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.
