Can anyone tell me why this bigger and heavier car has a 203 hp engine? 3 more than the taurus v6. dealer ship says that it's all in that 6 speed CVT transmission it has. He also said when run against the chrysler 300 m w/ 250 hp it did way better.

 

I don't claim to be very knowledgable on this subject but I think you have something mixed up in your question. While I think your correct that the Ford 500 has a 6 speed tranny, it's not a CVT. The CVT is standard on the Freestyle. I think I did read in Auto Week that the Freestyle had better 0-60 than the Chrysler Pacifica, but I don't know about the 300M. I own an M and I have my doubts about the "way better" remark.
Trebor2

 

it also has to do with increased traction due to the AWD. the Mitsubishi 3000 GT can stay with a corvett even though it has way less hp because it grips the road better.

 

Yes, that's very true as spinning rubber does not help in acceleration. If you want to see graphically what makes the CVT better than the MT see this web cite:
http://cvt.com.sapo.pt/performances/performances.htm

 

some of the 500's do have cvt transmissions and you cant compare it to ax4n in the taurus and get much better fuel mileage