http://www.freep.com/money/autoreviews/3004_20040304.htm

"...If Chrysler finds a way to show other potential customers rear drive is safe, it's scored a hat trick of price, practicality and performance."

"...Despite the use of some materials that sell an otherwise excellent car short, the Chrysler 300 is a lot of car for the money. With an exceptional combination of style, performance and utility, it's a winner."

Yeah, they really liked both the 300 and the Magnum.

Autoweek also has the 300c on the cover this week and they too are quite impressed.

and the response from Mike W is..............

and the response from Adaptabl is..........

"Even the base model's 190-horsepower, 2.7-liter V6 moved the 300 well, accelerating confidently away from stoplights and on the highway".....now that is surprising

"Despite the use of some materials that sell an otherwise excellent car short, the Chrysler 300 is a lot of car for the money. With an exceptional combination of style, performance and utility, it's a winner"...he said it best

A mother and a minivan user, Tompor admired the 300's looks but worried that its rear-wheel-drive layout would make it unsafe on slippery roads.

Since when does a mother and minivan user know the difference between fwd and rwd?

:eek:

you would be surprised....its not just the woman, look at her husband, if he knows jack about cars, she wont know anything either...but you would be surprised at the number of women car testers

maybe these are nice cars to drive (loaned to a journalist for the day) but they will be bad cars to own.
Why the hell did they take out the full size spare wheel well. What do you do with a flat tire (one that isn't completely flat-with the tire coming off the wheel) It is okay (sort of) to have a mini spare, but they NEED to write 'NO MINI SPARE ON DRIVE AXLE' I have seen so many people with the mini spare on the front axle of front wheel drive cars and on the rear of rear drive cars.
It would be okay for a short trip, <1 hour < 50 mph <10 miles, just to get: home, repair shop, etc.

Even if there is a normal size tire, you still have to do a double change. The spare Eagle GA 225/60 16 in the trunk is too big to go on the front axle of the intrepid, since it has 235/55 16, so if the front got a flat. I have to do a double tire change. It is what is required.

Why the hell isn't there a dual exhaust on the V6's, They don't get it. To make a car line fast, don't raise the top. GM is sort of doing this the CTS, Dropping the anemic 3.2 and replacing it with the competent 3.6. They will eventually drop the 3.6 from the new STS (why the funk even start with it?)

Originally posted by Intrepid99
Since when does a mother and minivan user know the difference between fwd and rwd?

:eek:

Since everyone who sells or owns FWD cars will be telling buyers that RWD (300 and Magmun) will get stuck in the first snow fall. DC will by swimming upstream on this one. The higher end buyer will understand the RWD can be better(but they don't usually buy Chryslers). For most average buyers FWD is a better solution.

Hopefully the Germans will have enough sense to do a video like BMW did that shows the difference in fwd / rwd and rwd with traction and stability control in the snow and ice. It's all about education. They still should make the traction and stability control standard on all models as well. I really don't understand why they haven't.

If you are at a dead stop on a slight incline rwd vs fwd the fwd car will be more likely to start to move. Once the car is moving the rwd which is better balanced will handle better.

Keep in mind I drove my rwd this winter in snow with all season radials without a problem...

I hope they all come standard with anti-lock brakes... I have seen so many stupid morons slam their brakes on in the snow and spin out ... anti-locks are a life saver the govt should almost require them

only the Base model 300 makes ABS an option, standard on rest., And Mike, why do you think the 225/60 won't fit on the front of the intrepid? ITS THE EXACT SAME SIZE THAT CAME ORIGINALLY, and it fit fine on the front axle...and BTW a 235/55/16 is half an inch shorter than a 225/60...so your it wouldnt fit, doesnt work anyway...you need to check the factory specs of the Intrepid, since even the R/T only got 225/55/17s put on it...have a nice day

The Eagle GA in the trunk (as spare) has 0 miles on it. (knock on wood) The current tires are 235/55 16 Kumhos and they are half done. So if I put the spare tire on the front wheel, the differential would have to continuously differentiate while driving. That is NO NO considering the diff. is a single axis spider, and there aren't any differential bearing on the pinions.

So if I get a front flat, first I have to obtain a donor tire for the front axle (from the rear) by putting the spare on the rear.

Originally posted by MikeW
The Eagle GA in the trunk (as spare) has 0 miles on it. (knock on wood) The current tires are 235/55 16 Kumhos and they are half done. So if I put the spare tire on the front wheel, the differential would have to continuously differentiate while driving. That is NO NO considering the diff. is a single axis spider, and there aren't any differential bearing on the pinions.

So if I get a front flat, first I have to obtain a donor tire for the front axle (from the rear) by putting the spare on the rear.

For short trips it would not be a problem. If you go to non-standard tire sizes you should buy the correct spare also. So you can drive long distances before repairing the flat.

I wasn't going to buy a new tire for the spare wheel. Unless someone would donate a new aluminum wheel to replace the spare steelie. The spare will do a fine job on the rear if and when the time comes.