RE: Blood Brothers: Mercedes E55 AMG vs Chrysler 300C
Discussion
First thing I did when I got my SRT8 was to remove the Startech grille and put an original back on. At all driving speeds the temp gauge sat lower showing that the stock grille let more air through, combined that with a lower temp thermostat from the US and the cooling fans remapped to cut in lower reduced the amount of heat soak in the engine considerably. At this point without a full cat back exhaust and custom remap my SRT8 was pushing 379bhp at the rear wheels (475bhp flywheel).
They really are proper rocket ships with a bit of cheap tuning.
Stef
They really are proper rocket ships with a bit of cheap tuning.
Stef
Given that this era of Benz is prone to some heart-stopping bills, I'd take the Yank, I think. It's slower, but that's a relative thing out here in SA. And while the interior is no oil-painting, the SRT8 has awesome seats, and I find the plastics in the pre-facelift W211 to be quite shocking anyway, so not much to choose between them.
Edited by Budleigh on Sunday 24th February 23:20
C36 Nico said:
So the merc had superior ride quality, better fuel economy, better interior quality and looks better?
Right, nothing new there...
moving on..
Cost nearly twice as much as well.Right, nothing new there...
moving on..
And you'd be surprised at the fuel economy, wait, the last time I pointed out that an American car that you called a gas guzzler got substantially better mileage than your slower C36 you never did respond...
Quality? The Merc has better interior plastics, which it OUGHT to for nearly twice the money. But more reliable? No. And they do rust, especially here where we get salt all winter long. They also cost a fortune to fix and service.
The only thing i would do 300C is put some decent non-adjustable suspension other than that i wouldn't mind owning the old one.
But the new Chrysler 300C has nothing shared with Mercedes and every single bit of nice engineering they gone 2 decades backwards to make it feel like a cheap shoddy yank tank. How they could go so backwards in every single aspect from design, engineering, exterior and interior quality, ride, comfort, space, engine, everything from a half decent platform is bewildering and embarrassing.
But the new Chrysler 300C has nothing shared with Mercedes and every single bit of nice engineering they gone 2 decades backwards to make it feel like a cheap shoddy yank tank. How they could go so backwards in every single aspect from design, engineering, exterior and interior quality, ride, comfort, space, engine, everything from a half decent platform is bewildering and embarrassing.
Donkey62 said:
The only thing i would do 300C is put some decent non-adjustable suspension other than that i wouldn't mind owning the old one.
But the new Chrysler 300C has nothing shared with Mercedes and every single bit of nice engineering they gone 2 decades backwards to make it feel like a cheap shoddy yank tank. How they could go so backwards in every single aspect from design, engineering, exterior and interior quality, ride, comfort, space, engine, everything from a half decent platform is bewildering and embarrassing.
so that'll be the influence of the 'technically and stylistically advanced' Europeans (Italians in this case).....But the new Chrysler 300C has nothing shared with Mercedes and every single bit of nice engineering they gone 2 decades backwards to make it feel like a cheap shoddy yank tank. How they could go so backwards in every single aspect from design, engineering, exterior and interior quality, ride, comfort, space, engine, everything from a half decent platform is bewildering and embarrassing.
Donkey62 said:
The only thing i would do 300C is put some decent non-adjustable suspension other than that i wouldn't mind owning the old one.
But the new Chrysler 300C has nothing shared with Mercedes and every single bit of nice engineering they gone 2 decades backwards to make it feel like a cheap shoddy yank tank. How they could go so backwards in every single aspect from design, engineering, exterior and interior quality, ride, comfort, space, engine, everything from a half decent platform is bewildering and embarrassing.
every aspectBut the new Chrysler 300C has nothing shared with Mercedes and every single bit of nice engineering they gone 2 decades backwards to make it feel like a cheap shoddy yank tank. How they could go so backwards in every single aspect from design, engineering, exterior and interior quality, ride, comfort, space, engine, everything from a half decent platform is bewildering and embarrassing.
Really? what on earth are you basing that on? the diesel engine is a brand new design by fiat and from everything i've read gets good reviews
Interior quality is a huge leap forward over the previous 300c. Huge I was very impressed with it. No more plastic dash is all leather covered.
I even think it looks good. Reveiws of ride and handling have been quite good as well. Now add in that you can get one for around 30k ( I was offered a new onefor that well their demo car but it had about 300 miles on it) its a pretty good proposition IMO. there are only two levels of trim and I think the only option extra above that is the top stereo. try specking up an e class to even the lower trim level. no it wont be as good as a e class but its still very worth considering.
Edited by Pesty on Monday 25th February 12:39
callyman said:
y2blade said:
Good piece on the 300C on Fifth gear the other day.
Lowest score they'd ever given IIRC?Problem is that it's all very well raising the stakes with the higher quality but they've raised the price too, and as Fifth Queer said, you can get a decent spec BMW 520D for the same money and lower running costs.
Similar thing with the VXR8 (although that price rise was to do with the strengthening of the Aussie dollar).
They start off as absolute bargains, but as soon as the 'new' model comes along, they get greedy with the prices.
I'd like to see the 6.4L SRT8 300C come to the UK, would be a great second or third hand purchase.
Stef
StefanVXR8 said:
As an ex-300C SRT8 owner I'd have to say that it is so much better than people would imagine.
It was a lot quicker to 60 than the official figure stated, typically they will break 60 in 4.5 seconds as standard, buy a £300 Predator Diablo and that 0-60 time got just above 4 seconds, plus you could remove the 167 mph limit and they are good for 190+ mph.
As an E55 owner I can tell you that their 0-60 times were conservative at 4.7 secs, they have regularly been reported at about 4.4-4.5, the main trouble with them is getting traction from launch, but once their moving they are amazingly fast.It was a lot quicker to 60 than the official figure stated, typically they will break 60 in 4.5 seconds as standard, buy a £300 Predator Diablo and that 0-60 time got just above 4 seconds, plus you could remove the 167 mph limit and they are good for 190+ mph.
Also a different supercharger pulley and a remap will send it to 550+ BHP and about 600+ ft/lb of torque.
Don't get me wrong I actually quite like the 300c, got to love that big Hemi, but performance wise the E55 is ahead of it, my only main regret is I didn't buy a CLS instead.
Also reliability wise the only thing that went wrong is the charge cooler pump, a common issue on 55 Kompressor engines, costed about £400 to replace which included fitting, other than that it has just been servicing,brakes and tyres, servicing isn't too bad, brakes for them are expensive-£1k for a set, tyres about £220 each and it does tend to eat rears.
Edited by Walter Sobchak on Tuesday 26th February 13:08
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