Chrysler 300c SRT-8
Introduction
Chrysler 300c SRT-8
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Beginning in the nineteen fifties, the
Chrysler Corporation begin to control
the American performance car market with the introduction of its 300 line.
The 300 had many automotive technologic breakthroughs as well as the Daytona
leading performance. As the
300 series progressed throughout its life cycle,
it strayed a bit from performance car, and leaned more toward full size
luxury car, as it had always been a fairly large vehicle. As the small engines
became more popular, and the Hemi was removed from the 300 line, popularity
of the 300 faded, and in nineteen seventy one, the last of the real 300's
rolled off the assembly line. Eight years later, the Chrysler Cordoba offered
a high line version with the 300 name, but even with the classy interior
upgrades, the 195 horsepower was a far cry from the golden age of the 300.
Nineteen ninety nine brought Chrysler fans an attempt at a return to
greatness with the return of the 300, and the letter series, with the
Chrysler 300M. This was obviously the first ever front wheel drive in the
300 lineup, and although it only offered buyers a six cylinder engine, it
was the second fastest 300 in the car's history. While this new 300M
offered the luxury of the past 300's, mixed with modern technology, and
decent performance numbers, Chrysler enthusiasts wanted the feel of the
original 300, which could only be provided by rear wheel drive, and a
monster engine. Well, ask and ye shall receive. With the release of the
two thousand and five model year, the 300 was back. A real 300, with all of
the modern luxuries of the day, rear wheel drive, and even the return of the
fabled Chrysler Hemi. While this new 300 offered lower line options of a
2.7 liter and 3.5 liter high output engine, the newly designed Hemi carries
a take rate of almost fifty percent. This new Hemi differed from the street
Hemi of olden days in that it lacked the pistons which enter the cylinder
head, two spark plugs per cylinder to ensure proper spark, and to assist the
economy of the big horsepower 300C, a multiple displacement system has been
installed. European like styling tops off the smooth muscular lines and the
brash powerhouse. Like its higher priced cousins in the
Mercedes Benz with
the 4-matic, late in the 2005 model year the 300C Hemi began offering an all
wheel drive option. And while this new Hemi at 5.7 liters was substantially
smaller than the roughly 7.0 liter original Hemi and far more efficient, it
still builds a beefy three hundred and forty five horsepower. But people
still wanted more. Younger buyers unaware of the muscle car era Hemi, as
always, wanted more power and buyers familiar with the older Hemi reminisced
of the day where the gas guzzling 426 Hemi came packed with a awesome four
hundred and twenty five horsepower; this difference in the original Hemi and
the modern one becoming the biggest, and often only, complaint of the new
Hemi packed into the 300C. Well, Chrysler Corporation, having found
themselves amidst a horsepower war decided to employ the efforts of their
Performance Vehicle Operations and what they have come up with is simply
amazing. An increased size to the new Hemi, to 6.1 liters, and an increase
in horsepower to an awesome four hundred and twenty five, was announced to be
packed into all of the eight cylinder 2006 SRT vehicles, which make for fine
company for the supercharged SRT-6 Crossfire, the turbocharged SRT-4 Neon,
and the dual Viper Powered SRT-10 machines. The three eight cylinder
powered SRT vehicles are the
Charger SRT-8, the Magnum SRT-8, and the car
that is sure to set the pace for the performance luxury car market
worldwide; the simply amazing
2006 Chrysler 300C SRT-8.
Performance
Chrysler 300c SRT-8
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It is no secret that this new model 300C was built for brute performance.
Just the name SRT, which stands for Street and Racing Technology, gives the
new SRT-8 a direction in life. While to the naked eye, one look at an SRT-8
brochure provides most of the numbers anyone really needs to know; 6.1
liters, four hundred and twenty five horsepower, four hundred and twenty
pound feet of torque, simple addition of engine size and consequently,
horsepower was not as short and sweet as it may sound. During design the
engineers looked at the popularity of the original Hemi, and that was where
the horsepower measure comes from, but this Hemi offers 69.8 horsepower per
liter ratio which far exceeds the old Hemi. To give the new SRT-8 Hemi a
nostalgic look, it bears the large black valve covers and a 'Hemi Orange'
engine block. This 6.1 liter Hemi is actually just a beefed up version of
the 5.7 liter Hemi found in the non-SRT Hemi cars in the Dodge and Chrysler
lineup. To increase the engine volume and horsepower the first step was
increasing the cylinder size. Each cylinder was increased in diameter by
three and a half millimeters. The compression ratio of this naturally
aspirated power plant was increased from 9.6 to 1, to 10.3 to 1. The huge
cylinder heads, which are what makes a Hemi a Hemi, were specially
redesigned on the new 6.1 liter engine, with special care taken in the areas
of the intake and exhaust ports, as well as increased size in the intake and
exhaust valves which are one piece, and have hollow stems that are then
injected with sodium to help control internal engine heat, allowing this
head to breathe as freely as possible. In order to feed these larger finely
tuned intake ports, an intake manifold designed specifically for use with
this cylinder head pattern has been applied, featuring huge smooth intake
runners. Once the air enters the new cylinder head design, camshafts
redesigned specifically for this engine help to perfect the combustion
process, allowing for smoother movement of the pre and post combustion
gases, and at the same time allowing this new Hemi to have a higher redline
for maximum performance. The engine block itself has been altered, with
relocation of the water ports for more efficient cooling, and with the
smoother interior of the cooling ports, the engine has less draw placed on
it by the freer flow of the water pump. To protect the internals of this
new 6.1 liter Hemi the bottom end is comprised of a forged steel crankshaft,
high strength light weight piston connecting rods, floating pin pistons, and
keeping this all moving smoothly is the newly refined oiling system which
includes oil injectors in each cylinder and a new oil pan design which helps
top cut down on engine foaming at high RPMs. On the other end of the
combustion process 'header' style exhaust manifolds in which each exhaust
port exhausts through a separate tube as opposed to all of them emptying
into one large chamber which then heads to the exhaust system thus helping
greatly to increase exhaust flow, have been added to this new Hemi and in
order to contain the heat from these separate tubes and to preserve a nice
clean engine bay look, as the tubes meet they are gathered in a stainless
steel shell. These four tubes per engine bank meet in a two and three
quarters inch collector, which meet up with the huge exhaust system baring
the same diameter as the header collector. Traveling to the rear of the car
this increased size exhaust system goes through a set of high flow mufflers
which allow for a great deep throaty Hemi sound bellowing from the three and
a half inch chrome exhaust tips. Putting all of this power to the ground is
the A580 five speed automatic transmission, fitted with an electronically
controlled AutoStick feature. This allows the control of a manual
transmission for a driving enthusiast, while not removing the luxury car
option of the self shifting transmission. That transmission sends its power
down a light weight high strength drive shaft to a redesigned rear
differential, and thanks to the transmission and differential combination a
3.09 final drive ratio allows for excellent low end acceleration, ripping
this lumbering forty two hundred pound car from zero to sixty in right
around five seconds, and pulling the car the length of a standing quarter
mile in the high thirteen second range.
Handling
Chrysler 300c SRT-8
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So, big horsepower numbers are back but the engineers at SRT knew that
today's sports car enthusiast wants more than just quarter mile performance.
That is where the suspension and brake tuning of the SRT-8 come into play.
Their goal was to refine the undercarriage of the new 300C SRT-8 to give
the heavy luxury sedan a sports car's ability, without negatively affecting
the ride quality someone expects out of a high end luxury car. The steering
has been altered to give the SRT-8 a tighter feel, from the steering wheel
itself all the way to the ground. The steering wheel has been wrapped
thinner, allowing for a better grip. A 16.1 to 1 ratio steering box gives it
agile, acute steering without compromising the turning radius for such a
huge car, allowing for a 38.9 foot turning diameter. Lock to lock takes
about two and three quarter turns of the wheel, and while compared to a
smaller car with similar performance numbers the steering may feel a bit
loose, the driver has to keep in mind that they are behind the wheel of a
forty two hundred pound sedan, but unlike other big high performance sedans,
the SRT-8 never has a boat like lumbering feeling. The steering is,
however, acute enough that when hitting a turn on a tight course, a quick
cut of the wheel will bring the back end out allowing the car to put up
quite a display of tire smoke with the electronic stability program (ESP).
This new ESP program has been tuned specifically for the performance output
of this SRT-8. Regardless of speed the program detects the body roll of the
car, and with the use of the throttle and Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS), it
helps to settle the car down under hard cornering. The suspension working
with the ESP has also been tuned for the power output. The front suspension
is an Independent SLA with high upper "A" arm, lateral and diagonal lower
links with dual ball joint front knuckle, and revised stabilizer bar lower
"A" arm. The coil springs have been changed for this SRT-8, and are tucked
over gas-charged shock absorbers have been changed in rate and dampening and
to keep the wheels firmly to the ground under cornering a larger diameter
sway bar with increased bushings has been installed. The rear suspension is
a five-link independent setup with coil springs, gas-charged shock absorbers
which have also been internally tuned. A revised rear stabilizer bar has
been installed to match the front, and help keep the drive wheels firm to
the ground to aide traction in every type of acceleration. These suspension
alterations, additions and upgrades allow the 300C SRT-8 sit about a half
inch lower to the ground. If the 300C SRT-8 hit's a turn that the suspension
can not handle, the beefier braking system makes sure that it stays safely
on the road. The entire braking system has been designed by the people at
Brembo. One of the biggest names in performance street and track use, it
would only make sense the SRT engineers would turn to them in their braking
issue hour of need. All four corners have been packed with aluminum Brembo
calipers, each housing four large pistons which bite down on huge Brembo
vented rotors, 14.2 inch by 1.26 inch in the front and 13.8 inch by 1.10
inch in the rear. Helping the new SRT-8 slice through the corners, bite off
the line, or (should the need arise) lock down to the road with the Brembo
braking system, are the huge new twenty by nine inch custom aluminum SRT
wheel, wrapped in P245/45R20 Three Season Goodyear F1 Supercar radials in
the front; and in the rear the same model line of the Three Season Goodyear
F1 Supercars but in P255/45R20.
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Styling
Chrysler 300c SRT-8
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While the 300C SRT-8 may just appear to be a Chrysler 300 to someone who is
not in the know, subtle styling issues have been made to add more a sportier
look while holding true to the luxury sedan form. The front and rear
fascias have been modified to allow for better air flow under and over the
car, lowering the drag coefficient to a mere 0.355. The front fascia also
features brake cooling air dams to keep the huge Brembo kits nice and cool.
The rear deck lid spoiler, while being very small and subtle adds thirty
nine percent more downforce at high speeds without increasing drag. The
exterior mirrors, door handles, bumper inserts, and grille have been changed
to the body color chosen (either Bright Silver or Brilliant Black), as
opposed to being chromed, to give it a smoother sports car look. The last
exterior addition is, like all SRT vehicles, the familiar SRT-8 badging.
The interior has also been spruced up a bit to add a sports car feel to the
luxury car. Race inspired front seats have been added to hold the driver
and passenger firm in place during some romps on windy back roads, with
matching look seats in the rear, all leather covered with the SRT-8 logo
embroidered into the seatback. In order to preserve the luxury feel, these
front racing seats are heated. And are fully power with memory options,
which when coupled with the memory adjustable pedals, a driver of any height
can find him, or her self right at home. Special leather trim has been
added to the steering wheel, shifter and door handles for a firm grip, yet
classy look, and added SRT trim to the console, when combined with the Light
Graystone and Dark Slate interior color, help this interior stand out from
the non-SRT models. In order to keep the driver fully informed as to the
workings of the SRT-8 the vintage look gauge cluster includes a large one
hundred and eighty mile per hour speedometer, and a matching sized
tachometer, with a temperature and fuel gauge flanking. The space between
the tachometer and speedometer is filled nicely with the shift indicator
piled atop each other, with the read out of the selected gear at the bottom,
and a vehicle information center with one hundred and twenty eight
programmable options. Keeping in line with the concern for passenger
comfort the SRT-8 contains an infrared automatic dual zone climate control
system, with manual over ride. To keep with the modern technology of many
luxury models, and seven speaker system from Boston Acoustics powered by a
standard stereo with six-disc CD changer and a navigation system with a five
inch LCD screen, controlled by the steering wheel mounted switches. Sirius
satellite radio can be ordered and is fully compatible with the SRT-8
stereo, and for those who may be using this gorgeous new 300C SRT-8 for
business use, a Blue Tooth compatible hands free phone system is offered.
Safety
Chrysler 300c SRT-8
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Chrysler Corporation knows that without their customers they are nothing, so
the new SRT-8 is packed with every safety feature expected from a luxury
class sedan. As mentioned ESP and ABS help to control the car during high
speed driving or just a wintry drive to Grandma's house, but plenty of other
features have been put in place. High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights
have been installed to allow for excellent vision during night time or rainy
driving. And in the case of an accident, a Chrysler standard advanced multi
stage air bag system which opens the airbags dependant on vehicle speed and
impact force; and a occupant classification system detects the weight of the
passenger side rider and opens the air bag on that side in conjunction with
the appropriate weight resistance. To further protect the driver in the
event of a head on accident, an energy absorbing steering column prevents
the steering column from jutting into the passenger box by means of a set of
collapsing coaxial tubes. Three point safety belts are standard at all five
seating positions, with child seat tethers to keep precious little ones safe
in place.
Summary
Well, luxury has truly met sports car with this one. The new SRT-8 300C
offers every feature a perspective buyer could ask in a full sized luxury
sedan, packed with the suspension of a high end sports car, the braking
excellence of Brembo, and the force of 425 brute horsepower in the new 6.1
liter Hemi. A quick romp through a designed autocross course will allow this
car to sell itself to any true performance car enthusiast. The acceleration
easily sets you back in the seat and upon reaching a hard turn, the
suspension keeps the car snug to the road, and with the occasional need to
slow the car down for a tight hairpin turn, the brakes and ESP get the car
stopped and headed in the other direction with almost no body roll. As you
hit a hard turn and get on the binders the cars natural force to lean is
controlled quickly by the ESP, and as the car settles, the throttle control
is instantly returned to the rear wheels with next to no lag. With the ESP
deactivated, the car offers a great fun ride, with the engine often
overpowering the rear wheels, giving the car a smooth drift through the
turns and the comfortable seats keep you planted in place. An estimated
selling price of around forty thousand dollars prices it thousands below the
competition of the BMW M5, or the Cadillac STS-V, while offering comparable,
if not more performance. This car is nothing short of amazing, with the
interior and exterior trim that will allow a passenger to forget that he or
she is in a high end luxury car, yet the performance that will make the
driver feel like he or she is in a car meant only for performance. In an
automotive era of "Crossover vehicles" Chrysler has come up with one that
will likely go down in history like the classic 300s of the 1960s packed
with a classic engine name that made this company famous in the muscle car
era, this new 6.1 liter Hemi will surely become the standard for performance
and luxury cars worldwide.
