Distance: 2,239km
Location: Ontario, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut
Date: September 29-October 2, 2022
Up front: It’s one of those cars that look better than they feel. The leather surfaced seats only have as much leather as is necessary to look like a luxury car with cloth and plastic inserts on the sides and back, the lumbar support is permanently pumped up to an uncomfortably inflated position, and there aren’t enough cubbyholes to store things in. For example, the phone slot isn’t wide enough for a standard iPhone with a protective case.
The screen doesn’t seamlessly connect to your phone and there are no volume controls on the steering wheel. The car hasn’t had a major update for over a decade and feels old. To its credit, the absence of annoying beeps and bongs from driver assistance systems are a welcome change from the advanced cars you get at the rental counter, so it is an upgrade in this regard.
In the back: The long, full-size sedan has a comparatively dismal amount of legroom. You’d expect interior space to be mind-blowing but you’d be wrong. The rear seats have no more space than a mid-size sedan and the high belt line makes the cabin dark and claustrophobic. The carpets are plush, but if I owned this car I’d be worried about cleaning them.
The trunk has an unnecessarily high loading lip, probably a feature from the 1950s, along with the fins that the 300S inherited from its predecessor. It’s spacious and deep enough for most family trips, but awkwardly shaped so it’s never possible to Tetris everything in without leaving strange gaps.
Driving: The naturally-aspirated V6 is a joy to drive. Stomp on the pedal and you get linear acceleration that doesn’t give up. It’s great on the highway and, surprisingly, on moderately twisty roads, but disappointing in close quarters. The boxy exterior styling and short windows makes it difficult to gauge where the car is in a tight corner or if you’re too close to the car behind when parallel parking. The thin mirrors almost encourage a curb rash.
