DOES YOUR CAR WAX GIVE YOU BETTER PROTECTION THAN YOUR CUT-RATE CAR INSURANCE? D on't trust just anyone to insure your car, see me: ST Wayne McGill 2345 Wyecroft Rd. #21, Oakville 905-847-5671 BEST WHEELS E l An Oakville Beaver Automotive Feature · To advertise in this section call 905-845-3824 or Fax 905-337-5568 set of tires like these Pilots. Incidently, the owner's manual has a huge orange sticker on the back warning drivers not to use these tires in ice or snow. If you have a high performance car with racy tires, you might want to think about a second set of all-season or mud and snow tires for the kind of conditions we are getting right now in early spring. It has been awhile since I drove a 300M, but this vehicle seemed swift indeed. With the AutoStick in sequential mode, you can extract even more straight-line speed. I just leave these things in 'D' because I don't like to take my concentration off the road to hunt around the dash or transmission tunnel for a light to tell me what gear I'm in. I was also impressed by the gasoline consumption which was about oneeighth of a tank a day to and from work, which I usually get from econocars. The fuel tank is 14.3 gallons (65 litres) which is a normal size. Transport Canada lists consumption of the 300M at 13.1L/100 km (22 mpg) city, and 8.3L/100 km (34 mpg) highway. As always with any car made in Ontario, I did a walk around of the pan els to check for even alignment. The make-it or break-it area are the shut lines around the trunk lid or the engine cover. On my tester, they were near perfect proving once again the CAW assemblers are among the best in the world at their job. There is currently a nice crop of highlux, high-bucks luxury sedans on the market. If you look at the 300M in terms of its German or Japanese competitors for passenger volume, the 300M Special's list price of $43,305 seems almost meagre. If you compare it against the exceptional mid-size luxury sedans on the market today, the 300M is still less, but it offers much more room. Take it from the vantage of price or from the vantage of volume, the 300M Special is specially positioned to keep on being one of Chrysler's big sedan suc cesses. Something a little hotter for 300M fans T he 300M has been a great success for Chrysler since its launch in May 1998 as a 1999 model. It is one of the four large sedans based on the 'LH' platform and produced in Bramalea, Ont. Along with the Intrepid, Concorde, and LHS, the 300M was introduced with much (in fact some thought too much) ballyhoo. The 300M was to be one of the so-called 'letter series' sedans that would bring a new letter and more power. With Ram Hemi engines first Jim Robinson , and monstrous 413 cu. in. V8s, these were very, very fast cars - big boy muscle in every sense of the word. But in 1998, muscle was still some thing carmakers didn't go bandying about especially in family cars. Lined up against the Ford Crown Victoria and Chevrolet Lumina, big power wasn't as important as lots of room for the aging buyer who was interested in this seg ment. So, the 300M seemed like a nice idea to round out the LH offerings to a nice, even four. With clipped tail and bobbed nose, the 300M was also advertised as being just under five metres in length to make it more salable in Europe. At the time, I thought the 300M would be a limited success to add a little lustre to the bread-and-butter Intrepid. Once again (some call me Seldom-RightRobinson) I was out of step with the buy ing public who snapped up 300Ms like they were going out of style. Maybe because they stand out so well, 300Ms seem to be everywhere including in my next door neighbour's garage. But this is 2002 and 'performance' is definitely in the air. Cars produced for f 1950s and into the (Above) The 2002 Chrysler 300M Special sits lower and looks meaner with a more aggressive stance. (Right) The Chrysler 330M Special is equipped with ultra high performance Michelin tires and this very simple, yet elegant 18-inch alloy wheels. decades with four-cylinder engines now the five colours (black, blue, silver, have V6s and even W-8s. Some makers light green and 'light almond'). I think the are bringing 12- and even 10-cylinder mouldings should have been done in cars to market in the next two years. body colour to give the car that deeper Not to be left behind, Chrysler is side look that is so chic on the BMW offering the 300M 'Special' for 2002 in 7451 and the new E-Class Mercedesorder to offer something a little hotter for Benz. A nice touch are the twin, silverthose wanting big car room but sports tipped exhausts that peak out of the rear sedan attributes. skirt. The first thing Chrysler does is lower Power is the LH 3.5-litre DOHC V6 the ride height and insert a stiffer, per with four-speed automatic AutoStick formance tuned suspension using firmer transmission. For the 300M, power is shock damping. At the rear, taller jounce increased to 255 hp from 250 hp and the bumpers and steering with a firmer 'feel' torque is up to 258 ft/lb. The exhaust has take away most of the dead-on-centre been given a nice little 'rasp' so that a hint feel associated with front-drive cars. of power can be heard, and The most noticeable difference visu enjoyed. Available is a tire pressure mon ally are very, very handsome 18-inch itoring system. Low speed traction con alloy wheels. To these are fitted Michelin trol and an engine immobilizer are also Pilot 'ultra high performance' tires. Also welcome features. I also like the turn sig dialed in are higher performance brakes nal repeater signals built into both out with harder brake pads. Another part of side remote mirrors. the package are ground effects skirts Inside the 300M Special, passenger done in a charcoal grey. Grey was chosen space (2,976 litres/105.1 cu. ft.) is gar to compliment gantuan while the trunk (476 litres/16.8 cu. ft.) should take every piece of lug gage you have in your home. When you get into the 300M, the swooping roofline seems to intrude on space until you get seated and realize just how far away your passenger is sitting. On a recently luncheon trip, Freddy The Flashbulb rode in the back seat and com mented on the room, and this from some one with a minivan. The big 3.5-litre pujs out a lot of torque, more than enough to get the near ly two ton (3,650 lb/1,656 kg) Special off the line. 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