Last year, not long after the revised Dodge Challenger, Charger, and Chrysler 300 debuted, the Mopar brass announced that the SRT treatment would not be returning to Chrysler’s luxury full-size sedan for 2015. While disappointing for those of us who dig the “thug in a three piece suit” vibe, Chrysler’s logic was that many buyers were opting for the top-spec 300 and expecting a luxury-focused offering rather than a performance sedan and the disconnect just wasn’t worth the effort of correcting.
However, in recent months a number of spotters have seen camouflaged 300s running around the Detroit area with big brakes, wider tires, and some healthy-looking exhaust pipes sticking out the back, leading some to believe that Chrysler was bluffing, and that there might even be a Hellcat version of the 300 on the horizon.
That last bit is probably still a bit of fiction, but as it turns out the SRT 392 version of the 2016 Chrysler 300 is a real thing – it’s just being sold “in select markets”, namely the Middle East, where go-fast luxury sedans have broad appeal.
While not a proper review, here in this clip we do get a chance to see the 485 horsepower Chrysler 300 in motion, sporting all the enhancements that the 2015 refresh brought to its LX platform stablemates, including the 8-speed automatic gearbox, expanded performance pages, three-way adaptive suspension and so on. Our man behind the wheel seems to be digging it, noting a number of refinements over the 2014 model, including the “twisty knobby shift” gear selector and its penchant for roasting the tires from stoplights.