New member from Europe.

[Flying Finn]

Hi Guys !



You have a new member from Europe, Finland.

To make a….short story long, how did I end up buying a 300C.
Well, I graduated from a US high school in1982 as an exchange student and I got my CA driver’s license at that time.
( don’t tell anyone, I was not allowed ) I instantly fell in love with American cars.
Since then I have owned many Detroit rides.
My wife does most of our daily driving so she has always had European or Japanese car.
Not any more. We got her today 300C Touring CRD Diesel. ( Actually assembled in Graz, Austria )
Now we have 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited V8 and 300C Touring.



I have been dreaming about 300C since it was introduced.
But because of high gas prices, more than 4 $ / gallon, and not so good fuel economy, it has been only a dream.
A month ago everything was about to change. I was surfing the net, and found out that we just got a diesel model on market.
The next day I made an order. And today we finally got it.
Thanks for the high Finnish car taxes, we had to pay 73 000 $ for our new baby. This is not a joke. Hemi start at 89 000 $.



About European 300C models.
We have Hemi, 3.5L, 2.7L and the new Mercedes-Benz 3.0L all aluminium V6 turbo diesel.
The Touring model is the same as the Dodge Magnum with 300C front end and 300C interior.
The standard equipment list is very long, so there are not many options to choose from.
About the only options you can get, are the Sunroof, Navi, Luxury leather seats, Roof rack, and Adjustable pedals.
Everything else is there already.
The front bumper on diesel seems to be a bit different. There is an extra air intake.
Also the rear bumper has these two red lights on every model.
The wheels are the 18” Dodge Magnum wheels as standard.
Standard tires are Pirelli 225/60/18. Our car came with Nokia 235/60/18 winter tires with studs,
( yes, the same Finnish company Nokia, that makes cellular phones too )
Thanks to our forum member David, the owner of Zeckhausen Racing,
we are going to get an other set of wheels for the next summer 245/55/18 on them.
Thank you David, once again.
I just found out, that the wheels and tires left JFK today, Jan 2nd, so tomorrow they should be here.



About the diesel.
Nothing beats the sound of V8, I know, but I just have to live with it.
The engine comes straight from Mercedes-Benz, and because of high torque, it is equipped with Mercedes-Benz NAG1 transmission, same as Hemi.
The engine is very quiet too.
218 bhp and 380 lb-ft torque starting at 1 600 rpm !
Because of almost Hemi torque at such a low rpm, it is very enjoyable to do the daily driving. And 7,9s from 0 – 60 mph is not too bad either.
One other good thing is the fuel economy.
Diesel fuel is about 23% cheaper than gas, and you get some 24 miles per gallon in city and more than 34 on highway. That’s really something !



About customizing our car.
Like I said, my wife is going to do most of the driving. I really love these 20” and 22” wheels that you guys have.
They make this car look so cool, but I just have to cool myself not to get them. In everyday driving the originals makes more sense.
Well, maybe someday we get bigger ones too.
We spent our Christmas in NY, so we got a rental ride, set up our laptop GPS navigation, and headed to Wyckoff Chrysler in NJ.
We bought the Mopar polished aluminium custom grille and Miller tool to check the tranny oil.
I was also thinking about wood dash, but when I saw a kit assembled to a showroom 300C at
Manhattan Chrysler, I wasn’t so sure. It looked a little cheap installed on top of original dash.
Next spring we are going to tint the windows. That way my wife has
some time to get used to the limited rear visibility, thanks for the “chopped” roof line.
I just love the way this car looks so Thank You Chrysler for Pimping Our Ride ;-)



And thanks for the great forum for all of You guys !


PS. I just finished the "wood work". See pics.
I told you I am not going to do that. But, I don't know, I just had to do it after
seeing so many nice pics on the forum.
The job was easy. You just have to be patient. You have only one change when putting the
pieces on the dash.
The kit is http://www.edashkit.com/ #CR3005A 39Pcs basic kit. As you can see, the walnut burlwood
is pretty close to tortoise. You can't really see the difference. Quality of the kit was OK. Not perfect.
I had to finish some edges with razorblade and also color the edges black, since the 3M adhesive
was quite light in color. Also some "not so nice" edge finishing was done by the manufacturer !

Anyhow, I am quite satisfied, and next I am going to do the leather armrest that James, The owner of the
http://www.22elite.com/ kindly send me. Hopefylly with a help of team member groovyjay ;-)

[flexion]

congratulations and welcome!

please add your position to the 300cforums frappr map: http://www.frappr.com/300

did you buy the AWD?

[joey]

Welcome!

Nice to have someone with a different perspective and different type of car. Post some pics if you get a chance.

[Geordie]

[quote=Flying Finn]Hi Guys !

Hi Flying Finn.. I am also a new member from the UK intending to get the 300C CRD saloon when it is launched in the UK later this month. Just wondered if you had any knowledge of the Startech SD6 performance tuning kit which boosts the power output from 218 to 262bhp and if there were any pros / cons you may be aware of such as the effect upon fuel economy etc?

Regards and Best Wishes

Geordie

[CUEBALL]

Welcome aboard!!

Seen a few of the 300 Tourings here, glad to add you to the bunch!!

[bruno]

Flying Finn,

A great big US welcome to the forums! You have certainly done your homework and it shows. Your excitement is a breath of fresh air!

bruno

[GoofyTimL]

Welcome from my Midnight BLue 300C in WV, USA! I like the 300 nose on the Magnum wagon! Wish we could get the diesel here, and have the price difference you have... here diesel has been a bit more expensive than gas for many years (never understood that one!).

[Murphy The Cat]

Hi Flying Finn

I bet that you are a very happy man with your new car - it looks great.

I notice that you have lowered the number plate bracket so that the grill is not partially obscured. How did you go it to get the effect as it looks a lot nicer than the standard.

Murphy The Cat

[Flying Finn]

Thank You Guys !

The car is RWD and I am going to keep the engine untouched.
The number plate bracket is made of metal and came like this from the factory.
There is a cooler right behind the "extra" air intake. For turbo ? I dont now.
Have not figured that out yet. But anyhow that should be the reason for slightly
different license plate location.

[Ahbizmal]

The longer rectangular European license plates are usually ideally placed like that.