Renting a '14 Chrysler 300C

Status
Not open for further replies.
I had a rental 300 with the V-6. I agree that the platform is great and the car is a great value. The transmission programming was a mess, and I yearned for some way to control it. The silly electronic shifter wouldn't let me do anything but shift from P to R to D. The Pentastar engine was great, but the transmission really let it down. 8 speeds of lugging it at 1,500 rpm unless you just caned it wasn't really elegant to me.

I would like to try a performance version one day. I bet they're a ton better. Just goes to show how much the powertrain really adds to the experience.
 
Piloted the big sedan in to work this morning, which involved a good distance on the bridge and expressway. Verrrry nice. The A/C doesn't bog down the engine in the slightest, and if it is a V-8 like my old W126, I wouldn't expect it to. I'm getting the hang of dealing with the shifter: Since I don't need to downshift for extra power as I sometimes do with the Regal, I can just put it in D and go. When parking, the trick is light flicks of the lever -- electronic gadgets don't need big throws of the shifter.

At present, the average mpg is 19.6. No idea when that was last reset. I'll need to fill the car up tomorrow, and I'll see if I can reset the counter and have some kind of idea by this weekend what sort of real world mileage it gets.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
What's your experience with the big sedan? Gas mileage? Reliability? Like it, love it, or hate it?

You should dig up the posts by G-MAN. He traded his '12 for an Audi A4.
smile.gif




His wasn't a "C" though, it had the V6 Pentastar, not the big 8 like the 300C the OP is driving has, that makes a big difference.

I had two Charger loaners (a 2010 and a 2012) when I was getting the BMW looked at prior to eventually buying the 2014 and they were both nothing like my wife's R/T in terms of handling and performance feel; it was literally night and day. The SRT-8 is that far removed again from her R/T with much firmer and faster shifts along with an additional 125HP/TQ that propels the big sedan with authority at any poke of the throttle.



Uggggggg.
You're killing me.

I've either gotta boost mine or buy an srt.
A friend just bought one out of Alberta. It's a 2012 srt rumble bee or bumble bee version. 25000 but he's gotta go pick it up. 2500 kms on the car. Some rig pig went broke and his wife is divorcing him so he's liquidating all his assets.
Basically a brand new car,for less than half price of new.
 
I just checked the Edmund's site for features, and they say the 300C comes with the V-6, 292 hp. The SRT8 is the one with the V-8. My gosh, that's more than the Toyota Avalon I tested and considered a couple of years ago, and with a much nicer interior and no drive-by-wire lag! And the combined mpg is 23, which is about what I'm seeing with my non-turbo 4-cylinder Buick.

Darn it. I knew when the Enterprise lady pulled this car around and handed me the keys that I was in trouble. . . .
 
Originally Posted By: ExMachina
Originally Posted By: Clevy

Basically a hemi powered Mercedes.
What's not to like about that. Like a big machine gun. Who doesn't like a big machine gun.

What a bargain for a Mercedes-like animal it is. I can get a new Challenger/Charger base model for $25,000, or pay $60,000 for a Mercedes.


Not that I agree with you often however you've definitely got a point.

I went from my beloved mustangs into my charger and other than a manual gearbox the charger is way more car for the dollar than any mustang built once you consider the engineering that went into it.
It handles as good as or better than a comparable mustang with more utility and honestly a better ride,all things considered.
 
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
I just checked the Edmund's site for features, and they say the 300C comes with the V-6, 292 hp. The SRT8 is the one with the V-8.
that is correct. and if you think that Pentastar moves that big 300 well, you should see what it does in my 200. The car simply flies. I've gotten 32MPG easily on the highway in my FWD platform that weighs less.
 
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
I just checked the Edmund's site for features, and they say the 300C comes with the V-6, 292 hp.


I'd have said they were lying until I looked it up for myself -- indeed, the V-6 is the standard engine in every 300 except for the SRT-8. Chrysler's website lists a "standard engine controller" on the base 300 and the 300C, and a "high speed engine controller" on the 300S and the 300C Platinum. Weird.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
What's your experience with the big sedan? Gas mileage? Reliability? Like it, love it, or hate it?

You should dig up the posts by G-MAN. He traded his '12 for an Audi A4.
smile.gif




His wasn't a "C" though, it had the V6 Pentastar, not the big 8 like the 300C the OP is driving has, that makes a big difference.

The 2014 300C has a V6 engine.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
The Pentastar engine was great, but the transmission really let it down. 8 speeds of lugging it at 1,500 rpm unless you just caned it wasn't really elegant to me.

Our Q5 has the same 8-speed ZF trans. I'm just glad ours at least has a Sport mode (plus manual shifting). Otherwise, in regular "D" mode it is somewhat anemic. It keeps the RPMs very low. When you mildly or moderately press the 'go' pedal, it doesn't feel like lugging, but just not much happens. So you either have to treat the gas pedal as an on/off switch or change to S mode, which is what I often do when I drive it around town. The MPG is already horrible, so you might as well enjoy it.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
So you either have to treat the gas pedal as an on/off switch or change to S mode, which is what I often do when I drive it around town.


This 300 was essentially the same way. You had to live with the lugging or you had to cane it.

Transmission programming is so subjective. What someone thinks is perfect on one car, will make someone else miserable.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
The Pentastar engine was great, but the transmission really let it down. 8 speeds of lugging it at 1,500 rpm unless you just caned it wasn't really elegant to me.

Our Q5 has the same 8-speed ZF trans. I'm just glad ours .....


It must tick people off who buy an Audi Q5 & then find a Dodge dealership sells cars with the same transmission. I once bought a new '01 BMW and was slightly upset to see it had a GM transmission in it! Something the expensive makes don't like to advertise.
 
Originally Posted By: ExMachina
It must tick people off who buy an Audi Q5 & then find a Dodge dealership sells cars with the same transmission.

Doesn't really bother me, personally. That ZF unit is fairly well regarded in general, used in a ton of applications, including anything from a Dodge up to a Maserati and Rolls Royce. The difference is in the programming. I've driven a newer BMW 3-series with that trans, and the programming was a lot more to my liking than the wife's Q5. Then again, that's what the S mode is for. No complaints there.

Most people don't buy Audis for their transmissions.
 
Those 300C's are very nice. My brother recently purchased a '15 Charger w/ the V6 and I'm very impressed. V6 has enough power, ZF trans is great, and I just love the chassis.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
This 300 was essentially the same way. You had to live with the lugging or you had to cane it.

The one saving grace with ours is that it's supercharged and reaches its max torque at just over 2K rpm, so it doesn't feel like it's lugging, but it's not exactly lively pushing a 4,350 lb brick either, unless you downshift a gear or two or three...
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
What's your experience with the big sedan? Gas mileage? Reliability? Like it, love it, or hate it?

You should dig up the posts by G-MAN. He traded his '12 for an Audi A4.
smile.gif




His wasn't a "C" though, it had the V6 Pentastar, not the big 8 like the 300C the OP is driving has, that makes a big difference.

The 2014 300C has a V6 engine.



Well that's silly, that was historically the easy way to tell the HEMI cars from the V6 ones, looks like they buggered that one up but good
smirk.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
The Pentastar engine was great, but the transmission really let it down. 8 speeds of lugging it at 1,500 rpm unless you just caned it wasn't really elegant to me.

Our Q5 has the same 8-speed ZF trans. I'm just glad ours at least has a Sport mode (plus manual shifting). Otherwise, in regular "D" mode it is somewhat anemic. It keeps the RPMs very low. When you mildly or moderately press the 'go' pedal, it doesn't feel like lugging, but just not much happens. So you either have to treat the gas pedal as an on/off switch or change to S mode, which is what I often do when I drive it around town. The MPG is already horrible, so you might as well enjoy it.

I have no experience with 8-speed ZF trans, my 5-speed AT in E430 has horrible gas mileage in city even with "Winter Mode" at less than 14-15 MPG, so I set it to "Summer Mode" for better response with a little gas mileage penalty, down to 10-12 MPG. Highway mileage is okay at around 24-25 MPG at 80 MPH.
 
Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
A pos 1966 Dodge Dart that I special ordered with a four speed and front disc brakes was the sorriest excuse for a vehicle I ever owned, and I haven't had a Chrysler product since. I think Chrysler had monkeys assembling vehicles in Hamtramck. Some overpaid yahoo somewhere couldn't even put the drain plug in the four speed without getting it cross-threaded. Cr*# on me once, shame on you. Cr*# on me twice, shame on me. And now look what we have. One sorry badge owned by an even sorrier foreign owner. "The Italians are coming the Italians are coming." And what showed up? A 500 POP. Yes sir, it just keeps getting better and better.


Are you hammered?
 
The big 300 continues to impress. Just in my ordinary routine driving since Saturday morning, I've boosted the average mpg readout from 19.1 to 21, and that was with A/C running the whole time. I gassed up this morning -- 87 octane, take note -- and reset that average readout, so we'll see what it reads when I turn the car in on Saturday (or so I hope).
 
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
The big 300 continues to impress. Just in my ordinary routine driving since Saturday morning, I've boosted the average mpg readout from 19.1 to 21, and that was with A/C running the whole time. I gassed up this morning -- 87 octane, take note -- and reset that average readout, so we'll see what it reads when I turn the car in on Saturday (or so I hope).


Great numbers. Those who haven't actually owned one will have a hard time relating...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top