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As a ‘real’ enthusiast, you might think I shouldn’t be advocating a car like the ‘SRT Design’ Chrysler 300C. And yet it’s exactly the kind of thing that makes sense – who doesn’t want to look good while they’re doing just over the speed limit? Don’t most people buy the performance cars for the wheels and lower body cladding anyway?

In other countries, they’ll sell you what you want, but here product planners have gotten into the greedy, grubby habit of forcing you towards the larger engine wherever possible. With fuel prices where they are, that has to change.

Let’s be frank – if you are looking for handling, even the ‘real’ SRT-8 is not the ideal place to start. So what’s the problem with making the 300C look better and ride on a wheel size and offset that won’t throw everything else horribly off kilter, a la most 300Cs you see rolling around on SUV dubs?

Indeed the 300C points to what I have been predicting will be an emerging trend – cars that look fast but don’t ride and guzzle like a fast car does.

Bring on the 3.0L common rail diesel engined SRT design, the TRD Prius!

But don’t despair – there’s another way to do it, and I’ll be damned if I didn’t suggest this to anyone who would listen over the past 5 years: cars that have the handling you want and ‘make do’ with the standard engines. If BMW brings out the tii models that automobile recently reported might be in the works, you won’t have to suffer a BMW that’s too heavy if you want a trick differential or an exhaust system that sings. (Think a more extreme E46 330i Performance Package -like models, cars that emphasise subjective over objective measures).

The last fuel crisis left us with junk – thankfully this time it’s spurring manufacturers to come up with fresh ideas, desirable ones even.

Don’t worry – you won’t be forced to give up the luxuries or the room you’re used to – manufacturers are realizing that they can earn a profit if they let you option up small cars like they’ve usually reserved for large cars – a la the MINI. If we’re lucky, people will be reminded of how clumsy and awkward the average car had become as it piled on layers of fat that come with middle age.

Vote with your dollars for more emotional design and more interesting cars will make it to the market!

Just when Mercedes was starting to get its groove back, Mercedes and Chrysler have decided to share more parts. According to the article,

the company insists that the sharing of these parts won’t damage the manufacturers’ reputations.

How could it not?

Keep your right foot buried, though, and things start to go awry as the big Chrysler bounces from hump to bump, its tall 225/60/18 Pirelli P7s contributing to the impression that ride control is care of a space-hopper at each corner. Numb steering doesn’t improve the experience. – evo

...the steering. For a start you have to grip an almost comically large steering wheel, reminiscent of a mid-70s Mercedes-Benz. Even though the SRT changes include reduced hydraulic assistance, the steering still feels mushy around the straight-ahead position. Lob it into a corner and there’s less clarity and more vagueness than you’d hope for. Instead of being able to hold a line confidently through a long, sweeping corner, you find yourself having to make a number of small adjustments to keep repositioning the big saloon where you need it. – 4Car

There’s not much wrong with the Pacifica – actually as a freeway cruiser there’s a lot about it that’s right – collaboration with Mercedes Benz engineers resulted in an almost Germanic 6 passenger vehicle. But one thing that was hugely lacking was the engine – a leftover 3.5L that you might remember from the now deceased Chrysler Concorde, etc.

By the time the engine’s power made it through the long ratios of the 4 speed automatic, the opportunity to accelerate was often gone. If you see a Pacifica being driven sedately it’s probably because the driver has given up on going faster or is tired of whipping the reluctant motor for more.

Now the Pacifica’s going to get a new 4.0 V6 that’s bound to be an improvment – my only concern is that a 6 cylinder of this size is bound to be rough at high revs (try to think of a 4.0 V6 that’s ever been smooth – getting smoothness out of more than 3.2L is difficult to achieve).

In other Chrysler news the new Cirrus is about to take flight; the car loks like a cross between a 300C and a Nitro and will feature heated and cooled cupholders and a MP3 storing 20 GB hard drive. Hopefully it will be more like the 300 and less like the Nitro to drive (unlikely given its front drive roots).

Mercedes Benz has long [sic] offered its S class in standard and long wheelbase forms (something Lexus wil be doing wth the new LS to be taken more seriously in the market).

Now Chrysler plans a stretched version of the 300C and Magnum.

The stretched 300C’s wheelbase is 152mm longer, all of which is used to enhance rear legroom… Chrysler says the added length of the stretched cars provides rear-seat passengers with nearly 1200mm of legroom. Customers will be able to order the cars with a host of personalised features, including lit writing tables, footrests and directional reading lights. – What Car?

That’s what my mother said when I suggested she and my father choose a PT Cruiser over a Neon, Stratus and Taurus at the LAX rental counter. Here’s why:

The fundamentals really work. The PT Cruiser was born as a sit-high car. Your eyes enjoy a near-SUV view. The driving position is excellent. The firm front buckets hold you like good dinner chairs. The oversize, deftly detailed four-spoke steering wheel is contrary to today’s fashion… All around you see interesting details. For example, the outside hatch release: It has intricacy, and a feeling of value beyond anything offered by the others. The Chrysler simply overwhelms in its sense of quality. It has fewer quivers through the structure, fewer thrums from the powertrain, and fewer thumps from the road. Wind noise is subdued. The Cruiser feels far more expensive than its price. – Car and Driver 06.02

[with the optional touring suspension] Cruiser is surprisingly adept on snaky sections of back roads. Body roll is well-controlled, particularly in view of the relatively high center of gravity; the power rack-and-pinion steering is nicely weighted, with better-than-average road feel; and the damping rates are well-selected for keeping the tires in contact with the surface… Car and Driver 06.00