Dodge Charger: Hoping to Become a Familiar Face

[BMWDave]

2006 Dodge Charger: Hoping to Become a Familiar Face

THE Chrysler Group recently reported its eighth consecutive quarterly operating profit, an enviable streak built on a strategy that not long ago seemed rather risky.

Chrysler had bet that it could make buyers fall in love once again with the traditional American family car - you know, those spacious two-ton sedans with the drive wheels at the rear and a V-8 under the hood.

As recently as a couple of years ago, those holdovers from the American auto industry's Golden Age seemed to be teetering on the brink of extinction. Aside from a couple of prehistoric Fords, by then mostly relegated to taxi and police fleets anyway, the choice of family transportation among the multitudes had shifted heavily toward big-box minivans and sport utilities. Almost exclusively, big rear-drive sedans were found only in the showrooms of luxury brands.

The pendulum may have begun to swing back two years ago with the introduction of the Chrysler 300 and its station wagon counterpart, the Dodge Magnum. A triumvirate of hot-selling four-doors was completed this summer with the introduction of the 2006 Dodge Charger. All three were based on architecture derived from the Mercedes-Benz E-Class platform; together, the cars have given an enormous lift to the fortunes of the Chrysler Group as well as its parent, DaimlerChrysler.

Adventurous designs have rescued Chrysler from the brink often enough - the minivan in 1984, the "cab-forward" sedans in the 1990's and the brawny Dodge Ram pickups - that no one should have been surprised when the boldly styled 300 gave a jump-start to a company mired in red ink. Still, the Charger is definitely a stretch: building a rear-drive sedan as the top offering of a mass-market brand is nothing if not brave.

The new Charger is a worthy car in its own right, and in R/T trim with the Hemi engine, one worth considering for families whose needs include zero-to-60 times of less than six seconds.

The Charger benefits from a long list of things bestowed on it by its upscale relatives within DaimlerChrysler, but it is also better in some ways than the vehicles on which it is based, because its engineers have taken care to upgrade and improve some of the systems. The result is a car with road manners that are a cut above seemingly competitive sedans like the Ford Five Hundred, Buick LaCrosse or Toyota Avalon.

A week at the wheel of a loaded Charger R/T convinced me that Dodge has a winner. What is refreshingly different about this Charger is that it rides, corners and stops like a luxury sedan (thanks again, Mercedes!), and not at all like the ancestral Chargers.

I continued to wrestle with my own definition of what a Charger ought to be: a coupe, for starters, like the 1966 original that helped to establish the reputation of the 426-cubic-inch Hemi engine. There, I've said it; I've officially taken the first step on the road to recovery.

Though the Charger's heritage saddles it with some identity issues, I'd call it handsome in a muscular sort of way. Jeff Gale, the chief designer, said his goal was to give it a sinister look. His success will be apparent the first time a Charger comes screaming up in your rearview mirror, as the police version is certain to do. The Charger's high flanks, long nose, arched trunk shape and hot-rod-style chopped roof accentuate its persona.

Behind the wheel, I felt small, insignificant and a bit removed from reality, like the Wizard of Oz, trying to operate inside this huge tire-smoking vehicle. Even for a 6-foot driver, it is hard to see over the hood or get a fix on what is alongside and behind the car; blind spots - created by the thick roof pillars and voluptuous rear fenders - are big enough to hide a Volkswagen.

There are other sacrifices to style: the roof is so low that the driver often has to crouch over and then look up to see a traffic light overhead. Looking out the wide but low-cut side windows, my perspicacious 12-year-old daughter noted, "is like watching one of those letter-boxed movies!"

She also suggested that the rear seat would be cruel and unusual punishment for anyone taller than she is, 5-foot-2. The sharply sloping roofline compromises headroom, and the legroom is more coupelike than sedan-size.

Those cooped up in the back seat did allow that the optional DVD entertainment system, a $1,150 option, was a factor in mitigating their discomfort. It also got points for flipping up from the center armrest of the front seat. In that position, with the dark dashboard behind it, the contrast is excellent; screens that lower from above are usually hard to see because of bright sunlight or, at night, the headlights of approaching cars behind them.

The stark and dark design of the interior is, to me, so minimalist that a room at Motel 6 seems cluttered by comparison. An exception is the optional navigation system, which adds complexity to tasks that should be simple, like changing radio stations.

Among the many benefits that trickled down to the Charger from Mercedes is its five-speed automatic transmission with a manual-shift function; its left-right action for shifting gears, instead of back-and-forth moves, is more user-friendly than most.

The Charger starts with a 250-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6. The two base versions, the $22,995 SE (including the $675 delivery charge) and the $25,995 SXT, are well served by this engine. To get the sonorous 340-horsepower Hemi V-8, it is necessary to buy the $29,995 R/T model. Employee discount programs do not apply to '06 models.

While this is a lot of performance for less than $30,000, it is still worth spending an extra $1,600 on the R/T performance package, which includes firmer self-leveling shock absorbers, larger tires, more precise steering, more supportive seats and a free-flowing exhaust system that adds 10 horsepower to the Hemi's output.

Fuel efficiency suffers surprisingly little with the Hemi. The V-6 is rated at 19 miles per gallon in city driving, and 27 on the highway. The Hemi's economy is rated at 17/25, in part because of a cylinder-cutoff system that allows it to run on four cylinders under light loads. In everyday driving I usually averaged a tick less than 20 m.p.g.

A Daytona Charger R/T, at $32,495, comes in either Go Man, Go! orange or Top Banana yellow, and includes garish flat black Daytona Hemi decals and spoilers front and rear- just the thing for "Dukes of Hazzard" fans. This fall, a 425-horsepower Charger SRT8 will go on sale with a $36,000 price tag.

After its original run as a muscle car icon and a star of the Nascar circuit, the Charger name suffered indignities that included bloated body designs and embarrassing four-cylinder models. The '06, despite purists' complaints that it is a sedan rather than a coupe and that no manual transmission is available, comes closer to the spiritual heart of what a Charger ought to be than any effort of the past three decades.

INSIDE TRACK: Back among the boldface names.

[ifcar]

The rear seat isn't as bad as all that. It's certainly not up to typical large sedan standards, but it's serviceable.  

[Raza]

The rear seat isn't as bad as all that. It's certainly not up to typical large sedan standards, but it's serviceable.

The rear seat space seems to be larger than my E class, which is still comfortable over long distances.  The only issue I have with the Charger's rear seats in the roof design. It dives at the doors, meaning you have cock your head to get in (but once you get in there's more room) and the dive towards the rear means less headroom than you'd expect.  

[ifcar]

Many sporty-looking sedans have the same roofline problems.  

[BMWDave]

Many sporty-looking sedans have the same roofline problems.

The Mazda3 does as well.  I always have to arch uncomfortably when I get into the Mazda3.

[ifcar]

Many sporty-looking sedans have the same roofline problems.

The Mazda3 does as well.  I always have to arch uncomfortably when I get into the Mazda3.

It's not at all uncommon.