Chrysler 300M

sdmike2

...forgot what the term "sleeper" means. LOL

fuzzywuzzy

Edmunds lost my posts!

Try it again!

I would think the 300M special would be out in January/Feb of 2002. That leaves 4 months of production for 2002 models. If it is a 2002.5 model then it showing up at dealers at that time makes sense.

My dealer has no info on the 300M special yet. No prices, no options, no sell date, & no info on how many will be produced. All they know at this time, is it's coming, & they are taking a few waiting list orders from people who also know it's coming.(not many) I'm the only one on it as of now. They are not advertising it or anything. I don't expect DC to ether.

ruski

Also S4 is much more expensive than a 300M.

avalanche165

from the little "incident", i got some paint on the rotors. it all smoked off, and i used eveyrthing, brake cleaner, ether, whatever. anything else i should use or will it just come off with time? its just like drip marks....

scotian

http://shop.foliatec.de

tnsc_300m

Hey guys, sorry for being a little out of touch lately, real busy. been trying to get caught up today and it seems like town hall has been crashing right and left. anyone else noticed problems with the msg board today????
tnsc_300M

sdmike2

Not only is it crashing, it's losing messages.

rogor2k

Notes from driving a different 300M:

Hello all;

I don't have the time to get on-line to this system much anymore, but had a
recent experience I thought I'd share. If you want, you can write me at
andrewp@thenorth.com since I won't likely have time to log in and read any
replies. I've asked Rogor to post this to the Edmund's forum or to the website
on my behalf.

I live in Maine, and my Steel Blue Pearlcoat 2000 Chrysler 300M has seen me
though its first cold, slippery winter in the style to which I'm quickly
becoming accustomed. My 'M' doesn't have a hole in the roof, and it doesn't
have the performance handling package. Its a plain Jane right down to its dark
gray/charcoal interior leather. That said, its been a delight to own and drive.
I know all about driving this tiger in the snow, the rain, and the cold. I can
tell you stories of long winding roads in the deep fog or the heavy traffic of
Boston. What I couldn't, until recently, expound on was the merits of this car
on the open road. We don't have much of that wonderful wide open road that
those of you out west are pampered on. Time for a road trip.

Having family in Flagstaff and Phoenix Arizona, and a convention to attend in
Las Vegas led to the perfect pursuit of some really great roads. I'm
particularly fond of that stretch of I-17 between Cordez Junction and Black
Canyon City -- and lets not forget SR 89-A from Flagstaff to Cottonwood, through
Sedona, then up through Jerome and over Mingus Mountain into Prescott. These
are the roads of my youth, and the opportunity to take them on in a truly fine
car -- not the ancient Chevy Vega that I drove at 16 -- could not be missed. In
Las Vegas, on the last day of the convention, I tipped a guy at the local Dollar
Rental to hold a 300M for me. When I got there, to my delight, he'd found one
that even looked much like mine. Not many get the opportunity to drive a car
just like their own, but subtly different, for several hundred miles at "highway
speeds". Note the emphasis on that last word. There are some comparisons I
thought I'd make that others may find useful if considering one of these fine
cars.

First, this was a 2001 so it had a couple of visible differences -- the clear
tail lights and the chrome door trim. It also had a hole in the roof and a
light tan leather interior -- neither of which I cared much for. It did not
have chrome on the shifter, so I suppose it was a later model '01. It also did
not have the cheesy wood on the wheel -- thank goodness. I did miss the chrome
on the window buttons, and as I'd mentioned, I think it looks better with the
dark gray interior. I was surprised to find that I actually liked the chrome
around the door though.

One thing I noticed right away when I got in was that the brakes were touchier.
These definitely required a lighter touch then my own. The ride was a bit
stiffer and later-- when I checked -- I saw the Michelin tires. I'd guess this
had the PHP which surprises me for a rental agency. The only I know of to have
confirmed this would have been to attempt to exceed 122 miles per hour and sadly
the opportunity just didn't present itself. I actually found the seat a little
different, but perhaps that's because my 200 pounds hadn't forced it into the
shape of my backside yet.

That first night was the drive though the winding roads over the Hoover dam.
Sadly there was too much traffic to make much fun on that stretch of road, and I
nearly had to bail out off the left side of the road when attempting to pass
someone and getting a bit too close to some oncoming traffic. Yikes. Later
that night though, I-40 opened up before me as I got within a couple of hours of
Flagstaff. I-40 through there is a four lane highway with each side separated
by several hundred yards of open desert. The road winds through the mountain
passes in the high desert at 7000 feet with a posted limit of 75 mhp. I can
tell you that 85 miles per hour on that road -- a speed the cruise control held
perfectly -- can be a little quick at night. You're passing large trucks doing
just over half your speed as your glide around corners with only the headlights
to tell you which way the road will turn next. The car performs so perfectly
that its strictly one hand on the wheel even in the tightest corners. The only
hard part was the constant shifting of focus between the curves coming at you at
85 and the trucks "coming at you" at a relative speed of nearly 40mph. Passing
a truck with that kind of relative speed while coasting through the corners of a
high mountain pass can be challenge at night. I made it from the Las Vegas
airport to Flagstaff in almost exactly 4 hours -- and that's with three stops
(food, fuel, and a 'haircut').

The next day was the drive to Phoenix I'd been so looking forward to. The plan
was AZ89-A down Oak Creek Canyon into Sedona, then up through the switchbacks
into Jerome and over Mingus Mountain to Prescott. Finally, into Cordez Junction
and down to Phoenix on I-17 though Black Canyon City. Sadly, I'd heard about
heavy construction on 89-A and its was raining those giant desert deluge drops
complete with massive 'Frankenstein' lightening so I opted to just stick to I-17
all the way down. I waited out the bulk of the storm at a "Sonic Happy Eating"
place in Verde Valley, then hit the road again. Hooray! Clean and dry once I
hit the Sunset Point rest area, so those amazing curves carved into the
mountains would be dry and smooth. Never has anyone been so happy to see a
sign reading " |\ 7% Grades next 11 miles. Trucks - Vehicles pulling trailers
use lower gears" as I was as I dropped the autostick into 3rd gear and hit the
accelerator. Here's where it gets weird. The PHP/300M combination performs so
well, that there is no safe speed to take those curves at which it becomes a
challenge. At anything over 85, you're climbing up on people so fast you end up
having to brake into curves -- a definite no-no (scares the tourists) and a real
pain the backside. Yet, 85 on that road isn't even a challenge to the 300M.
Its like driving your father's Oldsmobile Delta '88 at 55. I found myself
wishing that I didn't have the PHP on this rental just so it'd be a bit more
interesting! The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, as anyone who drives
in Phoenix can tell you. Getting home though -- sure was nice to get back into
Bluestreak, even if she is a plain Jane.

seeburg222

Thanks guys for the info. Avalanche, it was definitely a late model one. As I recall, there was no 'A4' script on the trunklid like I've seen on others. There WAS an odd, blue and red, slightly triangular medalion between the left tail light and licence plate that had 2 letters or numbers in it that I couldn't make out. I wonder if it was an S4. Anyone know where I could find a pick of one? I looked at the Audi website and couldn't find anything. Especially a rear shot that shows the decklid. Thanks alot!

seeburg222

I finally just found the Audi USA sight and has pics of the S4. Thats what it was!

sdmike2

From the Audi site: "With 250 hp at 5800 rpm and 258 lb-ft of peak torque from a low of 1850 rpm through 3600 rpm, the S4 has power. Gobs of it. Where and when you need it. Forget about turbo lag. The S4's got pull-away power in every gear and 0-60 acceleration in a brisk 5.9 seconds. Wow."

phases78

sorry i havent been on the past couple days, my son was visiting and i was spending all my time with him..
well the M is still outstanding! i got my new club card in today too. i still get tons of questions everywhere i go and continue to turn heads left and right. i could never get enough of that. i think this one turned more heads than my white one (untill i put on the duals, lol ppl looked cuz it sounded so cool). i love this car. however, heres the bad news...
july 14 to july 31 ill be in the field...
august 5-9 in field, and august 14-31, field im not looking forward to this at all....

HOPEFULLY, by the end of this week, ill have the duals on my car, the tint on there, the wood kit and basslink on the way! i hope, but, its going to be a LOOOONNG hard week getting ready for the field time...

hatax

Heh, I guess I wouldn't feel bad if I got beat by an S4, that's kind of a hot little car.

Awhile back someone mentioned that they had found a way to stop the odomoter, I checked that out, and while it works good, there are 2 annoyances that I could overcome if I felt so inclined to do. Namely the fact that the gauges go dead, no biggie, but the AC blower stops blowing and you can't open the sun roof. =( That's kind of depressing. So... If anyone else has done this or experimented with it... Heh, I know I know, it's a bad thing....... Just one of those people who has to mess with stuff if it can be messed with.

ruski

does have a special red and blue and silver badge that looks like slanted rectangles / / / /

beach15

That post from bluestreak would be a terrific thing to post over on the Aurora/LS/300M board, to tell a story of how the 300M is such a spectacular automobile (and to get back at all those snotty LS drivers who think their Ford crapmobiles are so great!). It has gotten very active over there since yesterday and there appears to be some pretty strong opinions. I think I'll copy and paste it over there myself and be sure to state who it's from.

beach15

Finally, I snuck out tonight and got the clockface put in the wife's M. This time it only took me one try and no hurt fingers!! I used both a credit card and a metal file type thing to pull up on one corner. I then slipped my fingers under that spot and started to pull, applying pressure sideways. Click, one snap popped out and then the other. I took it out and unplugged the power cord. Took the clock apart (the easiest part and slid in the clockface. Voila, here's the finished product:

99_300m_ric_va

Get Some Wood Trim for that tri-vent/clock section!

I'm so used to mine, I forgot how plain I always thought it was. My opinion anyways, which you might not share. :<)

sdmike2

Here ya go. You can buy an S4 badge.

http://store.yahoo.com/machvw/audis4badge.html

sdmike2

Do you have the one that fills the entire clock/vent area? If so, do you know if they have a match for the luxury group real wood trim?

sibe

What time did you sneak out to do this on the wife's car? Need to know as I'm in the same predicament...and I could swear she has the dogs out as an early warning signal of my approching the vehicle. As I said many times, she was never like this with her Nissan Sentra...
8-)

Sibe

sdmike2

Did anyone else catch that Bluestreak used quotes around "haircut" in his post (5812)? I wonder if that's some secret code word, or if he just has less grass to mow.

300mlover

How does one diconnect the odometer?

phases78

take out the spark plug. of course it'll kill all your dials too... and moonroof

300mlover

spark plug?? would you mean fuse?

99_300m_ric_va

Mike,

I bought this kit, in English Burl

http://www.autodash.com/details.lasso?sn=2328&pn=ch-300mc00ca

I looked around for awhile and can't find a 2001 luxury wood trim factory match kit that covers the entire vent area. Just three oval pieces, which suck IMHO.

300michael

I did have one on a 7 coil one, didn't like the way it attached so I took it back. Still looking for a cris-cross style. I have heard they offer better cooling per a square inch.

300michael

Not that I am going to do this...., but wouldn't a switch do the same thing and you could turn it back on when regular driving. It seems it could void the warranty though, you think?

300michael

Earlyer I mentioned about putting on R/T emblems on my car (since it is in the performance spects of a Special). I have done a little research and found a better one, form the good old days of Mopar. I have looked at the Road Runner (would be good, since I live in AZ) but they are just decals (and too big). The R/T emblems are also very big, and the Intrepid guys use them. So I will be putting on "Super Bee" emblems (besides they look way cooler) and they came form a 4 door vehicle (Cornet) of which I used to own one. I guess now I will have to change my dual exhaust to dual side exhausts.

300michael

300michael

Did you manage to get the tube connected? Mid range power is a little better.
Still have to do some Gtech testing for hard numbers. Then go looking for S4's (yes, I will still loose to them, but not as bad as the stock 300M's do) to see what happens (the S4 should be a second quicker then my M) I will see what right foot gas and left foot braking will do for me.

300michael

Do you know if the transmission pump pressure can be increased on our transmissions? This should allow for more firm shifts and less slipage. And would the seal hold?

sdmike2

99_ric - In poking around on that site I've seen at least one kit that covers the whole clock area. Looks like the "woodview" kits do that. Not sure if they have a factory match on the real wood or only the fake stuff. I'll keep looking, and maybe call them. Thanks for the link.

I was sitting at a light near my house tonight making a left turn onto a 4 lane road. There was a Mitsubishi Eclipse (my guess was a '95) on my bumper, so I thought I teach him a lesson. I owned one of these little characters, and I knew this little 1.8 or 2.0 jobbie would have no chance of keeping up...even if it was a turbo. Well, when the light turned green I whipped around the corner and he whipped out next to me....then he whipped ME! He was about 3 lengths ahead by the time I reached 80! Good lord...I hate it when these guys sneak stuff under the hood that I don't know about. lol. Next time i see him I'm going to ask what he's got stuffed in there.

-M

sdmike2

Got your mail today. Will report tomorrow. Got too busy today.

-M

sdmike2

Remind me not to buy a used car from you guys...

sdmike2

Ok...it's been a while since I've pushed a picture of BigRed on you guys. LOL. I know, I know...just like a proud papa! Here she is. Someone else in here has the same car (Inferno Red with Sandstone), don't they? I'd love to see a picture of theirs too.

avalanche165

i think its about time you sneek some goodies of your own. the cars looks faster than a bullet, make it one (join the club...*ahem, me, fuzzy, 300mike, anyone else?)

avalanche165

i'm still looking. i think this would look kinda good, rememeber this is av...




it is kinda big, but it might look good on a stout back like we have. i don;t know i gotta throw it up on adobe maybe sometime. opinions welcomed....

wencao

will come with 3.5L 260hp V6, close-ratio six-speed manual transmission and limited-slip differential. It will beat 300M in 0-60 easy. Chrysler, why still offer a sluggish 4-speed, at least a 5-speed auto, should 300M has a R/T model with six speed manual ? YES. LOOK at the sales drop of 300M.

easyrider300m

Av--it looks radical, man---just what the av needs on his radical M---do it up, mun--when you get your nitrous hooked up, you'll need to keep the rear end on the ground--

Av and 300Michael--Youse guys should help out our cause on the 300 vs LS vs Aurora board. Those LS owners are giving the 300M guys a hard time. Post a couple of pics of your radical M's on that board and show them up--make sure you show off the duals and hood scoops---let them drool!--

sdmike2

Maybe get hermmdog to post some pics too...maybe with the "dog leg". lol.

Hey, whose page is this?

http://www.iaxs.net/~polend/automobiles/my300page.html

sdmike2

Go down and look at the bimmer spoilers, especially the 3 series adjustable GTR I. That one you showed looks like the Intrepid Touring Competition spoiler. Also check out the Mustang GTR S Type.

http://www.spoilerwarehouse.com/spoiler/listing.asp

I also like the Universal Combat GTR that they show for the Catera. It even has an LED brake light.

sdmike2

Style parts for the M. Click on the links:
http://www.lorinser.com/300m_e.htm

rogor2k

The web page belongs to Dave Polensky, 300M Enthusiasts Club member #49.

Be sure to take your camera when you pick up the goods.

avalanche165

on the 300m.org club site? like Denverm's featured 300. i've been emailing for a few weeks...rogor anything wrong?

this is the days of the pre-hoodscoop

avalanche165

this is my setup right now....


u see the center console compartment, the cupholders, shift boot, radio controls, that whole piece, and the 3 vents...i can get this metal paint custom made, its made for this kinda stuff. i wanna do all those parts i listed above silver. the same color as my aluminum in the pic. the wood strip running across the dash i am gonna paint chameleon and write something on it, like www.300mclub.org, or 300m Enthusiasts Club. and also if i get into this car club in baltimore, i'll put their name there as well. anywayz...what do u guys think? what else can be done? i'm trying for that concept car look. have u notice how all the concept cars have that James Bond interior look to'em? i love that, gotta do it...

avalanche165

ok i posted something in the forum....heh, this is funny. the LS isn't that bad, but i still would go for a 300 over it

avalanche165

i really wanna see that spoiler warehouse link but its not working, something wrong with it or is it my browseR?

avalanche165

i agree 300%, no wait, 600%, get it, for each gear, nevermind bad joke. they got some good power in the 300. but its just like a giant playing football, yea he's got the power for sure, towers over everyone else, MOST POWER IN CLASS, but when it comes game time, he just doesn't perform as well as the others, even though there weaker. so i think the transmission among other things is due. i mean it IS a family sedan, not for me but for majority, so it needs to be heavy, ie. safe. can't really help out that power-weight ratio. our power - weight ratio is 14:1. 14hp for 1lb. that is a good ratio for a light weight coupe. but with a 6 speed trans, man oh man, it would be fun, at least a 5 speed! who puts a 4 speed in a beast?!!! maybe we should write something up, and send it to chrysler, wont hurt to at least try

fuzzywuzzy

Well it's been a week since I filled that hole with expanding foam. It rained all day yesterday. I made sure the carpet was dry, & left the 300 in the driveway all day unmoved. Well last night when I came home from work, I opened the door, & felt the carpet. It's Still getting wet! Not as bad, but now it's 1 spot. I'm out of ideas! I checked all weather stripping, & all of it is good. The windshield is good too. I checked along the firewall again for any other holes, & can't find any. My 300M's cowl is not filled with debris, & is clean enough to eat out of. It's not the AC cause it wasn't on. The only thing I can think of now is a body seam. But that doesn't make sense because I have dynomat under the carpet, so it should not make it through the carpet from under the car. Any one have other ideas??????

avalanche165