Chrysler 300 SRT v HSV ClubSport R8 2015 Comparison

In continuing with large capacity and natural aspiration, the Chrysler 300 SRT has maintained muscle car tradition. The legacy is long, sprouting in the 1950s before blooming in the 1960s. But it is slowly, inexorably, passing.

While German manufacturers have moved on to downsized, turbocharged units in an effort to improve economy, the local louts at HSV have followed Ford’s lead and gone for a supercharged finale in the ClubSport range.

Before that happens, we wanted to get together the last of the atmo HSV ClubSport R8s with the latest SRT… To give it a fighting chance.

This drives the rear 245/45R20 tyres (the same-size is up front) via a new eight-speed automatic gearbox and mechanical limited-slip differential. The former replaces the ancient five-speed unit in the previous generation.

Forged alloy 20-inch wheels practically hide the Brembo four-piston front brake calipers and 360mm discs, with smaller 350mm rear plates clamped by two-piston calipers.

Electric power steering is now fitted and works with Bilstein coil-over shocks in the front end and a five-link independent rear. Befitting the top-level status of the 300 SRT, there’s three-mode adaptive damper control.

HSV’s slugger, meanwhile sports a ‘mere’ 6.2 litres capacity for its V8. Its headline figures read 340kW at 6100rpm, 10kW shy of the Chrysler, but ‘only’ 570Nm at an even-higher 4650rpm.

The Clubsport R8 rides on 20-inch forged alloys too, though it offers ‘mixed-width’ rubber. The steering wheels feature 255/35R20 tyres, while the business end adopts 275/35R20 to better put that power to the ground.

A six-speed auto and limited-slip diff send power to the ground, though a six-speed manual is also available.

Suspension is via front struts and a multi-link rear, and the brake hardware appears even more focused than the Yank with 367mm front and rear discs pressed via four-pot AP Racing-designed calipers in the front and two-potters at the rear.

Like the 300 SRT there’s electric power steering but the Clubbie misses out on the magnetic ride control adaptive damping of the top-level GTS… and the adjuatable system employed by Chrysler for the SRT.

Being the fresher-built machine, the SRT feels better value, with a cleaner interior design, strong comfort levels and a sky-high specification for the coin.

As well as the adaptive damper tech, there are conveniences such as heated and cooled leather/alcantara front seats, 19-speaker sound system, 8.4-inch touchscreen with sat-nav and reversing camera, blind-spot monitoring with cross-path detection, lane departure warning, ‘real’ carbon fibre trims and adaptive cruise with ‘full stop’ capability. Launch control is offered, along with a full suite of data acquisition technologies via ‘Performance Pages’ in the touchscreen menu.

The HSV’s busier cabin (there’s a multitude of trims across the dash, glovebox and door cards, as well as a saturation of switches) counterpunches with an 8.0-inch touchscreen and nine-speaker audio. The screen may be marginally smaller, but its control interface is confusing… In fact, resident racer Luke Youlden may still be trying to work out how to change the radio band. I was no help to him.

There’s eight-way adjustable driver and front passenger seats, but they lack any kind of heating or cooling.

The Clubsport R8 does have items such as lane departure warning, blind spot and cross-traffic alert and a head-up display, but its overall spec falls behind the 300 SRT -- especially when you factor-in price.

Take it to the street
Aping its hard looks, the big-bore exhausts of the 300 SRT immediately thump with a press of the ignition button. It’s a blunt sound, reminiscent of the Bentley GT3 cars that ran at the Bathurst 12-hour earlier this year, but for the road. And it gets better with revs.

Immediately, the 300 SRT’s acceleration feels more vivid than its five-speed predecessor, with closely-matched intermediate gearing and alloy paddle shifters encouraging manual control.

Less impressive is the steering response, which feels American-light in default mode and artificially weighty in the track-biased setting.

The damping control is more effective, firming up response with each step up, though in harder cornering there remains evident roll compared to the HSV. This is not unexpected, given the Chrysler weighs 1965kg (tare) against the HSV’s 1747kg; a difference of 218kg.

Also conspiring against the SRT is its braking ability. Its discs appear small set against the rest of the car, and the pedal is wooden in response. Up the ante on the track as Luke does with ease, and there’s only enough in them for a couple of hard laps before the pedal softens and retardation suffers.

Once turned in, the SRT displays a reasonable balance through the mid-corner, especially on faster, smoother sections of tarmac. It can also be adjusted on the throttle, the nose tucking harder as you lift.

Corner exits are about managing traction as the V8 fills its lungs, the electronic systems nipping, tucking and sapping drive in the process before rocketing you along to a V8 crescendo once more. More than once we questioned the 245-section rear rubber choice.

Perhaps surprisingly given its outputs, traction is one area that the ClubSport R8 excels. With a lower torque peak achieved at higher revs, relatively tall, wide-spaced gearing and fatter rear rubber, the HSV drives harder off the corners.

When 4000rpm is breached, and the bi-modal induction and exhaust systems kick in, the V8 sounds almost as wicked as the Chrysler’s larger V8.

The HSV is also better into corners, with a stronger turn-in, less lateral and longitudinal movement and more progressive, consistent braking performance. Steering is also more consistent with a nice blend of weight and response, while the damping is always taut, which can become tiresome against the SRT’s split-personality adjustable ride.

Luke Youlden’s track take
After recent evaluations of similar cars at the tight and twisty Wodonga TAFE test track, I was keen to see how the HSV Clubsport R8 and Chrysler 300 SRT compared… Particularly on a circuit where they could stretch their legs and take advantage of that V8 grunt. Over the years I've enjoyed the odd lap or two around Sandown in heavy V8 machinery…

The weather gods were shining as a nice dry track awaited us. Good news as anyone who has any sort of wet weather experience around this place knows -- it's paved with the slipperiest surface known to man!

It was also good to avoid the comparison being about tyres and not the vehicle, as often happens during wet weather running.

Out of the gate first is the HSV which I was expecting to perform well. It did not disappoint.

The HSV sounded great with good engine response but I was most impressed with the braking feel and initial bite. Equally impressive was the lack of fade (even after several 11/10ths laps) and the ability to consistently pull the car up from the same marker lap after lap. For a car weighing just south of two tonnes and approaching speeds of 230km/h, that's no mean feat.

From previous experience I knew the turn-in would be positive with minimal understeer, while at the exit there’d strong power-down with the nice wide rear boots. Right on both counts and lap times were consistently in the 1min, 22sec range. That’s easily comparable to German V8s of recent experience.

If I was going to knit-pick faults in this car, I’d look at the slightly lazy automatic gear-shifts, as well as the busy interior design.

Moving into the 300 SRT, I was impressed with the interior feel and quality. It has a look that would hold its own against much more expensive European competition.

Blasting out of the pits, the sound was just amazing; indeed just starting this engine at standstill is a pleasure. It sounds like it means business.

The gear-shifts of the new eight-speed automatic are quite fast and the gearing felt a little shorter than the HSV, with SRT well and truly in sixth gear at the end of the two straights. This compares to the high in fourth or just plucking fifth in the Clubbie.

From then on things get a little less impressive from within the Chrysler. The brake pedal has a hard, wooden feel and less bite than the HSV. It still stops pretty well but fade sets in after a hard lap and a half. It’s the price to pay for having the extra couple of hundred kilograms on board.

The extra weight was also quite noticeable on turn-in, with less response and more understeer. I had to be a little more patient waiting for the car to stop sliding before pressing on the throttle once more.

Power-down was what I expected, with more weight, less tyre and a bigger bump in torque making for an excitable rear on corner exits. Against the stopwatch, it added up to a 1.5sec time penalty, despite having a similar top speed to the R8 at the end of the straights.

It was nice not to have to talk about bad driver ergonomics for a change, with both cars being excellent in this department.

The SRT has the edge on engine note and interior quality while the R8 gains the gong in outright performance and repeatability. The more I drive the local GM product, the more I'm impressed with it... What a shame it's on its way out.

As a practical demonstration, the SRT’s 175.8km/h 0-400m terminal speed is 2.4km/h quicker than the Clubsport R8s, despite a 13.80sec elapsed time losing out to the HSV by 0.14sec.

Add-in equipment levels, interior functionality and comfort, and sheer purchase price value, and the 300 SRT has wide-ranging appeal as an ever-day cruiser with a savage bite when required.

Although now feeling its age, the last-ever atmo HSV ClubSport R8 still ticks many performance-oriented boxes and is more in-tune with the driver. It avoids some of the gimmicks found in the SRT to deliver more dynamically.

If you prefer substance over style, and want to do an occasional track day without wilting, it remains the pick in this segment.

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