If there are no performance mods, I think it’s a mistake to badge it an SRT.

Badge it however you want…it’s awesome and they will sell all they can make!!

Thanks LLN for showing us the revised rear of the car- not. No matter. Since Chrysler just announced the 300 will live and for us to expect the new one as a 2011 model that gives them plenty of time to certify the diesel for North America. Talk about having your cake and eating it too: full size, great looking rear drive American iron and fuel economy to boot. I hope they have this on the top of their list of things to do.

Why bother slapping on the SRT badge when most of Europe doesn’t know anything about its lineage anyway?

This is just a slap in the face to American SRT fans.

They have had SRT-look packages before. Not much difference, really.

I’d never choose an Audi or unreliable bimmer over this. Though I’d rather have the regular old HEMI. The three brands don’t compete. The 300 is MUCH more affordable than a A8 or 7-series. If anything it won’t do well because Europeans don’t like the aggressive styling of American vehicles. They prefer the blandness of BMW.

Im gonna have to agree with Scarface on this one. Whats the point of badging this an SRT if it dosent have the one thing that makes SRT’s unique. And thats the engine. Honestly Chrysler. if your going to give Europe a little bit of American Tradition (Big ass RWD Yank-Tanks) then give them the engine to boot.

biased and bigoted? That’s the pot calling the kettle black. BMWs are known for handling not reliability. I’m sure there must be some reason BMW offers free maintenance to get customers to buy in.

I wouldn’t call BMW reliable, but they are miles above your average Merc or VW build quality. And bland? Maybe in some respects, but I consider BMW vehicles to be quite beautiful cars, aside from the ugly 6-series and Z4.

Regardless, anything built by Chrysler doesn’t even come close to competing with the upscale German brands. They should try holding a candle to Cadillac first..

^I personally thaught that Bimmers were pretty reliable. M-B are the ones with reliability issues. lol.

BMW’s are reliable. I own two and have never had a problem with either one. I can’t say the same about the Eagle Vision Tsi I used to have. American cars are garbage in every way. This Chrysler looks OK but it is horrendous to drive (regular 300C).

Being in the car business and reading the nonsense posted here I feel compelled to comment. German cars are some of the most unreliable vehicles built. Not only are they unreliable but they niggle their owners to death with stupid electrical issues and god forbid you keep one past the warranty expiration date and have to pay exhorbitant parts and labor prices. Prestige (whatever that’s worth)maybe but reliability, no.

Chysler isn’t intended to compete with Cadillac or BMW or MB. They’re the missing middle market brand. Buick/Acura level if you will. And the SRT8 300 will eat any German sedan anywhere near its price tag.

I don’t think German cars in general are terribly reliable (MB diesel motors excluded)

I think they’re bland as I think nearly all modern cars are bland. The only ones I’d say have style are the 300 (and LX twin Charger), Town Car, Challenger, Camaro, and Mustang. They are all wedges of cheese on wheels. All cars have short stumpy hoods and short stumpy trunks. The hoods slope down to an absurd level (I like to see out to the end of my hood when I drive, I miss that in my old 84 Olds), the whole car is wedge shaped with a gigantic rear plastic mess of a bumper with an absurdly tall trunk. There’s no flair whatsoever (think the fins and angry face of a 59 Invicta) and nothing to change the basic wedge shape of a car. Camaro, Challenger and Mustang all defy that shape because they’re throwbacks. Town Car because its an old platform. 300 and Charger because they’re throwbacks as well. Though they suffer from stump-trunk syndrome as well. It all looks so basic and dull to me. Cars use to look different based on shape, not just styling cues. You could easily tell a 59 Cadillac from a 59 Impala even if you silhouetted the cars. Could you tell a Malibu and CTS apart easily if they were silhouetted?

All this makes me glad I drive a truck. Aerodynamics (the root cause of such blandness) can burn in hell.

Every single European review I have read on this car has bashed the hell out of it, and I can’t see this thing selling well as is in Europe. So, what’s the point of this? I understand that the Euros like diesels more than us US’ians do, but it’s not like adding a diesel option will all of a sudden make the 300 an attractive buy. I just don’t see the point, the R & D used making this could have gone towards deveoping the next gen model.

Personally I never liked the 300, from it’s styling to it’s cheap interior, to it’s poor handling. I test drove the 300C soon after it came out with somewhat high expectations, and was let down tremendously.

Frylock- I wouldn’t be so conceived to say aerodynamics are the main cause. I would personally say it’s because no designer has the guts to make something extremely different from the current designs. You used to be able to change the shape of a fin, make the headlights stretch out a little bit, add chrome everywhere… but now, chrome is out of place, fins and headlights are deemed “unsafe”, and most car buyers are conservative drones. I can tell you, I know best.

terk, CA36GTP, My Si- Part of that is because most German electrical systems are extremely complicated. I mean, the Golf is supposed to be a simple car, but everything’s so… unorganized. That’s, atleast in my opinion, mostly comparing to a Taurus.

@sunshine1810,
Buick and Lexus are tied for the top spot in long-term reliability. Buick’s American last I checked.

@LexusSoarer,
What R+D? It was already done with the Grand Cherokee with the same motor (they use a very similar drivetrain). All they did for the motor was say “MB, I can has diesel?” and MB says “ja”. Also what did you expect from the 300C handling? Its not supposed to be a sports sedan its supposed to be a traditional “boat” style American cruiser. The SRT8 model which is supposed to be a sports sedan handles quite well. The “cheap” interior is very underrated. It feels solid and not at all flimsy. Besides do you expect a $60k car’s interior in a $30k car? What let me down about the car was the cop-out rear end that was just and update of the FWD 300M.

Don’t worry dudes, this will sell like hot-cakes in Europe! Us europeans eat this diesel bull**** every day!
Our favorite cars are German entry-level sedans with the crappiest diesel possible but with a AMG / M / S-line body kit. No optional rims though! Standard will do fine.
I’m sorry that Chrysler has done such a thing as selling an underpowered car (diesel or no diesel, it’s still underpowered) under the SRT brand.

“No one in Europe will choose this over prestige like an Audi or BMW”

I’d have to disagree there, my Uncle in Germany had a Chrysler 300 and recently traded it in on a Cadillac CTS. Before the 300 he had an Oldsmobile. He likes the comfort of US cars as well as that they definitely separate you from ‘the crowd’ but readily admits their quality and especially the braking ability, is sub-par compared to the typical Audi, BMW or even Euro Ford.

Otherwise, they should have called it the 300 STD..

what a crappy car.

Dodoowalltaster24/7 reads way too much MotorTrend

I have a friend who bought a 300 in August and she loves it, way better than the 07 CTS, now thats a car with a crap interior, and smart americans wont fall for the diesel B.S. diesel engines skyrocket the price of most cars and trucks anyway.

300 STD – that’s a good one SanFord.

This car is a piece of ****; huge wheels anbd stick on bits of plastic don’t make a great car. Europeans will never go for this ****……..I’m guessing only the English will buy this…..enough said!

STD… Maybe Thats how the Crossfire died…..

Funny enough, if I see an American car here in Europe, it most likely is a 300C. These things do sell, ****ty ride or not.

300C sells here in Europe cos they are dirty cheap opposed to the german monsters… you get a car the size of a 7 series, S Class, A8… under 5 series, E Class, A6 price tag, that is why they sell here, period.

I wonder if it is gonna be better than über****tyride like a peugeot 607, dear americans google it and laugh…

Does anybody have some actual sales figures for Europe? I mean, does it sell well, or not?

frylock; you misundertood me. The 300 sells like sh!t on a plate in Europe…which is not that much. My R&D comment was more tongue in cheek than anything. Sure the car has price advantage, but the vehicle is just flat out incompetent when it comes to comparisons with higher priced vehicles of course. The car’s interior is cheap, I’ve driven a couple of them, the car’s handling is poor, and the refinement leaves a lot to be desired. The only selling point is that it’s a fairly quick automobile for the price, that’s it. It may attract a few buyers in Europe, but it’ll do nothing to change the 300’s tarnished image for the Euros.

How about on for the good ol’ USA?