Chrysler 300C HEMI 2009 Review

Road Test

Price guide: $60,990 (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges)
Options fitted to test car include: metallic paint $495
Crash rating: TBA
Fuel: 95 RON PULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 12.4
CO2 emissions (g/km): 293
Also consider: Ford Falcon G6E Turbo (more here), Holden Calais V, Holden Statesman and Caprice (more here)

About our ratings

You don't have to get up close and personal with the Chrysler 300C to be struck by the car's presence. As they say in the classics, it's a big mutha.

And it has the sort of style to make of it a car that won't be mistaken for anything else on the road. Our jury's out on the 300C's styling [Ed: still? The new one's almost here…], but one thing that can be said for certain is that the polarising looks play a part in the car's ergonomics. With its visually low roofline and small glass areas, it feels a little claustrophobic in the cabin and kids in the rear will not be able to see out the windows.

Nor will the rear-seat legroom of the 300C pass muster for those who own a VE Calais, let alone those who own a Statesman or Caprice. The long-wheelbase Holdens, in combination, are outselling the 300C at the rate of about four to one and the cessation of Ford's Fairlane hasn't handed more market share to the Chrysler. Perhaps, in this market sector, rear legroom counts for more than fuel efficiency.

Yet without that comparison to the Holdens to muddy the picture, the 300C's interior leg-and headroom are more than adequate for four. A fifth passenger straddling the massive transmission tunnel would probably demand seat rotations during an extended journey, however.

Boot space is large enough to cover the average family's requirements on holidays; while split-folding rear seats provide some flexibility for carrying longer objects.

Chrysler is very good at packaging its products this way. Whether we're talking about Grand Voyager or the Dodge Avenger, they all seem to be able to accommodate fishing rods, pole vaults, Patriot missiles, you name it. If it's long and thin, you can carry it around in a Chrysler. Perhaps that should be the company's motto?

With power seat and steering wheel angle adjusted, the driver has a clear view of the instrument cluster and its black-on-white dials. The leather seat is very comfortable and provides good thigh and lumbar support.

All controls are easily accessible with volume, tuning and computer activation switches set into the steering wheel. It's been a fixture in Volvos since the original S80, but that doesn't make the half-wood/half-leather steering wheel rim any more appealing in the 300C; it's a fashion statement that some prospective buyers might prefer to forego.

There's no telescopic adjustment on the steering wheel. We hear-tell that the lack of that facility is a crash safety issue. Whatever the case, it's also a compromised driving position issue...

Build quality of the facelifted 300C is quite good, as we mentioned in our local launch review (more here), although the HVAC buttons were rather flimsy. The interior presentation is not as subtle or stylish as some European prestige cars -- and it's certainly lacking the subtlety of the local boy from Holden -- but its star-spangled styling flair provides the 300C with a legitimate claim to alternative status in the segment.

The 5.7-litre HEMI V8 fired up easily and settled down to a muted rumble which was not obtrusive. Disconnecting the floor-mounted parking brake (a carry-over from the DaimlerChrysler days of shared vehicle development -- this is a two-generation old E-Class underneath, remember) the car moved away from a standing start smoothly, but not dramatically. Weighing in at 1920kg, the 300C is bearing its own handicap in the traffic light grand prix.

On the freeway at 100km/h, the V8 is doing a lazy 1520rpm, with the computer showing 13.2L/100km -- and that should improve on a longer run. The car excels here, with easy overtaking, reasonably direct power steering and good visibility all 'round.

Throttle response seemed slow at times, as if the cylinder deactivation were caught napping when you needed the HEMI to pick up the pace.

The 300C would be excellent on an interstate run, but around town it's hard work. The big-car feel comes back to haunt you as you negotiate tight spaces and narrow driveways -- and there are other large cars that do it better. Dare we mention Holden's Statesman at this point?

A PR manager at one of the prestige importers -- not Chrysler -- believes that whole ethos of the Australian driving environment being so distinctive is a myth perpetuated by local manufacturers to justify the amount of time and effort expended on suspension tuning. We don't agree and the 300C provides strong supporting evidence.

One of our colleagues sold Chryslers in the past and his first question of the new 300C was: "Have they fixed the ride?" It seems that the principal complaint leveled against the big Chrysler in the past was its pillowy ride. Well, they have 'fixed it', but not in a way that will win the approval of buyers necessarily. Some will feel that the 300C now rides too hard.

It's a difficult trick to find the right balance in a country with unsealed driveways that are longer than some roads and fast winding roads (with bumps and corrugations strategically located at the apex of each corner) plus re-patched-potholed-jigsaw-mosaic suburban streets that are a civil engineering nightmare such as would not be acceptable in some third-world countries.

Chrysler plainly had two suspension settings they could offer the Australian market; one too soft and the other arguably too hard. Would that they had taken a leaf out of Hyundai's book -- with the Korean maker tuning the suspension of its Sonata specifically for the Australian market. Perhaps that's why Hyundai is kicking goals and Chrysler is bankrupt? Whoops, did we say that out loud?

Having dispensed a slice of philosophy on suspension tuning and the parlous state of Australian roads, let's just say that the 'new' 300C is preferable -- for its flatter cornering and more predictable grip -- with the firmer set-up.

One question hanging over the 300C must be its longevity in the market. Will it become a long-lived icon of American large-car style when retro-style and 'right now' fashions are equally victims of a short shelf life? What influence will the new partnership with Fiat bear on the 300C? And with even Holden offering the same sort of cylinder-deactivation in its V8-powered WM cars, how will the 300C hold up?

There's a new model on the way (more here) and that's largely an unknown quantity, but in the here and now, we can say that the current 300C looks tough and is likely to handle the vicissitudes of urban traffic and city living as well as anything else in the market.

It's better built and softer inside, but ultimately it's still not this tester's cup of tea...

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