This week I drove a 2008 Chrysler 300. On paper, I love these cars. I like independent rear suspension, torquey V8 engines, big brakes, and posh interiors. In person, I'm always reminded why you can't drive paper. The 300's heavy steering, soft suspension, lethargic transmission and low-rent interior materials conspire to diminish what could have so easily been a fun driving experience.
But this was no regular Chrysler 300. This model had the 6.1 liter V8 (instead of either a terrible 6 cylinder or a much better 5.7 V8), huge family-pizza-sized brakes, and a much firmer suspension. Sure, the interior still suffers at the hands of indifferent bean counters who surely got bonuses for keeping the cost low, and the steering is still borderline manual, but the exhaust note alone is heavenly enough to compensate.
That exhaust note. Imagine a lion roaring through a megaphone into a canyon. Then imagine 425 horses launching you towards the horizon, thus making that sweet symphony of angry attached to the primal fear of the brutal acceleration. It still raises the small hairs on my arms.
Yes, the brakes are too numb to inspire any level of heel and toe ballet work. Yes, the suspension is now composed of granite rather than marshmallow. And yes, that damned steering wheel will build forearms of Popeye proportions. But that motor will make a Hawaiian style sunny day of even the grayest of a Seattle winter.
Would I buy one? Well, yes, provided it were used (new pricing, at least in the greater Seattle area with the idiotic Adjusted Market Value, is absurd), clean, and black.
I give the 2008 Chrysler 300 SRT8 a B+.
No comments:
Post a Comment