1 best of : The Refreshed Chrysler 300 SRT Is Hot—But It’s Officially Dead for North America

The mainstream Chrysler 300 lineup received a thorough update for 2015 with nary a peep about the nuclear-grade SRT version. While that was a clear message that the burliest 300 was truly buried in North America—our sources also said as much last year—multiple sightings of refreshed 300 SRTs testing in the U.S. sowed confusion and seemed to indicate otherwise. Well, the answer is now definitive: It’s gone, man.

But not everywhere. Those cars we spotted testing? They were doing so for the benefit of 16 global markets where the SRT is still popular and which are just receiving the updated model, including Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Belarus, Angola, six Middle Eastern countries, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea.

While sales volumes and economics certainly played a role, a Chrysler spokesperson we spoke to cited FCA’s focus on SRT as a Dodge-based performance brand as chief among the reasons for axing the hot 300 from the U.S. (The Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT is a notable exception, but it sells well enough to justify its continued existence here.) The Canadian-built 300 SRT skews somewhat away from all-out performance, so it moves to export-only status—albeit now with an eight-speed automatic and updated styling to go along with its stonking, 470-hp 6.4-liter Hemi V-8. You can check out a batch of photos of the refreshed car in our gallery below.

We always liked the 300 SRT’s blend of luxury and uniquely American brutality, and it came across as a sort of budget AMG. (Which, given the Mercedes roots of its platform, we suppose it is.) While it’s not like SRT isn’t churning out interesting stuff for us nowadays—witness the Hellcatting of all the things—it’s hard not to be bummed that the latest version won’t be roaming U.S. streets.

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from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1MSUUON

The Refreshed Chrysler 300 SRT Is Hot—But It’s Officially Dead for North America

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