gavriil

I guessed right , Motor Trend Mag reports that the 300C will be available in SRT trim (called SRT-8) in early 2005. The current Hemi will be enlarged to 6.1 liters and make 425HP (NA).

Crazy Bimmer

this car fills almost every price range!!

Minch00

Will it be available with AWD?

pimpscls

damn that will be great, that car has a very large range in prices and categories

SiGGy

Nice, I really like the chopped top look. I would consider that car for sure, with a 425 HP HEMI it makes it that much more tempting.

Chaptorial

Damn they're really going to town with these SRT models. It’s nice to see Daimler-Chrysler put some speed back in their domestic products.

CLovis

is it stick? you said it would be

gavriil

It was my first thought/question.

gavriil

Still guessing "yes" to that. No word from any sources though...

bigman

imagine that thing slammed, in some rust orange metallic paint, with some 20's, lotsa meat on the tires, a nice exhaust, tinted out, with a dual ram air style hood scoop or shaker hood.

Dan Martin

Am I the only one who thinks this car looks like ass? Power is great and all but it's still a Chrysler!

charliemike

Actually it's a Mercedes E320 (prior bodystyle)

ruski_RENAMED

no, it just uses some components from the last E-Class (like the rear suspension) but it is built on the platform of its own.

CLpower

sweet, so we can expect an SRT-8 magnum as well

haiduc

nope, to me... this is one of the ugliest cars on the road. somewhere with the Aztek.

gavriil

Probably so...

ruski_RENAMED

whatever. 300Cs are flying off dealers' lots. I guess there are plenty of people that find them attractive.

gavriil

Source: allpar

cusdaddy

Looks very cool... What an awesome car. 400+ hp is just plain sweet.

gavriil

20s look nice.

Minch00

I want that spoiler.........

EdgarFanCLS

I see tons on the road around here. Seems to be a very popular car.

Infamous425

its nice looking the only ugly thing about it is the egg-crate grill. needs more of a billet type or vertical-line grill

goldmemberer

I don't dig the back one bit but the rest of the car looks decent to me. I don't know anything about the performance of it since I have yet to experience it, but... imagine a twin turbo 6.1L Hemi in that thing... I'm willing to bet it would make atleast 600 RWHP and even more torque.

Maybe Lingenfelter will mod that SRT-8... that would be

gavriil

Source: srtforums

Sarlacc

That car just looks so good.

bkknight369

it is a beautiful car with a great interior...I can see why people are trading in euro cars for it

F23A4

I think that's more a function of European cars being priced into oblivion.

Beltfed

300C SRT8




How much power is too much? If you can't readily come up with an answer, indeed, if you're the type of person who wonders why someone would even ask that question in the first place, you're in luck.

The automotive industry is in the midst of a horsepower race of virtually unprecedented proportion. Not since the muscle car era have we seen so many vehicles capable of leaving long patches of rubber when the light turns green. And unlike that golden age of the American V-8, automakers are packing power into just every type of product you can imagine, from sports cars to sport-utility vehicles.

With high-performance AMG versions of virtually every vehicle in its line-up, Mercedes-Benz has ridden the crest of this wave. And its DaimlerChrysler sibling isn't far behind. The Chrysler Group has put a premium on performance with such entries as the Viper and the Neon SRT-4. But the star of the show is the 5.7-liter HEMI V-8, a powertrain so well-recognized on the American market that Chrysler marketing director Joe Eberhardt refers to it as the automaker's "fourth brand," as recognizable as Dodge, Jeep and even Chrysler itself.

While the bold and sophisticated styling of Chrysler's 300C is clearly a factor in the sedan's success, it's telling to note that the HEMI was the powerplant of choice for 47 percent of 300C buyers last month.

Making 340 horsepower, and 390 pound-feet of torque, the 5.7-liter HEMI is a force to be reckoned with. It places the 300C among the top ten products on the market, whether you're measuring horsepower to weight, or horsepower per dollar. Yet there are always those who insist there's room for more.

And Chrysler apparently agrees. The carmaker hoped to eke out a modest increase when it decided to bore out the HEMI to 6.1 liters. The results took even the most optimistic powertrain engineers by surprise, confides Dan Knott, director of SRT, the automaker's high-performance operations.

To get there, the new engine's block was strengthened, its bore increased 3.5 millimeters per cylinder. A new intake manifold and exhaust headers with individual tubes encased in a stainless steel shell helped improve breathing. Sodium-filled exhaust valves help improve heat dissipation. Compression was boosted from 9.6:1 to 10.3:1. The camshaft was tweaked, while peak engine speed was boosted 15 percent, to 6200 rpm. And the regular, 2.5-inch diameter exhaust system was increased to 2.75 inches.

The upgraded engine, which is being previewed in Pebble Beach this weekend, pumps the numbers up to 425 hp - 25 more than the new, sixth-generation Corvette, incidentally - and 420 lb-ft. "When we first went down the 6.1-liter path," admits Knott, "our targets were a lot lower." Not that he's complaining. The 6.1-liter version of the HEMI will help Chrysler dramatically differentiate the new 300C SRT-8 from the 5.7-liter version of the car.

While the numbers have yet to be validated independently, Knott reports that in corporate testing, the SRT-8 launches from 0-60 in the "low five" second range, and is posting quarter-mile times in the "high-13" second range.

To become the seventh product to wear the SRT badge, the new version of the 300C had to offer than just power:

*Exterior styling has been modified, primarily to reduce wind resistance and improve downforce. Specific changes include a chin spoiler, a small rear spoiler, a new rear fascia and larger exhaust tips;

*There are larger four-piston caliper Brembo brakes;

*The suspension has been "race-tuned," according to Knott. Damping force has been increased, the SRT-8 gets beefier 20-inch tires, 245x45 up front and 255x45 in the rear;

*And the interior of the car has been given a more race-inspired look, including sport seats with grippy suede inserts.

The new package, Knott asserts, will be even a better deal than the original car. Though final pricing has not yet been released, he hints "Our vision is best performance for lowest dollar."

Chrysler can afford to be generous. Where carmakers must, these days, bake the cost of incentives into the base price of their products, the 300C is so popular, it hasn't required the massive financial come-ons of the old Chrysler Concorde. That means plenty of car for consumers, but also big profits for the automaker. Backed by the 300C, Chrysler Group just had one of its most successful quarters since it merged with Daimler-Benz in 1998.

The 300C SRT-8 won't add a lot to the bottom line, however, with sales likely to run in "the mid-thousands," according to Knott. Translation? Perhaps 5000 or so a year. As for the bigger HEMI, expect to see that show up in a variety of SRT products in the near future.

With DaimlerChrysler's U.S. arm so intent on pushing the performance envelope, might it have some more surprises in store? "I don't know where the end is" for the horsepower race, says Knott. There are already about two dozen vehicles making north of 500 hp, he points out, and "I predict (the benchmark) will go to 600" before things levels off.

As for the HEMI, is there room for still another increase? While Knott won't discuss future product plans, he concedes it may very well be possible.



http://www.thecarconnection.com/inde...&sid=184&n=157

gavriil

I am not sure if 255s are wide enough for the rear for this much power. You'd expect to see at least 275s. No?

jimcol711

wow, once again, chrysler is impressing the hell out of me (and alot of other people!!!) between the SRT-4, SRT-6 crossfire, this thing, the viper, WOW....an american manufacturer thats TRUELY strong competition for euro cars!!!

Nashua_Night_Hawk

let us have an AWD SRT-8!

gavriil

WHat pisses me off is that Europeans will now think this: "A "Big 3" had to bought by a German manufacturer in order for them to see a better day" And some of it might be true.

1SICKLEX

Yeah Gav, I am sure people will slap 275 on the rear no problem. This is THE BEST American car period.

Looks great!

bkknight369

any guesses on price?

astro

I saw this yesterday on the road in Toronto. It's FUCKING HOT.

the rear end looks so much better than the standard 300c.

wow.

titan

I can't wait to see it in person.

gavriil

Is it really American though? It's like calling Volvo Sweedish, etc.

gavriil

I am guessing it will start at the very high 30s.

1SICKLEX

Cause it's built in Ontario? Then the Acura TL is still the best American car.