Road Test: Chrysler 300C 3.6L V6

An American walks into a bar. In the Case of the Chrysler 300C, the American is in one of those shiny suits that gangsters wear in Scorsese movies. Ray Leathern waits expectantly for the punchline.

This big, American, V6 petrol automatic, with manual paddle shifters behind the steering wheel, retails for R479 990. It has four doors, a big boot, offers a premium sound system and many interior appointments. With this 300C replacement being a late comer to the executive saloon segment, we suspect it has some catching up to do.

Styling wise, parking the 300C in public has the same effect as leaving a suitcase unattended at the airport. People run away and then come back with others to attend to it. With big fenders, smoothed angles and butch machismo, this car has got ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ written all over it. The long bonnet and wide rear quarter give it presence, there is no doubting that, and the chrome detailing along the front gille and window pillars make it twinkle. The chunky 300C looks long enough to moonlight as a limo if it wanted. If you look at it long enough though, the bravado begins to look ever so slightly wasteful.

When it comes to executive saloon interiors, the 300C has to pull off quite a trick to catch up to the Germans. The 300C’s standard sound system is a gutsy enough start to say the least. The 300C’s new fascia, to me, looks like an American Senator drew it. The first draft for the fascia looks to have come from a teenager who drew it in a free period at school. Then the US government got involved, because of course they funded Chrysler while the 300C was being developed, and toned it down with a special directive.

They wanted lots of wood looking stuff on the dash. They wanted soft leather on the steering wheel with a chrome strip set into the middle of it. They wanted stitched leather on the dash, a plastic clock in the middle and a central control screen that they could watch the Superbowl on; it’s huge. I find the 300C filled with a lot of pomp, but little circumstance. The blue LED light pipes that come on at night are impressive though. The standard specification list is very good too. Cruise control, heated and cooled seats, satellite navigation, panoramic sunroof and more.

Sporting a pair of fake twin tailpipes, you don’t expect a sporty car out of the Chrysler 300C and you certainly don’t get one.  The 3.6-litre petrol engine in the 300C produces 210 kW and 340 Nm of torque. It’s not very thrusting off the line, certainly not enough to even remotely challenge the traction of the tyres, and it takes ages to get into the high power band. Being an executive saloon, a prospective buyer will want mid range punch and the 300C does like to dominate here thankfully. Acceleration from 80 – 120 km/h is very satisfying and the 300C also has shorter gearing from its 8-speed automatic. This helps provide a more relaxing long distance cruise.

The standard servotronic steering on the 300C is incredibly light and it provides virtually no communication to the driver whatsoever. It’s compounded even further when you step on the gas and try taking a corner at speed with the 300C’s massive steering wheel. Quite honestly it feels like a canal boat and the seats provide no lateral support. The Chrysler 300C’s overall heft and chunky controls make trying to bomb around at speed feel alien in the extreme.

On the brakes it pitches forward and in a turn it rolls like a heavyweight boxer to a punch. It’s reluctant to turn in, which is no doubt due to the wayward steering, and when you feel the time is right for some power, the lazy V6 gives a reluctant response. Thankfully the ride on the 300C is very comfortable and it feels quite sophisticated when you don’t demand too much from it. It’s quite stable over imperfections in the road thanks to its long wheelbase and in spite of its large diameter 20-inch wheels.

I have no doubt the SRT version of the 300C will probably be a thrill-a-minute driving experience if the Jeep SRT8 is anything to go by, but the flaccid performance of the 3.6-litre V6 is a disappointment in the Chrysler 300C. Sure, it’s an improvement on the old Chrysler 300C. It’s cheap, comfortable, big and a wafter, but if this were a poker game, the 300C would have played its one and only hand way too early. This big bruiser in a shiny Martin Scorsese suit just doesn’t have the chops where it counts.

What we like…

• Improved interior, comfort and standard equipment.
• Real presence.

What we would like…

• More dynamism.
• The SRT model perhaps.

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