The 2015 Chrysler 300S and the 2015 Toyota Avalon XLE are competitors in the large sedan segment, but on paper they couldn’t be more different.
The 300 is a burly, rear-wheel-drive all-American sedan (albeit with German roots), with a longitudinally mounted engine and extroverted, neo-gangster styling. The Avalon, however, is an enlarged Camry, sharing that car’s front-wheel-drive platform and transverse mounted engine, wrapped in a tasteful but generic body that’s all Japanese, even though it’s built in Kentucky.
In the real world, these two sedans are remarkably similar. The two cars tested here are within $1,000 of each other – the 300S being the more expensive – and they both have V-6 engines under the hood. The 300S has all wheel drive compared to the Avalon’s front wheel drive, but both cars are the sport versions of their respective models.
The Avalon has Toyota’s ubiquitous 3.5-liter V-6 that can be found in all Camry derivatives. It makes 268 hp and 248 lb-ft of torque, which is sent to the front wheels through a six-speed automatic.
The 300S comes to the ring with a 3.6-liter V-6 making 300 hp and 264 lb-ft of torque through an eight-speed automatic.
The 300 may have the muscle, but the Avalon undercuts it by about 500 pounds.
So which one is the performance king? Roman Mica took both cars to IMI Motorsports Park in Dacono, Colo. to test both cars for 0-60 and 60-0 times, and run both cars in a drag race to determine which one takes the crown.
Check out the full TFLcar video below for the complete performance test and Mega Mashup review:
