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Crosswind vulnerability

15K views 70 replies 26 participants last post by  amx1969 
#1 ·
I took delivery of my 2012 300 on May 5th of 2013, and immediately noticed that it has the worst crosswind vulnerability of any car I have ever owned, with the possible exception of a Datsun pick-up with an enormous camper on the back, which I owned in the 70's.

Without crosswinds, or with steady crosswinds, I'd say my 300 has the best directional stability of any car I have ever owned. I attribute this fact to the long wheelbase. So why is my 300 so dang bad in gusty crosswinds? I am blown sideways + or - a foot while commuting around the Washington Beltway. I also have this issue when bucking headwinds, because when I follow the bends in the road, sometimes the wind comes from one side, and sometimes from the other. I have not noticed this issue with tailwinds.

Is there something wrong with my 300? Maybe Chrysler left off some anti-sway bars! I thought I fixed it by over inflating the tires to 43 PSI. But it's springtime again and the problem is back.
 
#2 ·
I notice the same thing myself. The car is affected by crosswinds, more so than my gen I cool V. I don't think I'm affected as much as you are, but I do notice it. I realize our cars aren't the most aerodynamic, but my gen I was more stable in high winds.
 
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#3 ·
Hmmm, I haven't noticed it and I go across two different SF Bay Area bridges fairly regularly. Wait a minute. OMG how much DO I weigh.....?! haha But seriously, there is some degree of top architecture boxiness to our cars that many others don't possess, and they probably just act like metal sails.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I don't know. How much DO you weigh? ;)

My aforementioned Datsun pick-up with a camper most assuredly was a big metal sail. It's been a few years, but I don't think it was blown all over the road by crosswinds like my 300 is. It listed a great deal, and had me worried about a rollover from time to time. But it kept going in a straight line. My wife's 2006 Murano, and my 2006 Equinox, are both pretty tall. Yet they were both entirely immune to this problem.

Maybe Cool_V and I both have a missing anti-sway bar. :(
 
#6 · (Edited)
Maybe Cool_V and I both have a missing anti-sway bar. :(
Yes. Yes, I'm certain that's probably it. ;-)

And Mike,

When I noticed it the wind was 40 mph with gusts upwards of 80. We have an elevated expressway I-355 that seems to enhance any wind that's blowing and the wind seems to always blow on the stretch between I-55 and I-80.
Gotcha. Those aren't dissimilar from winds that can occur at a top/elevated portion of the San Mateo Bridge here in the SFBA. But admittedly I haven't driven my car across it yet on a substantially windy day. Maybe I should have a few drinks to counter-balance the sway... (think old C Chaplain movie).
 
#5 ·
Krell,

I would have your suspension checked for sure. I notice the problem but my car isn't moved the way you mention. I have the touring suspension with 20 inch option, so I may not sway as much. My cool V had the performance suspension on it, so that may be why it wasn't affected.

I think the shape of the car has something to do with it, but it sounds like your car is more affected than it should be.

And Mike,

When I noticed it the wind was 40 mph with gusts upwards of 80. We have an elevated expressway I-355 that seems to enhance any wind that's blowing and the wind seems to always blow on the stretch between I-55 and I-80.
 
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#10 ·
Yep Windy City. That stretch always has winds on it, which is how I noticed the car has some sensitivity.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Base model. I'm not very wealthy like the rest of you. I have exactly two options: the 8-speed, and the bluetooth VR version of the Uconnect Touch 8.4. I don't even have the nav option on that.

And I claim the crosswind stability was MUCH WORSE at recommended tire inflation pressure, than it is at 43.
 
#14 ·
Base model. I'm not very wealthy like the rest of you. I have exactly two options: the 8-speed, and the bluetooth VR version of the Uconnect Touch 8.4. I don't even have the nav option on that.

And I claim the crosswind stability was MUCH WORSE at recommended tire inflation pressure, than it is at 43.
Me either! :)

I wonder if the softer suspsension plus the shape of the car contribute to it. First thing would be to have it checked out, especially if it's worse at the recommended pressure.

One thing I forgot to mention was I had some peddars bushings on my cool V, and only on the front parts. I noticed a tiny bit of sensitivity to cross-winds, but I put the peddars parts on because bump steer issue caused the steering wheel danced in my hands over uneven pavement. It just happened that I didn't have any issues with the crosswind anymore.

At least the second gen cars resolved the bump steer issue.

So a couple of things to check would be alignment settings and suspension. No way to avoid feeling the crosswinds with the size and shape of the car, but the car shouldn't move as much as you describe.
 
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#15 ·
I'm getting ready to take a trip down to Macon, GA from Chitown shortly and I will feed back what if anything I encounter on the way down and back.
I took a similar trip with no issues. I averaged 37 mpg based on my receipts though!

Not sure which way you are going but do let us know if you encounter any crosswinds.

As I mentioned I did notice some, but the winds were much higher than normal. In fact there was a wind advisory at the time.
 
#16 ·
About 92k miles on the ole SRT now and this car is virtually immune to crosswinds. Always has been, it's not a tire thing as it remained unaffected across the 6 sets of tires I've burnt up.

Those tire pressures are way too high, even my car which is about the heaviest of the first gen is only set for 32 psi from the factory. Then there's the wheel alignment...
 
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#17 · (Edited)
1st gen 300's don't count! And IIRC my factory recommended pressure was 38psi. So I'm not all that much higher than when I drove it off the lot. Nevertheless, at everyone's instigation, I'll remind myself what that figure is and deflate my tires. I predict I will NOT be pleased with that lower pressure. I sure as hell wasn't pleased last spring.
 
#20 ·
And just to add, I never had a problem with my cool V either. This appears to be a gen II thing.

I'm not having the issues that Krell is, but that could be due to the differences in suspension. There are 3 configurations before you get to the SRT in the gen II cars. Krell has the base suspension which is called comfort in Chrysler's literature. I have the touring suspension, which also comes with 20 inch wheels. Then there is the performance suspension which is added when you have the 5.7, and of course there's the high peformance suspension on the SRT.

So while I noticed the crosswind, something very different is happening to Krell's car as it is actually being moved by the wind.

Again, I never had a problem in my cool V when was a gen I.
 
#21 · (Edited)
I have a Gen I and did notice similar behavior. However, after lowering the tire pressure (for some reason the dealer way over-inflates during oil changes) it's not nearly as bad. What I still notice is that the hood sort of "ripples" in high crosswinds which freaks me out a little bit - that is one big sheet of metal, though.
 
#22 ·
Hi all,

Newbie here....have had my 2013 300C (bought used with 900kms) for just a couple of weeks now and although I really love this car I was kind of surprised at how poorly it handles crosswinds. Odd thing is I don't recall ever seeing any similar comments in all of the reviews I have read while researching this car.

I had a 2006 300 Touring for 5 years and I don't remember this being a problem back then. Although the last while has been really breezy up here (Toronto area) so probably a bit tougher conditions than normal for my first impressions. I traded in a 2010 Camaro for the 300 and that was a pretty well planted car on windy days (I admit different beasts for sure though).

Great forum here...good to be back in a 300 :D

Kevin
 
#24 ·
Note that there are no substantive differences in suspensions, just spring rates, bushing hardness, sway bar stiffness, etc.

No reason for a Gen 1 to handle crosswinds better, ESPECIALLY when you consider that the Gen 2's are substantially heavier.

Betcha it's an alignment issue...
 
#29 ·
It's not the chassis. That is rock solid. But I still think it boils down to the suspension. My gen I was a C model with V8, which had back then what they call the "performance" suspension. I don't recall any issues with crosswinds.

gen II we have the following:

comfort suspension
touring suspension (v6 models with 20 inch wheels)
performance suspension (v8 models)
high performance suspension (SRT models)

So of those, we've had input from both comfort and touring drivers say they experienced the issue.
 
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#26 ·
So.... I am renting a beautiful 300C AWD out in Salt Lake City this week. FYI it looks like Hertz just took delivery of several dozen out here. There were winds of up to 60 mph yesterday. I was driving the car around and I am sorry, cannot agree worth the OP. It certainly is not the SRT I have been accustomed to for a wonderful 75,000 miles, but it behaves much the same with respect to wind resistance, I would not call it out for that behavior. I may add this vehicle is one of the best "rentals" I have had for a while. Am I partial? Just a little, but the V6 is a nice unit, the ride is great, the options at this level is darn good...they can keep that tranny, I will take my Predator and Tranzformer controlled old five speed any day.
 
#28 ·
My 2013 300C with Touring suspension and 20" wheels is very prone to cross wind influence as well. I mostly notice then when I drive on some of the elevated highways here in Austin. Definitely noticeable, more so than on my 2010 VW Passat on the same roads.
 
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#30 ·
Mine's an S model, same wheels and tires are same as yours I think. It's worse than the Ramchargers (large sail area) we've had / have. I looked into alignment specs yesterday expecting to find near zero or negative caster based on the susceptibility to wind and found it to be ~ 8% positive so I don't think it's alignment based. Positive caster is good for directional stability.
 
#32 · (Edited)
Yes, it's the v6.

Believe it or not, I averaged 75. I'm not proud of it, but there were some open spots where we travelled much faster. And I mean much faster. But it was the constant speeds that I believe contributed to the mileage. I was able to pretty much cruise much of the way.

I don't recall if I-65 is windy all the time. I did happen to drive it during stormy season and there were some wicked clouds.
 
#39 ·
Ok thanks for the info I must being getting old I kicked mine in the pants yesterday for the first time out on the toll way and took it to 110mph. At that point I said ok it's still pulling and thats good enough I still have to go to work and need my CDL. I will stay around that 75mph on the cruise when I go in the next 3 weeks or so and report back..:fing02:
 
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