Chrysler 300 series sedans come with sophisticated hardware
Bob Plunkett
Date Posted: 5/10/2005
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RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- This ritzy oasis in the California desert by Palm Springs lures jet-setters and movie stars each winter to bask in brilliant sunshine and shoot for par on so many manicured golf courses.
Shopping for the mega-rich in Rancho Mirage is conducted along El Paseo, a palm-studded street rivaling Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills or Worth Avenue in Palm Beach with exclusive courtiers, bling-bling jewelers and galleries for antiques and fine art.
And wheel sets for these Armani-draped and Cartier-dotted shoppers decorate the curbs on El Paseo bearing exotic labels like Bentley, Ferrari and Bugatti.
So what's the stir on El Paseo over the appearance of a sleek but stately new sedan flashing the silver-winged badge of American-based automaker Chrysler?
Heads turn and necks crane as eyes of El Paseo's patrons follow this striking car down the divided lane.
We park it nose-to-tail against a stretched BMW 760Li, and several of the spectators approach for closer inspection, their fingers pointing to sculptured lines on a blunted prow with its dominating egg-crate grille in chrome or slab-sided flanks with muscular bulges for grand multi-spoke wheels also gleaming in chrome.
The dramatic form of this new flagship for the Chrysler fleet is hard to miss: It looks like an exclusive luxury coach of bold dimensions in the manner of a Bentley with the audacious face, upright structure and chiseled-block body.
But those rippled shoulders and big wheels plus a high-hiked tail treatment suggest the stance of a wild-maned and tautly-tuned lion ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey.
Titled under a numeric label as the 300 series, which commemorates special performance cars tracing back fifty years at Chrysler, the new sports touring sedan for the large-car class of 2005 is a revolutionary notion for luxurious motoring in a kinetic work of art.
First, it's cast on a new platform with the wheelbase stretched and the engine mounted up front but power channeled to the rollers in the rear like elite touring sedans from Europe.
The rear-wheel-drive (RWD) platform was developed through Chrysler's parent company DaimlerChrysler and shares some components with a sedan by Mercedes-Benz plus a new Magnum model from Dodge.
And, from the company that created the slinky cab-forward style of cars a decade ago, the new Chrysler organizes around a cab-rearward concept, whereby the bulk of the cabin's volume occurs behind the windshield pillars in boxy and vertically-oriented quarters. It's not only spacious but comparable to room in vintage limo-style livery from the likes of, say, Rolls-Royce.
The cabin of the Chrysler 300 was constructed around this cab-rearward concept to forge a space of comfort and practicality.
With the length between front and rear wheels extending for ten feet, there's plenty of room inside for all riders.
Layout of the cabin poses two large bucket seats up front with a bench in back broad enough for three but with indented sections for two.
The car seems to hunker low against the pavement with a ground clearance of less than six inches while all chairs in the cabin rise high so it's easy to slip laterally into a seat to climb aboard.
Space for heads and legs is more than generous -- and passengers on the rear bench may sit with crossed legs and still find room to stretch.
Up front, the driver of a 300 sedan fits in a comfortable bucket seat, which adjusts under power in eight directions and adds lumbar back support.
Instruments in the dashboard cluster include large round analog gauges with bright white faces and chrome rims.
And in a vertically-flush stack of controls at the center of the dash is a round analog clock topside with controls below for climate and audio equipment plus the optional navigation system.
A floor-mounted center console contains the transmission's lever in a shifter gate ringed by chrome.
Measures for passenger safety in the cabin extend from the sturdy safety-cage construction to front seatbelts with load-limited and pretensioning apparatus, backseat restraints with upper and lower anchors to mount a child's seat, smart multi-stage air bags up front plus optional side curtain-style air bags for all outboard seats.
And the car contains active safety systems to avoid accidents, including a quick-response rack and pinion steering system, big disc brakes at all wheels plus an anti-lock brake system (ABS), all-speed traction control (ASTC), emergency brake assist (EBA) and electronic stability control (ESP).
Three different engines are available to power the car through four trims tagged as the base 300, 300 Touring, luxurious 300 Limited and flagship 300C.
Entry-issue 300 stocks a twin-cam 2.7-liter V6 that produces 190 hp at 6400 rpm plus torque of 190 lb-ft at 4000 rpm. It works with a Chrysler four-speed automatic shifter.
The 300 Touring and 300 Limited editions pack a high-output V6 -- Chrysler's single-cam 3.5-liter six-pack that runs up to 250 hp at 6400 rpm with 250 lb-ft of torque at 3800 rpm.
This V6 also uses the four-speed automatic.
Cushy top model 300C, with soft leathers covering seats and simulated tortoise shell trim on the dash and steering wheel, totes a high-tech rendition of Chrysler's fabled HEMI engine with hemispheric combustion chambers.
The HEMI 5.7-liter V8 makes 340 hp at 5000 rpm and 390 lb-ft of torque at 4000 rpm through an electronic automatic five-speed transmission teamed with Chrysler's AutoStick, which brings shift-it-yourself choices like a manual.
And this HEMI comes with a multi-displacement system (MDS) that can switch seamlessly and transparently to fuel-saving four-cylinder mode when all of that horsepower is not needed to romp.
Chrysler adds another option to the 300 line with an all-wheel-drive (AWD) system available for the two larger powertrains. The AWD device, with front differential and center planetary transfer case aboard, splits the engine's power between front and rear axles with 62 percent sent to drive the rear wheels.
Despite the elite look and sophisticated hardware on Chrysler's new sedans, price points look favorable too -- in a range from $22,970 for the RWD 300 to $32,370 for a RWD 300C.
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| 2005 CHRYSLER 300 VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS |
| Description: |
Full-size luxury sedan |
| Model Options: |
Full-size luxury sedan |
| Wheelbase: |
120.0 inches |
| Overall Length: |
196.8 inches |
| Engine Size: |
300: DOHC 2.7-L V6, 300T: SOHC 3.5-L V6 H.O., 300L: SOHC 3.5-L V6 H.O., 300C: OHV 5.7-L V8 HEMI MDS |
| Transmission: |
300: Auto/4, 300T: Auto/4, 300L: Auto/4, 300C: Auto/5/AutoStick |
| Drive: |
RWD, AWD |
| Braking: |
2.7-L V6: Power 4-disc opt. ABS/ASTC/EBA/ESP, 3.5-L V6: Power 4-disc ABS/ASTC/EBA/ESP, 5.7-L V8: Power 4-disc ABS/ASTC/EBA/ESP |
| Airbags: |
2 (front) plus opt. 4 (side curtain) |
| Gas Mileage: |
2.7-L V6 RWD: 21/28 mpg, 3.5-L V6 RWD: 19/27 mpg, 3.5-L V6 AWD: 18/24 mpg, 5.7-L V8 RWD: 17/25 mpg, 5.7-L V8 AWD: 17/23 mpg |
| MSRP Price: |
300: $ 22,970, 300T: $ 26,770, 300L: $ 29,265, 300C: $ 32,370 |
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