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Comments
To all of you, have a wonderful and peaceful thanksgiving. Hug everyone in your family that will stop running long enough to let you do so.
Doc - Hang in there pal. None of us can imagine what you're going through, but we're all here to support you in any way we can (well, at least I can speak for myself...:) ) Take advantage of the services available to you. It would make me feel good to know that maybe some of what I donated would go to helping a person I know and respect.
Mike - started late huh? Don't worry, the best is yet to come! :-D Sometimes I can hardly remember either of them that young. OTOH, often it feels just like yesterday. Go figure...
Genesis Camera
814 W. Lancaster Ave.
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
You'll learn to roll with it. Actually, as I had mentioned, the one thing I'm greatful for is that she doesn't like driving the M - hey, that's fine with me! :-D
By the way..........your oldest is 24? My daughter is about to turn 34 and my son was 40 in September! My 40th birthday didn't bother me much, but when my KID turned 40, that really made me feel old (still does, in fact). I haven't found much I like about getting old (other than cheaper movie tickets), but I suppose it beats the alternative! I'd like to say that my M makes me feel young, but it really doesn't. When I was young I drove spartan sports cars, almost always with the top down in all kinds of weather, and I loved it. Now that I'm old, I still enjoy speed and handling, but not without my A/C and leather and comfort, so I guess that's why I love my M so much.
Lynn Flowers
At least the M is a nice mix of the two.
This is not a killer deal like on the shirts and caps, and it would require 25 members to order and pre-pay for their mats. We just don't have the funds to front the purchase.
Scotian has a step-by-step pictorial at http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1280646&a=12731429&f=0
Jon
On another note, I'm getting some vibration on the brakes - thinking of a rotation of the rotors. Any opiions if the pads should be done at the same time? I don't really need new ones, and would like to spare that expense if I can...
P.S. - Doc - email me if you get a chance - I want to ask you a question. I prolly won't be at the chat tonight
was side air bags. Color of interior is Lt Taupe/Dk Slate Gray, Exterior is silver.
I just returned from the San Francisco Auto show today and visited the Chrysler booth. Unfortunately, to my dismay (what is Chrysler thinking!) no 300M "special" on display.
The product specialist had no explanation on the car being absent, sure would've love to seen it.
He also mentioned that the '04 would be rwd with a MBZ tranny.
Ron
Also, here's the actual press release that was also posted about a month ago:
"AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Looking for something
special? In the tradition of classic special edition Chrysler 300s, Chrysler
will build a limited run of its new 2002 300M Special starting November 5. A
total of 8,500 Chrysler 300M Specials will be built, with a manufacturer's
suggested retail price (MSRP) of $32,595, which includes $655 for destination.
"In 1960, we introduced a limited run of 300F Specials built off of our
300F letter series car," said Tom Marinelli, Vice President, Chrysler/Jeep(R)
Global Brand Center. "We're continuing our proud heritage with the
introduction of our 2002 Chrysler 300M Special. For just over $32,000, you
can have that something special in your garage."
Similar to European "tuners," Chrysler 300M Special features ground
effects that surround the vehicle's lower body while ride height is lowered
one-half inch. The car has a more assertive stance and even lower aerodynamic
drag than the stock Chrysler 300M.
Chrysler 300M Special's aerodynamic refinements are complemented with
large 18-inch wheels and P245/45ZR18 uni-directional Michelin Pilot
performance tires which improve handling. Additional features include a
unique, higher performance brake system, a performance-tuned suspension, firm
strut damping, tall rear jounce bumpers, and 17:1 ratio firm-feel steering
gear which enhances on-center response characteristics.
The Chrysler 300M Special produces 255 horsepower at 6500 rpm and 258 ft.-
lb. of torque at 3900 rpm, making it the most powerful version of the
company's 3.5-liter SOHC V-6 engine. Chrysler 300M Special also features twin
exhaust pipes integrated into the lower rear fascia, performance-tuned
AutoStick(R) with a 3.89 overall top gear ratio, a 150-mph speedometer and
Chrysler 300M Special badging. Headlamps are high intensity discharge (HID)
which are 2.5 times brighter than standard halogen lamps.
Inside Chrysler 300M Special, the instrument panel and doors have a carbon
fiber appearance for a sporty yet contemporary feel. Special door sill plates
are brushed aluminum. Unique leather "waterfall style" seats are available in
a monochromatic Deep Slate Gray or a Light Taupe/Deep Slate interior two-tone.
Exterior color choices on the 300M Special are Black, Deep Sapphire Blue and
Bright Silver. All three colors are paired with a lower exterior color of
Neutral Gray Metallic for the lower sills.
Additional standard features on the 2002 Chrysler 300M Special include a
tire pressure monitoring system, Electronic Brake Distribution to the ABS
system, the child seat "LATCH" system, and a top of the line 360-watt Infinity
II 11-speaker spatial imaging sound system with in-dash four disc compact disc
(CD) changer.
More than 3,000 Chrysler 300Ms are produced every month. The Chrysler
300M Special is produced at DaimlerChrysler's Brampton, Ontario assembly plant
alongside the 2002 Chrysler Concorde and Dodge Intrepid."
WOW!!!! That lawsuit case has ballooned out of sight!!! Good for G-man. I'm cross-eyed from reading "all" the posts RE:Jim Ellis VW. If you ever read my "soap opera" in my profile, you'd know WHY I'm cheering for G-Man as loudly as I can!!!
fastdriver
MPG impact? (particularly highway)
0-60 times?
1/4 mile times?
beach15 - do you mind asking Dean Prodromides since you have his email address?
I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in the answer!! It would be nice to know what performance bang you get for the buck with this upgrade...and what the price is in MPG in addition to dollars!
Thanks!
Doc- I think of you everytime I see Ground Zero on TV. I understand from friends of mine who went there to volunteer with the recovery efforts, how horrible it is to see up close and personal- even today. Please take advantage of everything that is offered to you to help to ease the pain of that horrendous day.
fastdriver
Accident:
As for the accident crap, we're still having trouble but they finally did try something nice yesterday, coincidently, the 30th day into the claim. The claims adjuster for the person at fault from State Farm has not been the nicest person to speak with. So, after having called him 6-7 times in the past week to see what they had found on the guy's medical report, they were still pushing the time limit and not wanting to help, even when my mother called him yesterday. She was not a happy camper. Oh, as for going to someone with the Insurance Commision or State Legislature, they're about as bad as dealing with an insurance company, or at least they are here in the screwball state of Delaware.
So, what's the news? Last night around 5:15 when we were eating dinner, the phone rang. Guess who it was? The State Farm adjuster who had promised to call by no later than 3:00. They've finally decided to pay for a rental car, a move that shows the idiot must have been at fault (like we didn't already know that for the past MONTH!!) They told us the arrangements are for us to get a car that's equivalent to our 300M at Enterprise about 15 minutes away. Finally, at least now we'll have something reliable (hopefully) to drive until the M is fixed and then traded off. Still, kind of fishy that he decided to finally call us after 5:00 on the day before Thanksgiving and the 30th day of the claim where something must have been done.
Happy Thanksgiving!
P.S., Oh, and by the way, does anyone know what kind of cars that Enterprise usually has?
You looking to get a camera I guess?
And Happy Turkey Day All!! I would have liked to go to the chat last night, but wasn't home till after 11 (est). Since we're not doing t-day this year I'll be hanging online a bit till we go over the parents...
Oh, by the way--how's your back ;-).
Happy Turkey Day to all. Dont eat too much turkey or you just might blow a gasket.
Easyrider300M
Happy Thursday to everyone else! :-)
-m
Sdmike, have you got the dent fixed?
Tucsongil, I hope your repairs will be done before the next meet.
Everyone drive safely, we don't want anymore accidents.
I took an interest in the '04 M when I was invited to a consumer research event sponsored by DC that focused on the 300 series and a couple of other cars. The point of the event was to guage feedback on the car's design, competitors, equipment levels, pricing, etc. I've posted several long messages on the event and what I found out, and have followed it up with other related posts. I think I might create a document and post a link on my 300M page, but in the meantime here's a high level overview of what I *think* they're planning for '04 given what I learned at the event.
The '04s will be the first to use RWD, and most likely a MB chassis and tranny. Unlike other '04 FWD prototypes shown (including a very cool mini-van/SUV hybrid) that still highlighted the autostick feature, the RWD model 300s did not. It appears that the 300 will come in two model levels in '04, a base model and a high performance model. I'm not sure of what they will be called, but the base model wore a "300" badge, and the high performance model wore a "300N" badge. It would make sense if they were both 300Ns, with one being a "special" or some other designation.
300 Base - The base model appears to start with a lower-end configuration targeting the $24k price range initially. The base model listed a 2.7 litre engine with cloth interior, standard side air bags, and most of the current M's other features (e.g. memory seats). Things like the 3.5 litre engine, leather interior, sunroof, etc. would be offered as options. I'm not sure how I feel about a low-end 300 being offered.
300 Performance - This is where things get interesting. For about the price of today's 300M Special ($32K+) there may be a performance version of the '04N. There are a couple of cosmetic differences between the base and performance cars, plus the the performance version will have leather interior standard. The big difference is that the "special" will have a 5.7 litre Hemi V8 engine, churning out about 350HP and over 300 ft-lbs of torque! Now THAT got me interested!
Design - Now this is where it gets strange. The new cars were radically different in design from the current M or the Hemi C convertible that we all know and love. Here are a couple of pictures of the Dodge Super8 which is similar in both interior and exterior style (if you call it that) to what they showed us for the 300s.
Super8 Front
Super8 Rear
In DC's defense, the 300 prototypes were much classier looking on the outside than the Dodge. It didn't have the greenish highlights on the sides, rather a beveled look similar to the mustang or the Mitsu Galant (a look that I like). The grill on the 300 was also very different than the pictures. While the Super8 has a big Dodge truck grill, the 300 had a large grill similar to the chronos pictured below:
http://www.ritchiefamily.com/car/chronos.jpg
The base 300 had beautiful 18" chrome wheels (with Goodyear tires...yuk), while the "special" appeared to have 20" wheels with a slightly different 7 spoke design. It had Michelin Pilot tires on it like the '01Ms. The cars had the same retro-looking 3/4 height windows as the Super8, but the windshield was less radical. It was larger and sloped more, and didn't have the forward leaning side accents that you seen in the pictures. Both cars also had the same rear end as the Super8, which appears to come directly off the current 300M. One other difference between the base and performance cars were the headlight and fog light treatments. The performance car lights were round (I liked them better) while the base were more rectangular.
Super8 Interior
The interior is where it all fell apart. Even if you like the radical designs of the exterior, not one person I talked to liked the retro-futuristic interior design. It was similar to what you seen in the picture above, but with more chrome in the center console and a blue/black textured interior on the seats and dash. Almost like they were trying to make the plastic look like carbon fiber. Anyway, they got completely away from "luxury" and went WAY out there. I didn't talk to one person that liked it.
Well, that's it in a nutshell. If you have any more questions I'll see if I can answer it.
Drive safe! And eat too much :-D
So, what was it we got? It's a silver 2002 Buick LeSabre Custom with Light Gray Leather. It only has 1275 miles and smells wonderful (love that new GM smell) and is very clean and spotless inside. I have to tell you, even though we haven't been in the 300M for over a month, riding in this car is really, really nice. It's really big inside and since the shape is less confining than the Chrysler's "cab-forward", it feels like a house, the back seat is really great with more comfortable seat angles. What's really nice is how quiet and smooth the thing is. I can remember the M's road noise and this car has almost none, including no wind noise. That great 3.8 is also silent other than a little rumble when accelerating. Even my mother likes driving it, saying it's the quietest and smoothest car she's ever been in. She also loves all the cool buttons it has, especially the controls for all the radio functions. We really like it.
Sure, it is a Buick, and is undoubtably ugly, but it just drives so damn nice. I was expecting to get in and feel like we're floating all over the place in the Titanic, but it actually feels very stable and controlled.
In any regard, we are just so glad to finally have a car after over a month and are really happy that we got a nice one. Now, I can only hope that the rest of the crap with the insurance can be on its way and our 300M is fixed. We still plan on trading it shortly after we get it back and leasing something new and un-wrecked, though. I wonder what we'll get..
Regarding the exterior of the super 8, it is really quite different in the front from the current “M” (obviously). I thought they would keep a bit more resemblance. Personally, I prefer the way the Chronos looks. As for the interior of the Super 8, I saw some nice elements. For example, the seat bracket for the front seat appears to follow a minimalist design, and looks like it is made of aluminum. I think it looks pretty sharp (the bracket, that is). Also, I like the idea of a bit smaller steering wheel, that is a bit thicker than the current one. Not sure how it would feel, but it looks sharp. I also like the idea of introducing some new colors for the leather instead of the traditional black/camel/cream combo that are currently in vogue.
MB tranny and RWD sound good to me, as long as they keep the weight down with aluminum where possible. I didn’t like the idea of having a base model w/o leather and other luxuries. I feel that would drive down resale prices for the higher end models. The current M doesn’t seem to be doing too badly in holding it’s value, at least in comparison to other American cars.
Thanks again for posting the info. And please keep us updated on any more you find out.
bluesky