Chrysler updates 300C

The dramatic sedan, and its wagon sibling the Touring, is a money-maker as well as a brand flagship, helping lift the marquee’s awareness in this market.

Launched in 2004, the V6 and V8 sedans were soon joined by the Touring and a diesel engine option in mid-2006. The 317kW SRT8 version arrived in late 2006.

This is quite a family of premium sedans and wagons with striking style matched with a little muscle.

These are not, in the long run, perhaps as sharp in dynamics as Holden's Statesman or the Europeans in this price bracket.

Yet the American sedans' and wagons' style and substance make most of that irrelevant.

For here is a machine that feels like a car and not just a well-polished collection of steel, plastics, glass and gadgets.

Here is a car that feels as if it wants to be driven from here to Cairns and back down to Sydney and around the coast to Melbourne, but skipping Adelaide, then coming back up through the back of New South Wales.

The 300C is big and comfortable. It soaks up bad roads with indifference if without quite the ride control a German vehicle may bring to the job.

This feel-good character arrives from a number of sources – the distinctive styling, the effortless cruising and the handsome interior.

That all this can be done with, among other engine options, a willing and responsive diesel engine returning under 10 litres for 100km is a bonus.

The diesel is not slow with a 0 to 100km/h time around 8.6 seconds and a suggested top speed of 230km/h. This compares with around 7 seconds for the 5.7-litre V8 and a 250km/h top speed; the SRT8, according to the factory, runs low five seconds and a top speed of 265km/h.

All these – sales figures and performance data – are useful numbers.

And so, for season 2008, little has changed in the 300C range.

All the sedans now have an integrated rear boot lid spoiler and high-mounted brake light.

Inside, there's been a minor refresh with LED lighting added to front cup holders and map pockets, a Boston Acoustics eight-speaker surround-sound system and Chrysler's MyGIG multimedia entertainment system with 20GB hard drive.

An iPod interface is added to the hands-free phone system.

There are silver inserts for the instruments and more airbags with seat-mounted side airbags up front and side-curtain bags for the rear. Now standard on SRT8 models, optional on others, is adaptive cruise control, which adjusts the set speed to accommodate surrounding traffic.

And the 5.7-litre version now offers a fuel-saver-mode display as part of the Electronic Vehicle Information Centre, allowing the driver to see when the V8 has dropped to four-cylinder mode to save fuel. (Chrysler's multi-displacement system allows the engine to turn from V8 to V4 in one stroke of the piston when less than 90 per cent of the engine's torque is required.)

Prices for the 300C still start at $53,990 and $59,990 for the 5.7-litre V8. The diesel-powered Chrysler has crept up $400 to $58,390 and the SRT8, now with adaptive cruise and satellite navigation, is up $2000 to $73,990. Touring versions are $3000 extra.

And all these Chryslers remain attractive cars at attractive prices.