Smooth 8-speed gives Chrysler 300 V-6 an automatic boost

As Kelsey Mays detailed in an earlier review, Chrysler redesigned its 300 full-size sedan for the 2011 model year, bringing the car up to date in all ways except one: Its automatic transmission continued as a five-speed. Now for 2012, the V-6-powered 300 offers a new eight-speed automatic. (See other specs compared.) I'll devote this review to our impressions of the new transmission and the line's new top trim level, called S, and to clarifying the baffling combination of available drivetrains and trim levels.

Joe Wiesenfelder

July 4, 2012