2012 300C Luxury on the way

[dkoong]

haha!!!!!!!!! i have been called many different things but dugong hasnt ever come up... you would have thought.. dkoong.... dugong.... hahahaha

yeah... definitely has heated steering wheel... you wonder why one would need that?????????? heated seats and cooled seats work well.

sound system is nice. to be honest im not really a car stereo guy... seeing that i had a dodgy mygig hack setup... the old srt wasnt too bad. this one is nice too. cant offer you much more of a description...

yes.. i am lucky. my wife didnt kill me for changing cars so early... hahahaha... just couldnt resist it when i saw it.

will post up more of a review later when i have had a chance to play with it over the next week or so.

[Piggy.]

Yes, the dodgy (no pun intended) mygig hack was something I'm not sorry to leave behind. In your playings I'd be interested to know how the garvan nav strikes you. Does it show speed limits? and can you put in poi's like speed/red light cameras etc. I thought that was something that was downloadable and able to be added like on an SD card. ??? Anyway I'll await your review in due course.

[dkoong]

some pics.... will write a little more in a sec... dinner calling.. lololol

[Piggy.]

mmmmm. leather pack and sunroof.... lovely.

[dkoong]

yes.. leather interior group and the sunroof option. 2 out of 3 options. I went down to melville to look at the black chrome group equipped red srt8.... didnt really like it all that much to be honest. i thought it would look much better than the chrome original... but it just doesnt do it for me. i was going to import them myself from the US but the price was something like 3500 all up landed here in oz (including shipping and the taxes i would have to pay... unless i ship it one wheel at a time.. lol). after seeing them in the flesh... wasnt so keen.

the leather interior group is worth it. adds just that little more upmarket feel to the whole thing. the leather in the doors is also nice. im not so much a sunroof fan though... could do without that... but as the car had it.... no choice but to take it. lol.

The nav unit is basically a garmin software. it is pretty basic garmin. it does show speed limits and GPS speed. also has the usual customisable bits that show time to arrival, estimated time of arrival etc.. I think POI can be added but didn't try that. The manual is a little spartan when it comes to describing what can be done with the SD card slot with regards to the GPS. The SD card can be used as the 'HDD replacement' ie. you load it up with mp3 or whatever organised into folders/albums etc.. then plug it in and play the music. you can't 'rip' a CD onto the HDD anymore like you can with the mygig. that is a little annoying. not sure what size sd card is the limit as it doesnt say in the manual. 16gb works. planning to try a 32 gig at some stage.

the interior is so much better than the old 300c srt8 it isn't even funny. i have spoken to a few people who have wanted one of the old 300c and the thing that turned them off was the crappy interior. there are a few little bits that are remniscent of the previous 300c.. the glovebox cover/lid is plasticky, light and just like the old one. fortunately it isnt that noticeable. the mats you get with the leather interior group are quite nice. thicker pile carpet and just looks better.

the drive : it is definitely quieter cabin especially at highway speeds. suspension is the usual stiff. the sport mode makes it more so. definitely dont wnat it on sport mode all the time as it can get bumpy. the transmission also seems to shift harder... i didnt remember my old srt doing that. sport mode seems to hold a gear rather than dropping into a higher gear to cruise along... perhaps so that there is no need to downshift when you squirt the pedal? needless to say the car goes fast enough to scare me into slowing down... reaching speeds in excess of 100kmh quickly... lol. the major difference engine wise is the fuel saving technology that shuts down 4 cylinders. not so much a fan of this faint drone/noise when it goes into that mode. you can definitely feel a slightly coarser vibration and an exhaust drone. this is very faint and only noticeable if you are looking for it. im just nitpicking here.

adaptive cruise control is another feature i found really useful... keeps the distance nicely. you can set the distance you want to keep from the car infront of you as well. getting to like the blindspot thing too.. very useful. im still not totally relying on it as i still find myself turning to look before switching lanes.

all in all, very happy with the purchase. it is miles ahead of the previous generation srt8 as a package. would definitely recommend the leather interior group. go look at the black chrome package to make up your own mind.

i had 3 blokes ogling my car in the carpark today at work.. they were posing next to it and taking pictures. LOL. i saw them from a distance and told them i would charge them 10 buks a pic. lol. one of them asked me if it had a v10 in it.. hahaha.

[majik-C]

I went to have a look at an srt8 today, the demo wasnt there, said it be back in a few days.

He also said that theres only gonna be 1000 coming into aus atm and wont get here for another month or so. ( can anyone else confirm?)
sounded like he was tryin to make me deposit on a car i hadnt seen or sat in. that kinda put me off. (maybe i should go back to the dealer i got my 300 from)
Price was $74k drive away.
see what happens in the next few days. might end up going back to a v6.
no trade in also as i sold my 300c back in march. =(

Was going to get a euro car but i just cant get away from the mopars!! =D
back then friends always thought i had a modified jap rice rocket lol

another choice i face is Black or White?? I got the Boucher here, both looks sexy as #&$*!!

[dkoong]

well. i think what he said about the limited supply is probably true. i had a reason to complain about something to the state manager over here in WA and he did tell me that there was going to be somewhat of a shortage. didnt give me specifics. one of the dealers here in perth has a demo which he wouldnt sell to me but the next arriving car was in nov!!!! dealbreaker for me. One of them has a couple coming in a couple of weeks - a red and mineral grey one. i suspect that cars will be coming in drips and drabs...

what was included in the 74k drive away? 3 options - sun roof, interior leather group and black chrome grp. i got the first 2 and no black chrome for 73.5k drive away. (with trade in its hard to tell though - though my trade in was above redbook valuation FWIW). if you have sunroof and leather its a good price

if you liked your old 300c... you will love this even more. its just so more luxurious inside and quieter.

Black or white was also my dilemma. it ultimately got solved purely due to availability. the white was available right now and the black was 4 months away.. LOL. no brainer for me.

Black is definitely the 'hero' colour just like with the old 300c but the white looks pretty darn good too. to be honest white was a very close 2nd choice but hey.. once im in the car.. dont give a crap if it was purple.
colour choice has become pretty much insignificant to me now that i am driving it. now i dont care.

im sure you are well aware of the issues with managing a black car and cleaning it etc... so wont go into that.

[dkoong]

oh yeah. dont get the v6!!!!! if you can afford the srt8 get that... otherwise you will regret it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

though i hear the 8speed is nice and smooth and the car performs quite well. i never bothered to test drive it.

[majik-C]

Originally Posted by dkoong

once im in the car.. dont give a crap if it was purple.

Re-Spray So soon? =p Hahaha

Im leaning more towards white also, as black is sexy but a pain to keep clean. Plus ive had black already.

$74k and he said it had sunroof. didnt say anything else about the packs.

Ive had the 6 before so finances should allow for the hemi =D
Depending on time frames and availabilities. why have 8 speeds when u can have 8 cylinders?

[dkoong]

lol. who knows when the 8 speed will be available for the srt8... probably 2014 model they say.

i dont think it actually makes much diff .... the engine is plenty powerful in any gear...

74k without the leather isnt so good a price... you can probably knock off another 2-2.5k off that 74k price i reckon.

judging by some quotes i have gotten

unfortunately... if you really want a car right now... you going to have to take whats available...