Comparison Tests
Don King, where are you when we need you? A new heavyweight with fancy moves and tons of muscle has just rolled into town, and we're having trouble getting up a fair fight.
Just look at these stats: The new Chrysler 300C is a big boy packing 4100 pounds on its 10-foot wheelbase and swinging 340 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque with its 5.7-liter Hemi V-8. In its last visit with us [ C/D, May 2004], the 300C walloped 60 mph in 5.3 seconds and kayoed the quarter in 13.9 seconds at 102 mph, then carried us around in plush comfort and with snappy handling. All it asked in return was $32,995 before options ($36,020 as pictured here with navigation, a sunroof, and faux tortoise-shell trim).
Who can stand up to that, Don?
Sure, there are the six-cylinder middleweights with good footwork and the right price tags. The Acura TL and the Infiniti G35 come to mind, as well as a few Germans with celebrated names. But they're too small for our big rookie phenom, and they have their own crowded class. The 300C doesn't belong on that fight card.
Jump up to the luxury V-8s-the BMW 545i, the Mercedes E500, the new Cadillac STS, the Lexus GS430, for example-and you nail the size and performance, but whoa, look at those prices! All are about 50 thou and up- waaay up. No golden gloves, please.
So we called around Detroit, the place that went to the bank on the working-class V-8. At Ford, we were shown first to a Lincoln LS V-8, a nimble runner that dices with imports. But its price-over $47,000 with options-knocked it out. So Ford dived into its back room and brought out a $30,890 Ford Crown Victoria LX Sport, a civilian Vicky fitted with a cop suspension, cop tires, and cop dual exhausts.
"If you're looking for V-8 performance in this price range," said the Ford spokesman, "this is what we got."
It's what they got.
The Ford's twin tailpipes raise horsepower out of the 4.6-liter SOHC 16-valve V-8 from a waifish 224 to a slightly more appropriate 239. The Sport trim also includes a quick-getaway rear-end ratio: 3.27 instead of 2.73. A few more options, including side airbags ($300), traction control ($175), and a plastic trunk organizer ($190), nudged the Vic's price only to $32,170, well within the target class.
This 14-year-old queen is a tired soul to be sure, but the Crown Vic is the only Ford sized and priced right to be a contender in this fracas, especially now that the Mercury Marauder is history. The Vic also imparts some coolness, thanks to its status as the nation's Car 54. Dress it up with antennas and spot lights, and the highway becomes your oyster, at least until the real cops show up.
GM once supplied V-8 heavies to all of its division. Now it has to give its catalogs a pretty thorough rummage before it turns up a fairly obscure $38,495 Pontiac. Bet you didn't even know a Bonneville could be that expensive, or come with an optional V-8. It can and does, starting this year.
At the far end of Pontiac's order sheet sits the new Bonneville GXP, putting hurt to the front tires with a 275-hp, 4.6-liter DOHC 32-valve Northstar. A reinforced four-speed automatic handles shifting, and a digger 3.70 axle ratio supplies tire screech to spare.
What else is in it for me, you ask? The $35,995 base GXP (before the inevitable GM incentives) includes 18-inch alloy wheels governed by traction control and the StabiliTrak anti-wipe-out system, plus an eight-speaker Monsoon stereo with CD changer. Most of the Bonneville options are standard on the GXP. To get the pearl pictured here, one need add only the $1100 sunroof, the $750 paint upgrade (called Crimson Tintcoat), a $325 XM satellite-radio receiver, and a $325 digital head-up display. Unlike the Chrysler, the Pontiac offers no navigation console. You must call OnStar to figure out which bonny ville you are barreling through.
Thus assembled, the surviving remnants of Motown's V-8 sedan heritage headed for the Southern California hills. Three rounds to the bell, and you've got a ringside seat.
