2005 Chrysler 300 Touring and 300C
11-23-2004
by
Matt St-Pierre
, Auto123.com
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Interior stylingTo justify the $10,000 difference between the two cars, Chrysler has added many luxury features in the C that could easily be found in cars that are sold for an extra $20,000. They include a power tilt and telescopic steering wheel, high intensity discharge headlamps, more supportive seats wrapped in rich supple leather and a great sound system. The Boston Acoustic sound system in the C generates a powerful sound however, like the Touring, reception is little weak. The analogue clock, à la Infiniti, and the nice indiglo gauges also add to the well-dressed environment of all 300s. In both cases, the dash materials are high quality, very much like every other Chrysler product. The problem comes down to the assembly of the pieces: Gaps are present and some panels do not line up very well. The ignition switch trim in the C was a good example; it was loose and moved around freely. On the down side, the Touring package, which includes leather, does not incorporate front heated seats. In the cold weather that we have had recently, I found myself wondering why they would not even offer them as an option. Lesser equipment includes driver-side auto-down windows only, no MP3 player and less supportive and thinner leather-clad seats. The C's faux wood-trimmed steering wheel may look nice from far but it is far from ideal: It gets very cold and provides little or no grip in quick steering and parking manoeuvres. Real wood would be classier and warmer. Another of my pet peeves is the cruise-control lever: The little light that indicates that the cruise has been activated gets hidden behind the upper spokes of the steering wheel. On the up side, although I have said it before, I really love the "1 flick, 3 clicks" action of the turn signal arm. I think that this feature should be standard on all cars. It could be considered a safety characteristic after all. Visibility is hampered in just about every direction. The large "A", "B" and "C" pillars, the high beltline and the relatively short side windows turn into a recipe of constant double-takes in passing and parking manoeuvres. The Navigation system is fairly complex to use, unlike that of Acura and Infiniti. This was also the first time that I noticed a mistake of importance: On screen, I was a full city block (100 meters) west of where the car was located. Wisely though, adjustments to the menu can only be made when the car is fully stopped. Along the same train of thought, the 300's onboard computer is fairly difficult to use. The up-down and side arrows need to be used in a particular sequence when surfing through the menu to find and adjust one or many of the options. Technical
The 300 has two different engines available. The first is the 3.5L V6 lifted from the Intrepid R/T that puts out 250 hp at 6,400 rpm and 250 lb/ft of torque at 3 800 rpm. The other is the famous Hemi: a 5.7L monster V8 engine that spews out a whopping 340 hp at 5,000 rpm and 390 lb/ft of torque at 4,000 rpm. The V8 is equipped with a system called Multi-displacement. What this does is shut off 4 of the 8 cylinders during highway cruising to improve fuel consumption. There are 2 automatic transmissions available. The V6s get the 4-speed unit and the Hemi latches onto the 5-speed.
The 300, on top of being offered as a rear-wheel drive vehicle, has an all-wheel drive option that, for the moment, makes it one of the only two full-size American sedans to propose this alternative, the other being the Ford Five-Hundred. All models get 17" wheels except for the C which receives 18" wheels wearing 225/60R18 Continental tires.
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