The major selling-point of the Chrysler 300C is the fact that, all things considered, it has a remarkably low price tag, but don't be fooled into thinking that the Americans are piling 'em high and selling 'em cheap. What you really need to know is that this is by a staggering margin the best current Chrysler, and that it blows apart traditional preconceptions of the stereotypical Yank tank.The 300C is very large and, at least at the front end, has a looming presence (the rear, for some reason, looks almost exactly like the hindquarters of a Vauxhall Vectra). It will carry two Italian tenors and two trainee Sumo wrestlers in its cabin and enough food to feed them all for a week in the luggage compartment.It is also very comfortable, and has one of the best US-designed interiors I've seen - I occasionally found my toes fouling against the bottom of the dashboard when going for the brake pedal, and the switch which disables the parking brake is rather a long stretch away, but these are the only quibbles I can think of.Considering its great size, the 300C is surprisingly nimble, which is especially impressive in the case of the first of the two cars tested here. Mike Grundon will be reviewing the diesel version in due course, but I'm concentrating on the petrol models; of these, the one you're probably more interested in is also the one that will sell in the smallest numbers. Only about 5% of UK 300C buyers are likely to choose the V8 Hemi model, which is nevertheless the icon of the range.Its maximum power output is 340bhp, and while this is a piece of cake for a 5.7-litre engine it is also enough to give the chassis something to think about. I don't know how the US-spec 300C Hemi copes, but it doesn't matter because that car won't be coming here: all European models are built at the Magna Steyr plant in Austria, and they are set up for road conditions on this side of the Atlantic.The team in charge of this conversion has done an exemplary job, and the result is that you can hustle the Hemi along challenging country roads (Welsh ones in the case of this test) and feel that it is on your side all the way. The only reminder of its great bulk is the amount of time it takes to recover from large bumps, and there are two features which provide more than adequate compensation for this: first, it feels smaller than it actually is through tight bends, and second, a heavy dose of the available power hardly ever results in squirming suspension or squealing rubber, even when the road surface is less than ideal.The 300C isn't actually a sports car, of course, though it does a good job of pretending to be one if that's what you want. It's better as an executive cruiser (and one with sizzling overtaking ability and a thunderous, if muted, soundtrack whenever you extend the big V8 engine), but it would perform this role more impressively if the ride quality were better.There's a jittering fussiness over small bumps which is at odds with the creamily smooth steering, and which feels like it's caused by ridiculously low-profile tyres even though the car actually sits on 225/60s - the relatively large sidewalls should be able to suppress road irritations well enough, so perhaps the otherwise excellent suspension requires a minor rethink after all.Chrysler talks up the Hemi's Multi-Displacement System, which shuts off four of the cylinders when only a moderate amount of power is needed. If you could hear the engine in this state it would probably sound feeble, but noise suppression is so good that you would have to stick your head under the bonnet to find out.MDS also allows Chrysler to claim a combination of high performance and impressive fuel economy, but it's worth pointing out that the Hemi will almost certainly never have run on all eight cylinders during the official European economy test cycle. If you can hear the characteristic V8 burble, therefore, you can forget about matching the overall figure of 23.3mpg.Enough of the Hemi - this is, after all, supposed to be a twin test. I have to admit that it originally wasn't going to be. The 3.5-litre V6 version appears, on paper, to be the "wrong" 300C, and even Chrysler has difficulty justifying it more convincingly than by saying that some customers will insist on a petrol engine but don't want a big V8.According to the specification sheets, the V6 just doesn't make sense. It costs the same as the diesel, but it's slower, and its economy figures are not that much better than those of the Hemi. The Hemi is £7245 more expensive, but almost exactly half that difference is due to a list of equipment - six-disc CD/MP3 player, GPS satellite navigation, sunroof, premium sound system and walnut wood trimmings - which are optional on the diesel and V6 but standard on the Hemi. Spec-up the V6 to this extent and there's only £3670 in it.Who in their right mind, I wondered before driving it, would buy the V6 in these circumstances? After driving it, I began to think that I might do so myself. It's obviously as big and as comfortable as the Hemi, and while it's not as quick it still performs well and makes a sweet sound when you're pushing on. The power/handling balance, which I had thought so good in the Hemi, proved to be better still in the V6, and most importantly the V6's ride is marginally - but crucially - better than that of either the Hemi or the diesel.Chrysler believes that the diesel 300C will be the best-seller by an enormous margin, accounting for at least 75% of UK sales. The Hemi is the halo car whose owners will be able to claim exclusivity. The V6 sits somewhere in the middle, neither the most popular model nor the most interesting, but in some ways the most appealing. Engine 5654 cc, 8 cylinders Power 340 bhp @5200 rpm Torque 365 ib/ft @4000 rpm Transmission 5 speed auto Fuel/CO2 23.3 mpg / 287 g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 6.4sec Top speed 155 mph Price From £34001.00 approx Release date 01/10/2005
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