I’ve always wondered what would be the best, German or American engineering? Well, I have been in search of the best saloon car. First I want to tell you what my game plan was. Because no traffic cop wanted to give me a licence to do the real thing, I tested the cars on my PlayStation2 on:

1.             handling;

2.             speed; and

3.             looks.

Fortunately, the Americans have a saloon in the sturdy, elegant body of a Chrysler 300C SRT- 8. The Germans on the other hand produced the a-bit-snaily-on-wheels Mercedes Benz CLS55 AMG. I personally think the companies are in a war about how many digits they can squeeze into the names. Why couldn’t they just name it after a famous person or poisonous snake or a flower or something and get it over with. They are both stunning to look at and they are both in class D. D for desirable, definitely. Now let’s get on to the first point of the test.

Handling

The Merc goes beautifully around corners, but the Chrysler steers like a drunk rhinoceros, because it doesn’t have enough power, it feels heavier than it seems and they say this is the sport version!

On to speed

Both cars go from 0-100km/h in about five seconds and has a stopping time from 100-0km/h of three seconds. But, the Chrysler’s top speed is 264km/h, while the Merc’s top speed is only 250km/h. The Merc has 39bhp more than the Chrysler, but the Chrysler is more gorgeous to look at. Both cars weigh almost two tons, but the Chrysler is Cr.56000 (Playstation currency) cheaper than the Merc. Unfortunately, I only got the Chrysler to get up to 245km/h, while with the Merc gave me more than 10km/h over its top speed limit.

Looks

The Chrysler looks like it was styled by Al Capone and the grille is way too big, but that’s what makes this car unique.  And beautiful. The Merc looks like a snail on wheels, but the frameless windows are very cool. You have to force the Merc’s boot to close it properly. Both car’s interior are equal in beautifulness (if that is a word), but the Chrysler has that, JE NE SI QUA.

Now to the big question

Which one to choose? Well, if I had to buy a car to drive to work every morning, I’d buy the Merc and if I had money to blow on a car it would be the Chrysler. Personally, I don’t care if the Chrysler looks like a fat cat with mad cow disease on roller skates. I still would want one.

Specs