1999 Chrysler 300M Suspension & Steering Review

The suspension gear under the nose is a relatively conventional MacPherson strut design with forged-steel lower control arms, coil springs, and anti-roll bars. The rear suspension design is also strut-based with a coil spring, dual lateral links, and a pressed-steel trailing link for locating the wheel.

Whatis quite nice is that Chrysler offers the 300Mis suspension system in two distinct tuning variations. The base setup comes with springs, gas-shock damping, and jounce bumpers calculated to gobble the worst pieces of underfunded highway in comfort. It does so on a set of P225/55TR17 Goodyear Eagle LS touring tires on cast-aluminum wheels. This is a nice-riding suspension with just a touch of European crispness that keeps pitch, dive, and roll in check. But if youire someone who occasionally takes the long way home because those back-country two-lanes have some great twists, youill want to sign up for the Performance Handling Group. Checking option package AWT directs the factory to install firmer struts, taller rear jounce bumpers, firmer-feel steering, special Michelin XGTV4 P225/60VR16 all-season performance radials (yes, 16s are the performance tire, 17s are the ride-biased tire quite a change), 16-inch Medallion cast-aluminum wheels, a beefier set of high-performance four-wheel antilock disc brakes, and an engine-control unit without the 118-mph speed limiter found on the standard car. Every one of the MT judges would opt for this enthusiast-style arrangement. But be warned: Along with the firmer, more confident feel and crisper steering responses comes a bit more road-grain noise on all but the smoothest of surfaces. So weid definitely recommend a test drive before checking off this option box.

Contributing nicely to the driveris sense of control is a near-perfectly boosted steering system. And yet the power-assisted rack-and-pinion unit is a fairly traditional design. Chrysler engineers looked carefully for any opportunities to reduce internal system friction, the sworn enemy of good steering feel. The result of this attention did not go unnoticed by our staff, eliciting many comments in our trip notes about the caris communicative steering gear and much-appreciated crisp, on-center feel.

On our handling course, the Performance Handling Group-spec 300M cut a remarkably precise line through the 600-foot slalom with a surprisingly fast pass of 65.9 mph. Thatis faster than the last BMW 528i tested by Motor Trend and is less than one mph behind a Corvette coupe. Even the standard 300M sliced through the cones at 63.2 mph.

Brakes that provide powerful, linear, fade-resistant stops are a key item in any makeris sport sedan. What our drivers liked about the brakes in this sedan were low noise, an excellent and easy-to-modulate pedal, and remarkable fade resistance even with repeated applications on the steep grades.