Test drive Chrysler 300m 1998 - 2004 sedan

The thirteenth letter

Some of the readers may know something or even remember about Chrysler 300 cars with letters. Most likely, there will be few of them: the last, twelfth in a row, the model of this series - 300L - was released in 1966. And so, after more than three decades, Chrysler 300m.

 

The premiere of the car took place at the beginning of this year in Detroit (motor #2, 1998). Not so long ago, the car appeared in Moscow. What does she have in common with the previous letters of the alphabet? Absolutely nothing ...

 

In the United States, the price category cars $ 28,000-35,000 are considered to be near-Luxe or, at best, fall on the lower step of the luxury class. And until recently, the attitude towards them had the attitude towards them, if not dismissive, then cool.

 

Meanwhile, cars of this class have always been very popular in Europe, and recently the demand for them began to grow both in Japan and the USA. Today, the above manufacturers have already stopped wrinkling their noses and, pushing each other's elbows, move this perlyx iron on the market intensely. The reason is simple: representatives of the largest group of the population - those whose birth was at the post -war peak of birth rate - reached their quarry ceiling. And, accordingly, the maximum salaries. Analysts predict an almost three -fold increase in sales of such cars by the beginning of the next century.

 

Chrysler 300M - just one of those. Actually, if we talk about the platform - there is nothing particularly new or revolutionary in it. This is one of the four lifes of the LH series, which also includes Dodge Intrepid, Chrysler Concorde and Chrysler LHS. The corporation supplies them as different cars, although in fact they are built on the same platform, and the differences between them are only cosmetic. Nevertheless, 300M costs somewhat apart. If the first three cars are typical Americans, then this model was designed taking into account the possibility of European sales (motor #7, 1998).

 

From the point of view of an overseas buyer, the car is not so large - 5 meters in length, and not so luxurious. But by the standards of the Old World, with its city crowd, the five -meter length of the car is the limit, a little more - and the car will not find its buyer. (But for a certain social layer of our country, Chrysler 300M will be a tidbit.)

 

Outwardly, the body is a symbiosis of avant -garde and classics, but without frequent in such cases of leaving the eclecticism. In any case, its forms do not cause rejection either among the Europeans or the supporters of the American classics. A large wheelbase and openwork alloy wheels with low -profile rubber give the impression that a rather massive, puffy body soars in the air. A plastic, painted strip on board visually lengthens a squat silhouette (this is necessary because the front and rear overhangs were cut off for Europe).

 

Something in the appearance of the car inspires associations with the first (mid-50s) machines of the three hundredth series. At the same time, it is a typical modern Chrysler - with characteristic lighting technology, radiator cladding, a salon moved forward. The decisive role in the design of the machine is played by the front line - if it were not for a kind of physiognomy, the body would have remained a large American remnant.

 

Let's look into the salon. Leather. Everywhere. However, no, torpedo and doors are sheathed with soft gray plastic, misleading us with their texture. Very soft seats move back and forth (passenger passenger than a driver’s), bend and rise, are uplifted with electrical servo drives, and the driver's memory has memory for the parameters of two people and is controlled both from the machine and from the key fob. The same electronics remembers the position of the rear view mirrors. You can remotely turn on the heating of the seats and open the trunk.

 

The rear seats are comfortable, although much easier. Do not have adjustments, but their backs can be folded, extending the floor and so rather big (530 l) trunk to the middle of the cabin.

 

The salon is very spacious - what is in the front, that in the back, in the shoulders, that is above the head. The Cab Forward concept, among other things, involves the arrangement of the wheels far in the corners of the body, which frees space inside.

 

The first thing that catches your eye when you fall into the place of the driver is surprisingly beautiful, returning half a century ago, thinly drawn in black on the white scale of the instrument. The devices themselves - with chrome rims. They are not read as easily as the real old white in black, but they look stylish. It is also a small watch with arrows, built into the very center of the torpedo.

 

Under the instruments, through the entire front panel, a decorative strip under a tree that revives the interior stretches (it’s a pity that under ...). On the left sheltered external lighting handles. The high light is turned on by the steering wheel lever. It is only one - on the left and controls the twists, washers of the windshield and headlights, as well as wipers - including the frequency of their movement.

 

The main tool of the driver is a steering wheel, moderately thick and elastic, with a pillow of safety sewn in a hub (it also has a passenger). He is able to change the angle of inclination, does not slip in his hands and does not cause complaints at all - just like the mighty servuseller associated with it. The buttons that have stuck to the steering wheel and all together similar to the remote control, there is nothing more than a cruise control.

 

The climate control system, the control of which is put on the central console, very quickly sets the ordered temperature in the cabin, but, unfortunately, does not have separate adjustments for those sitting in front and behind.

 

Under the climatic installation is the Infinity radio with the ability to connect a CD changer that is absent in the basic configuration. Its output power (320 W) is poured out through 11 speakers located throughout the cabin. The pens and music control buttons are somewhat small.

 

Even lower - pockets for all sorts of little things, a box that was when designed as an ashtray, and a cigarette lighter nest closed by a plug. (Ashtray and cigarette lighter - option!)

 

The central armrest contains a rather large glove compartment, in front of it is a folding cup holder into two persons.

 

Both anti -linen visors are equipped with backlight mirrors and drawback sections to increase the width. Between them, an information display was attached on the ceiling. The temperature in the cabin and outside, fuel consumption, mileage and time are displayed on it.

 

The bars of safety are installed in all doors, which made it possible to do without side pillows. All door windows are equipped with electric lifts, the driver can control them from his remote control on the left armrest, and the door lock button and mirror control are located there.

 

Unlike a prudent European, an American approach to building a car is extremely close to Russian person. The approach has always been simple and understandable. Not enough engine power? Why suffer, improving the design, if you can simply add volume. Nevertheless, there are still trends to reduce it. The motor has 300m-only 3.5 l, V-shaped 24-valve six, with injection. The engine is located longitudinally. The absorption collector is made of plastic - the fight against weight and for metal savings.

 

It is worth recalling that during the existence of the old letter series Chrysler, the number 300 in the nomenclature of models meant engine power. In fact, it sometimes reached 400 hp, but 300 is a minimum that could be expected from powerful V8 engines, the volume of which was exceeded for 7 liters.

 

Chrysler 300M engine power does not reach even 300 hp. But direct comparison may be deceptive. In those days - in order to get indicators more all -like - manufacturers experienced individually configured engines, without a graduation system and any attachment equipment. Now they experience serial - from the conveyor - engines with a full exhaust tract and the whole set of hitch, which should be present under the hood. The obtained indicators are lower, but they are real. Today, 300M on the highway may well arrange many of its predecessors - less than 8 seconds to hundreds.

 

The mechanical box for this machine is not provided - the corporation considered that 10% of potential buyers who would prefer mechanics are not a sufficient basis for additional costs. But the 4-speed Autostick machine allows the driver to control the box and manually. To do this, the lever is transferred to yourself-in this position it can be swayed to the right and left, sequentially switching gears up and down. This is convenient - if you need to besiege the car before turning or on the descent ...

 

New times and technologies dictate new traditions - 300m front drive. The front and rear wheels have an independent Macpherson suspension and are associated with a body of reactive rods and levers. At the back, a reptile stabilizer is installed.

 

Machine shock absorbers have an interesting feature - they change their rigidity depending on the speed of moving the rod. This determines the peculiar behavior of the car on the road. Smooth changes in the level of the coating cause slow body swing, characteristic of almost all Americans with their soft comfortable suspensions, but it is worth falling into the hole, as the suspension becomes a Europeanly stiff.

 

The machine is claimed to be adapted for Europe, and this is one of those infrequent cases when a certain adaptation, indeed, takes place. Its essence is that the so -called Handling Package (a package that improves handling), which in the USA is an option and costs $ 255, is installed standard for Europe for Europe. The package includes 16-inch wheels with Michelin rubber (instead of 17-inch), ventilated disc brakes on all wheels, more rigid springs and shock absorbers and a more stringent steering. In addition, an electronic speed limiter is turned off, and by car you can accelerate to 222, and not to 190 km/h.

 

At first, 300M behavior on the road seemed typical for most Americans. A comfortable suspension, which makes the body gently sag, brought us to the idea of \u200b\u200ba spectacular frame with a large roll in a bend. But no! Did not work out! The car categorically refused to fill up, maintaining parallelism of asphalt. In the steep turns of the seat, thanks to a successful profile, even an undistent person is perfectly held.

 

With a sharp touch from the place at the first moment of the wheel with a screech, the APS is slipped into asphalt, and the intensive, well -controlled acceleration, tightly squeezing the seats, begins into action. Switching the automatic box is soft and invisible. For all sorts of provocations, like a breakdown in a skid, the car is almost not amenable to. It seemed that in order to lose controllability, it is necessary to put it in absolutely unrealistic conditions, practically not found in life. Braking, thanks to all the same packet, which improves the controllability, is very effective. ABS is turned on very reluctantly, tactfully correcting the driver only in the most extreme cases.

 

In the USA, the price of Chrysler 300M in the basic configuration is $ 28.500, which, as already mentioned, is considered the lower step of the luxury class (at the same time, 300M is the most expensive sedan in the gamut of the corporation). It is also considered - given the rich set of standard equipment - that this is a lot of good car for small money.

 

In Moscow, the car will cost $ 45,000. For economical ones, there is a version with 2.7 liters of a motor - $ 10,000 cheaper.

 

The fact that the letter m in the English alphabet is the thirteenth in a row, our buyers should not be embarrassed, we have it - the fourteenth ...

 

Text: Alexey Strelkov
 
 

 

Source: Motor magazine [No. 12/98]