BrewSwillis

Road only?? I'll bet 90% of Jeep owners won't even do this much off-roading with their Jeep:

I like it, and would even think of getting one in green or black if it had the SRT-4's powerplant.....or even a mild version of the SRT-4 with like 220-250 HP. AWD would be a bonus too, but I know the SRT-4 will only be FWD. Compasses do look fairly normal when you see them out on the road....well, at least as normal as all the weird Asian CUV's.

I don't know what to tell you. I have a 2005 300 Touring, so I only have a 4-speed, and it doesn't have a manual mode....and I haven't driven my sister's 2006 300 Touring enough to get past 3rd gear with the auto-stick. From Allpar.com:

More pics and additional article here: http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/03/jeep-in...age-from-mopar/ ------------------------------------ Couldn't they have waited till the SRT-4 Caliber came out, and then put the SRT-4 powerplant in it??? Jackasses.

I think he actually said that it has a manual mode, but wishes it was a 6-speed with paddle shifters. (and I wish the RGX body spray girl really wanted to smell me from "right here"):

What year is it? About the same time that they made the MP3 jack standard, they also started putting the 5-speed auto in the 3.5L's. In fact, I think you said it had a manual mode.....so it has to be the 5-speed. I don't understand why you think it weighs too much, and is too big. What are you comparing it to? If it was smaller, then it wouldn't be a "full size" vehicle. It only weighs 200 lbs more than your 500, and it's a wagon. In a MT comparison of other "family wagons", it had the fastest slalom speed, and was right on par in the figure 8 test: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/wagon/...gons/specs.html

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/04/30/you-rea...e-from-hyundai/

The Impala SS only gets 18 city mpg with 37 less horsepower than a 300C. The Impala's 3.9L V6 gets 1 more mpg than the 300's 3.5L, with 13 less HP. I would say that their powertrains are pretty equal to, if not better, then the competition.

Well, if you just single out the Chrysler brand. You have have the ancient Sebring, PT Cruiser, T&C, and then the newer Pacifica, 300 and Aspen. I don't think the Aspen was even a factor because it just came out recently.....so you had all those old cars and then the 300. Rental companies like Chrysler Group minivans, Sebrings/Sebring Convertibles, and PT Cruisers.....so when you have an aging lineup with high rental desirability, of course the percentage to fleet is high. The percentage will go down when the new Sebring, T&C, and PT replacement come into full production....but it will probably remain near the top of the industry average because they still have overcapacity issues.

A 300 HP 4-cyl turbo needs to expel heat somehow. At least it doesn't look a total add-on like the holes on the front of the original srt-4:

That was a "concept" at the time.

More pics and a video at: http://jalopnik.com/cars/spy-photos/spy-ph...sked-254816.php

The interior on the Touring and upper models is much nicer than the "base" 300, just due to the fact that the "base" 300 eliminates all of the chrome accents. This makes the "base interior look kinda cheap and monotone. I have a Touring 300 with the jade (green, not gray) interior, and I think it's really nice. People who ride in it always compliment on the interior. The trunk carpeting will move around if you don't keep the Velcro attached where the trunk carpeting meets the back of the rear seat carpeting. Since yours was a rental, people have probably been putting all kinds of luggage in and out of the back....and since they don't care about it, they never reattach the Velcro.

Toyota might need a software flash to put the car in like a "test idle" mode or something? This isn't the tester's fault. They have made a standardized test for all vehicles, and it's not their fault the Prius won't idle. The Prius should be able to idle somehow to get approved by the government.

---------------- Shouldn't have sold your soul.

The center console around the gear shifter on the base model is all one color plastic.....the upper trim models have a metal colored insert around the gear shifter area. The dash includes the vents and passenger dash grab handle.....both of which have additional metal (look?) pieces to brighten up the dash. Open your eyes. Each thing mentioned in the original post is visually upgraded on the higher trim models. I never said the plastic materials are upgraded......why would they be???.....it's the same vehicle. How do you know what the materials feel like from a picture?? Things can be visually upgraded without having their material make up changed.....and still be considered upgraded. Arguing with you, is like arguing with a woman.....are you a chick??

But this was the original quote: Those are the things that are upgraded on the higher trim levels. I didn't start the tread under those premises.....I just chose to show that those were things that were being complained about on a BASE trimmed vehicle.....and that higher trim level vehicles have those areas upgraded.

I said "center stack surround" because it looks like the center stack air vent is either a different shape, or oriented in a different position, with a metal-look trim piece surrounding it. You can save your complaints till after better pics come. .......

It's just another way to make it convenient for Toyota to sell RHD and LHD versions of this vehicle. They don't have to move the e-brake.

From what I can tell, it has different gauges or a different gauge surround, steering wheel, center stack surround and upper nav cover.......an they also have stated that the dash will now be covered in a soft touch material......so all you interiorphiles can grope and molest it.

Well, if you didn't get the obvious point: The BASE Liberty is as good or better then the Xterra in my opinion. All of the plastic on the Xterra is the same color and grain. It looks horrible.....but hey....it's got chrome door handles!! Second. That is the BASE Liberty that you showed an amateur picture of. I don't know what Xterra interior I found the picture of, but there are more higher end Liberty's to chose from.....with the top end one's interior looking quite nice with chrome and bright metal accents.

Only pic I know of so far: New Old

Let's compare it to one of it's closest rivals in price and off-roadedness.....the Nissan Xterra: Check out the crap-fest that is the Nissan Xterra interior.

Interior looks much crappier from this view.....sea of black on the whole passenger side:

Base Model? Same color door handles: Mid-level? Chrome door handles and two tone steering wheel with controls: Top-level? All the stuff on the mid-level plus additional bright metal accents on the door panel, and probably other stuff that you can't see in this pic: Big deal......the base model looks kinda cheap. How much cheaper is it than the competition? I would never buy a base model of any car. You get what you pay for. The old Liberty was the same way. Sport: Limited: