cars :: essays research papers

It's been all too long since a new American sedan created anything more than an apathetic yawn from consumers. Between relentless Japanese competition and America's seemingly endless obsession with trucks and SUVs, the idea that a domestic four-door could be the "it" car of the year seemed laughable. Then along came Chrysler's new 300 sedan, a car so unabashedly nontraditional in both its style and its substance that it makes the competition look hopelessly bland in comparison. Chrysler veered from the usual route of designing a car that would appeal to the broadest swath of the general public and instead went for a look that's original at best and polarizing at worst. Like it or not, there's no denying that it has a presence on the road that no Camry or Taurus could ever hope to duplicate. Backing up its sinister looks is the performance of a rear-wheel-drive chassis and a suspension design shared with some of its more expensive Mercedes cousins. And not only does the outrageous exterior look good, it surrounds a cavernous, well-trimmed interior that's as spacious as any sedan on the road. Built to straddle the lines between upscale family car and entry-level luxury sport sedan, the 300 offers both a base V6 (190 horsepower) and a midlevel V6 (250 hp), depending on your budget. As surprisingly adept as these V6s are at getting the big sedan up to speed, it's the top-of-the-line Hemi-engined 300C that gives the car its star power. With 340 horses running through a five-speed automatic transmission, the 300C is in a class of its own. And if that's not enough, you can always step up to the high-performance SRT-8 version that packs a 425-hp Hemi under the hood along with larger wheels and a lowered stance. Chrysler took a chance when it decided on such a radical design for the 300 and the results speak for themselves.