Report: Chrysler 300 SRT Hellcat is Happening

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Report: Chrysler 300 SRT Hellcat is Happening

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Report: A Chrysler 300 Hellcat is Happening
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2017 ... ening.html
A Chrysler 300 SRT with the 6.2-liter supercharged Hellcat V8 will arrive in late 2018.

According to Automotive News, Fiat Chrysler’s plan to move the 300 to the Giorgio rear-wheel drive platform that is employed in the Giulia has been scrapped. Instead, FCA engineers will work to significantly improve the 300’s LX platform, with the automaker planning to introduce the reworked version of the sedan sometime in 2019.

Before the updated 300 arrives, the Hellcat version will. AN‘s sources didn’t provide much info on the super sedan, but previous Hellcat-powered products give us a pretty good indication. In the closely related Charger Hellcat, FCA’s 6.2-liter supercharged V8 makes 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque, so we’re expecting similar output levels for the 300.

Spy shots of a curious 300 SRT Prototype surfaced earlier this year, fueling rumors the 300 is in line for a Hellcat makeover. The prototype was wearing the Dodge Demon’s extra-wide tires at all four corners, so it’s possible the production version will be a widebody. Furthermore, FCA has already proven its all-wheel drive system can handle the Hellcat’s hardiness. If FCA wanted to differentiate the Chrysler from its Dodge counterpart, it could make it AWD.

Chrysler spokesperson Kristin Starnes told us earlier this year that “there are no plans” to bring a high-performance Chrysler 300 to North America, but that’s typical of PR personnel. We’re inclined to believe AN on this, after all, they predicted the arrival of the widebody Challenger Hellcat and the all-wheel drive Challenger GT well before either had made their debut.
I'm not sure I believe this will happen, but it certainly would be pretty sweet!
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Re: Report: Chrysler 300 SRT Hellcat is Happening

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Hellcan't? No, a Chrysler 300 Hellcat isn't coming after all
http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1112 ... -after-all
Hold your horses. All 707 of them, apparently.

A report from Automotive News on Monday had us salivating that a Chrysler 300 Hellcat could be ready to leap out of the skunkwerks and into showrooms. Not so fast.

A Fiat Chrysler Automobiles spokesman told Motor Authority on Tuesday that the automaker has no plans for a supercharged V-8 Hemi Hellcat engine in the Chrysler 300. Not here, not there, not anywhere.

From the get-go, a Hellcat-powered Chrysler 300 raised our eyebrows. Chrysler offered an SRT-powered 300 for a few years in the U.S., but dropped the high-po full-sizer in 2013 to keep performance the province of Dodge and Jeep. (The Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT is the best-selling SRT model and most profitable. One shouldn't kill the money-printing machine.)

Stuffing a Hellcat engine into a 300 may push pacemakers, but it probably wouldn't be all that profitable for the aging 300 sedan.

For 2019, the 300 likely will be getting a refresh that focuses on shedding weight to improve fuel economy. The possibility of finding a turbocharged inline-4 under the hood also isn't out of the question, as we'll see it in the new 2019 Jeep Wrangler.

The next Dodge Charger and Challenger might ride on a modified version of the Maserati Ghibli platform. If true, the next Chrysler 300 might also end up on this platform if it stays rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive. The 300 currently shares its platform with the Dodge Charger and Challenger, which dates back to the mid-1990s Mercedes-Benz E-Class, albeit heavily modified over the years.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Chrysler 300 and full FCA lineup.
That's what I figured. :roll:
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