Overview A big bad gangster of a luxury car that is getting a little long in the tooth
Pros Impressive interior, excellent value, user-friendly multimedia interface, willing engine/transmission
Cons Stiff suspension/loose steering, dated exterior, thirsty in town
Value for money Pretty darn good considering the upgrades and the performance
What would I change? I’d firm up the steering; even traditionalists no longer want a car to feel like a ’59 Coupe de Ville
How would I spec it? As much as I like Chrysler’s Hemi and its authoritative bark, the best 300 is the C Platinum trim level mated to the V6 and AWD
Behold the quintessential American luxury car. Big, ole V8 up front, power to the rear and enough sheet metal in between to build a cruise ship, Chrysler’s 300C is as American as apple pie and Republican filibusters. Throw a slew of pushrods into that big-inch overhead valve V8, tie everything together with enough leather to clothe a three-piece sectional and you have a car even Ted Cruz (closet Canadian and an opponent to the bailouts that saved Chrysler, oops, Fiat Chrysler) can agree is ‘Merican.
2015 Chrysler 300C Platinum
Handout, Chrysler
The only problem, of course, is that the market for traditional American sedans has all but disappeared. Mercedes, BMW and Audi have forced Chrysler, Cadillac and Lincoln to the sidelines in the luxury segment, AWD has become a must-have, and turbocharging has displaced, er, displacement as the route to smooth, efficient power. The church of cubic inches has ever fewer followers and mandating that they also worship rear-wheel-drive makes for a very small congregation indeed.
That’s not to say the 300C — in its top-of-the-line “Platinum” guise, no less — is not without its attractions. You don’t, for instance, have to pledge allegiance to the American flag to revel in the new Chrysler’s interior. No longer does the 300’s interior resemble a slapped-together hodge-podge, a conglomeration of widely disparate themes seemingly thrown together willy-nilly in the hopes that a comprehensive interior décor might emerge.
Fortunately, the 2015 version is a complete — and extremely attractive — package. Oh, all the touchpoints have remained largely the same — the 300’s 2015 rejig is more mid-model refresh than complete redesign — so the dashboard’s Uconnect screen could be bigger and closer to the driver for easier manipulation. But that is the interior’s only crime, the 300C’s cabin a masterful combination of the opulent and the subtle.
2015 Chrysler 300C Platinum
David Booth, Driving
The Nappa leather — only the base Touring model gets mere cloth— is almost glove-like, the wood trim has a subdued, classy matte finish, and the plasticky chrome trim is kept to an absolute minimum. But my favourite feature is the two-tone, coffee-and-cream leather-wrapped steering wheel. Pure class and a feature emblematic of the strides Chrysler has made in interior quality. Throw in details from the high-tech — like Uconnect being one of the easier multimedia platforms to operate — to the traditional (there being enough room in the back seat for a football game) and the 300’s interior is definitely among Chrysler’s best feet forward.
The one oddity in Chrysler’s packaging system is that to get the best sound system — a 556-watt affair with 10 speakers — one has to opt for the S package and its (as you’ll read) overly stiff suspension, Chrysler feeling that pounding bass and, well, a pounding ride share some sort of mutual kinsmanship. Nonetheless, comparison to a Bentley Continental cabin, albeit a few notches downscale, would not be a gross exaggeration.
Less has been changed with the 300’s exterior. Again, this is a mid-model refresh; hard engineered points must remain the same, so the designers were limited to cosmetic changes, mostly in the form of new front and rear grille/fascias. For a certain clientele, the entire effect works, the 300 still having a loyal following. The problem is that the 300 still looks like Al Capone or Scarface should be driving it. Indeed, the blinged, dubbed and tinted-windshield 300 is pretty much a staple on South Beach’s Ocean Boulevard. Back in the day when Chrysler was looking for any kind of following, that bad-ass “street cred” might have offered a certain legitimacy. But with Fiddy almost a Rotarian now and Suge seemingly having busted a move too far, the whole “gangsta” thing is starting to look a little recycled.
The engine may be likewise old, but it’s still a good one. Chrysler’s current Hemi V8 may have nothing to do with the hemispherical combustion chamber that made the original 392 and 426 icons, but it still pumps out 363 horsepower and 394 pound-feet of torque from its 5.7-litre engine. Mate it to the slick-shifting eight-speed automatic transmission and you have a package that can accelerate the 1,962-kilogram 300 from zero to 100 kilometres an hour in less than six seconds, all the while sipping fuel at an impressively frugal 9.3 L/100 km on the highway thanks to the eight-speed’s overdrive top gear spinning the engine well below 2,000 rpm at 100 km/h. It even sounds the part. I may make fun of Yankee Doodle Dandy-ism, but the throaty growl of a big-block American V8 will always be symphonic.
Chrysler tries to render the 300C’s chassis equally sporty, the suspension suitably stiff and the tires appropriately meaty. That means, that tossed into a corner, the 300C remains impressively flat while generating more than median g-forces. The fly in the ointment is that 2015 sees a change to electric power steering and, combined with Chrysler’s natural predilection for overboosted steering, there’s very little feel emanating from the front tires. The suspension is willing but the communication is weak. That said, the steering makes sense on the full-squishy V6 model, its softer suspension and heavier all-wheel-drive powertrain better suited to Chrysler’s steering calibration. A new S model, by the way, offers even firmer shocks than the C, a waste of damping without a change of steering calibration.
Indeed, as much as I love the 300C’s interior — seriously folks, Ford and GM, as well as a few German brands, would do well to start benchmarking the 300’s decor — I can’t help thinking that the lesser V6-powered version is its best foot forward. Chrysler Canada’s public relations manager, Bradley Horn, assures me that most, if not quite all, of the C’s interior goodness can be had in the V6. All-wheel-drive makes that choice more practical and that odd disconnect between stiff-suspension and soft steering lessens.
Whatever iteration you choose, however, this much is certain: One of Chrysler’s traditional weaknesses — interior design — has finally been addressed. And constant self-improvement, as every GOP presidential candidate takes pains to reiterate, is the bedrock of any American success story.
2015 Chrysler 300C Platinum
David Booth, Driving
The Specs
Type of vehicle Rear-wheel-drive luxury sedan
Engine 5.7L V8
Power 363 hp @ 5,200 rpm; 394 lb.-ft. @ 4,200 rpm
Transmission Eight-speed automatic
Brakes Four-wheel disc with ABS
Tires 245/45R20
Price (base/as tested) $43,595/$49,430
Destination charge $1695
Natural Resources Canada fuel economy (L/100 km) 14.8 city, 9.3 highway
Standard features Power door locks, windows and mirrors, dual-zone automatic climate control air conditioning, speed-sensitive windshield wipers, Rear window intermittent wiper, 276-watt Uconnect 8.4A AM/FM/SXM/BT audio system, Sirius XM radio, integrated voice command with Bluetooth, rearview camera, information display, power tilt and telescoping steering wheel, Heated/Cooled Front Console Cupholder cruise control, power adjustable front driver and passengers seats, leather seating, heated seats, Heated Steering Wheel, front air bags; side curtain air bags, front side seat-mounted air bags, driver knee air bag, Anti-Lock Brakes, All Speed Traction Control, Rain Brake Support, Electronic Stability Control, Hill Start Assist
