A Full-Size Upgrade From Dodge at No Additional Charge
Share with others:
CAR reviewers tend to have a blind spot when it comes to price. Money is a tricky issue, because what seems expensive to me might be cheap to someone else, and vice versa.
But I'm having a hard time making even imaginary payments on some of the cars I've driven lately. I feel like a contestant on "The Price Is Right" who has no idea how much a gallon of milk costs -- when did a Cadillac Escalade start setting you back $89,000?
In the midst of the creeping price inflation that seems to afflict all cars, the Dodge Charger stands out as a notable bargain, the lone rear-wheel-drive sedan (along with its cousin, the Chrysler 300) that's priced comfortably below $30,000.
Consider the base Charger SE. Add the optional 8-speed transmission ($1,000) and the sticker tallies $27,320. For that money, you've got a four-door car with the footprint of a BMW 7 Series for about $8,000 less than the cheapest 3 Series.
And that basic Charger is no longer your mean rental-fleet special with a 2.7-liter V-6 and an interior sourced from the Acme Shiny Plastics Company. The entry-level motor is now a healthy 292-horsepower 3.6-liter V-6 which, when bolted to the ZF 8-speed transmission, returns a government-rated 31 miles per gallon on the highway (and a rather less impressive 19 m.p.g. in the city).
And the Charger cabin, like the interiors of pretty much all recent Chrysler products, has received a comprehensive overhaul that brings it squarely within the bounds of respectability -- and, dare I say, style.
Call me a sucker for authenticity, but the optional zinc paddle shifters on the steering wheel are a small pleasure, an antidote to the fake wood that enthralls some foreign manufacturers. (Toyota and Volkswagen, in particular, are heavily logging the faux forest.)
Likewise, the broad chunk of aluminum-looking material that surrounds the instrument cluster is actually aluminum. How novel.
If the Charger's freshly tailored interior suffers a glaring aesthetic letdown, it's the Garmin navigation software that infects the dash's 8.4-inch touch screen with its hideous graphics. Audi is now overlaying Google Maps satellite images in its navigation displays; with the Charger's goofy graphics, you won't know whether to turn left or team up with your brother Luigi to rescue Princess Toadstool from the evil Bowser.
First Published February 12, 2012 12:01 am
