[DaveW68]

My SRT-8 is at the body shop having a nick taken out of the rear bumper. My rental is an 08 300 Touring with leather. I can definitely see and feel some improvements with the interior changes. The center and door armrests are now covered in very soft leather and don't scuff up the arms any more. This is what I see as the biggest improvement. The guage faces are a little bit richer as there is now a mirrored face in the middle of the guages. I'm assuming that the guages in the upcoming SRT-8 will look different though. The interior of the car I had was black and I liked how it was all one color on the dash and doors now. The headliner and pillars were all covered in a light gray fabric, so the interior still is two-tone. I like the new trim piece on the passenger dash as it really needed something in that spot to fill the large void. My rental doesn't have the wood interior, but I can definitely imagine how nice it would look on the shifter console. The key is now completely different as there are no longer any teeth. I'm assuming that the key now sends an electronic signal to the ignition to start it now. I would hope that the battery in the key never runs out, otherwise you will be stranded. The new location of the cruise control is nicer that it's on the steering wheel. Overall, the car does look more luxurious now.

Disappointments:

1) I had heard that the car was supposed to have softer materials all around. This is definitely not the case. The upper dash is still the same rubbery material. The lower dash and doors still have the crappy hard plastic. I really hope they improve this with the redo in a few years. The only softer areas are the armrests.

2) The slot next to the shifter is much smaller now. You will not be able to get much into this slot any more.

3) I'm not fond of the new open cupholder style, but I guess it's all up to the individuals tastes.

4) I didn't like the leather on the seats. They almost seem like fake leather or the cheapest rawhide type leather they could find. I hope they use a nicer softer leather in the C and above.