimalist, but I think that is generally a good thing. This case included.
The absolute best part of the this interior was the front seats. They are apparently an option, and I would recommend them to anyone who buys one. They are supportive, comfortable and look great. The leather was pretty good too. I am not real wide though, so others may disagree.
In typical American Fashion, the AC is plenty strong, and quickly cooled down the car.
We took it out on some backroads (my friend was still driving), and full on drifted that MOFO. It does pretty nice sideways powerslides, I must say. But it won't burn out. I am certain you could power brake it, to much different results, but with 425HP I expected it to lay at least a few feet of rubber when you gave it a good hard launch, but to no avail. In all fairness, it was still very green (69 miles on the ODO), but I highly doubt that it is going to wake up and suddenly be scary fast. My friend supported this when he said that the one we had drives normal for an SRT-8 300C. Sometimes with a small block power curve, the feeling of acceleration can seem misleading, but I don't think that was the case here, because of the RATE of acceleration (0-60 etc). I never once looked down and was going faster than I thought I was, or should be.
The handling for such a large, stock car was pretty phenomenal. On the small road we were on, corner entry was fast enough to start to get scary, but the car did nothing wrong, and just hung and turned.
I had no intention of buying a $47,000 dollar car, so I wasn't nearly as crazy as my friend, but I did get on it.
Honestly, for as much power as it had and as quick as it is supposed to be, I really wasn't that impressed. It was quick, but I really expected more. I was more impressed as a passenger than I was driving it. Especially for what the payment would be and the size of the fuel bill... I honestly think, that between the 300C and a good swapped H22 or even an Accord V6 6 speed coupe, it would very much be a drivers race.
It had decent passing power, but nothing that even raised my heart rate.
It sucks that it isn't available with a manual, but honestly, I wouldn't get one with a manny anyway, because it doesn't fit with the charachter of the car, IMO.
Definitely packing style, and sound, it handled great, had just about every feature you could want, and seems to be better built than pretty much every American car I have seen in decades.
It also struck me as odd that I didn't get back in to my CB, and lament how old it felt as I do after I drive many new cars... It isn't really a knock on the 300, it just seemed odd. Maybe it was my mood, I don't know.
If there were more American cars like this one, I might start shopping domestic again.
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