CARSHAVA

I still clearly remember the day in December 2008 that I first saw the vehicle that would be the 2011 Dodge Charger. Chrysler was on the verge of closing its doors for good and invited a small group of journalists and analysts to take a highly look at what products would be coming to market if the company survived. The next Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Durango, and a heavy-duty Ram pickup were shown and met with quiet approval from the group. But the Charger caused people to stop and drool. We say that Chrysler not only could differentiate the Charger from the 300 (also shown that day), but also could put together a class-leading interior. Thankfully the production car lives up to the images that were burned into my mind that day in 2008.
Driving the Charger home over some seriously degraded two-lane roads revealed a well-tuned suspension that inspired lots of confidence. I felt the multiple imperfections, but the impacts were never harsh and I always felt in control of the vehicle. The Charger still feels big from behind the wheel, but there's something that just feels right about hustling a big American sedan with a big V-8 down some empty country roads. Although the five-speed automatic transmission is about to be replaced by an eight-speed unit, its calibration is much better than what I've experienced in other new Chrysler products this year. Hopefully the new eight-speed comes to market with even better calibration and also improves fuel economy by a few mpg.
The Dodge Charger's interior is now class-leading. There's a touch-screen infotainment system supplemented with just enough physical knobs and buttons to make it easy to use without taking your eyes off the road. Imagine that, real knobs for volume and tuning functions and buttons that easily adjust the temperature! All of this can also be accomplished by interacting with the touch-screen, but you're never forced to use new technology to address vital functions like volume or temperature unlike the MyFord Touch system that Ford is pushing on consumers these days.
Thankfully the plug wasn't pulled on Chrysler in 2008 and I sincerely hope all of the people who were working on this car before Fiat took control of Chrysler are being congratulated right now because they've created the best American sedan on the market.

  
REVIEWS:  From the January, 2012 issue of Automobile MagazineThe Dodge Charger exists in a class of one. Its attitude, style, and rear-wheel drive distance it from an otherwise bland segment defined by the unexceptional Ford Taurus, Chevy Impala, and Toyota Avalon. As much as we respect the Charger's swagger, though, we could never get past its less compelling traits -- tired six-cylinder engines, sluggish transmissions, and a dour interior.
With the 2011 redesign, Dodge moved to address every major complaint we'd levied against the previous Charger. The interior achieves unseen levels of quality for a Chrysler product with a dual-gloss dashboard, genuine aluminum trim, and a crisp, 8.4-inch touch screen. The new 3.6-liter V-6 measures up to the competition with 292 hp. Perhaps most critically, the five-speed automatic can be replaced with an optional eight-speed -- the same ZF-supplied gearbox found in many BMWs and Audis. The Charger's comprehensive revitalization was as surprising as the entire Chrysler Group's rapid resurgence, and at our annual awards test, the big sedan sauntered away with one of ten All-Stars.
Curious if American machismo can truly co-exist with sophisticated manners, we ordered a 2012 Charger for a yearlong evaluation. Starting with the $31,420 SXT Plus netted the six-cylinder engine paired with the eight-speed automatic, plus passive entry and push-button start; heated, power adjustable, Nappa leather seats; heated and cooled cup holders; heated second-row seats; satellite radio; and the touch-screen infotainment unit. We added adaptive cruise control, a heated steering wheel, navigation, a backup camera, and the $1495 blacktop package, which includes sport bucket seats, a nine-speaker stereo, paddle shifters, a sport suspension, and 20-inch gloss-black wheels, bringing the total to $34,835.
That our imposing, monochromatic Charger has the presence of a police cruiser hasn't escaped us. We're hoping the paint scheme will improve our chances to fly both under the proverbial radar and past the very real radar gun. Within a week of its arrival, the Charger was already returning results; a Detroit police officer approached our illegally double-parked Charger, not to ticket it, but thinking that its driver, West Coast editor Jason Cammisa, was one of his own. (Quite the opposite, sir.)
Back in Ann Arbor, the Charger has been reminding our staff that it wasn't an imposter among our All-Star winners. "I was pleased by the superb Bluetooth interface and the touch-screen navigation system," reported deputy editor Joe DeMatio after his first drive. "The driver's seat seems really comfortable, so it will be interesting to see if it stands up to a long trip," he added.
The new gearbox has also set about erasing the reputation established by the Chrysler transmissions we were driving just half a year earlier. "The shifts from the eight-speed aren't as crisp or as quick as those from the same gearbox in a German luxury car," noted senior editor Joe Lorio, "but they're much better timed and more precise than what you got with the reluctant five-speed. The three additional cogs also address the issue we experienced with our long-term Jeep Grand Cherokee, that there wasn't an appropriate gear for highway passing maneuvers."
While we love that the Charger's styling is as bold as ever, the road manners have evolved into something much more civilized. We're eager to see if the grown-up Charger will last twelve months without revealing a single old habit that could be lurking beneath the surface.

Bad day in the design dome

I still remember going into the design dome at the Chrysler tech center in Auburn Hills to see the upcoming 2006 Dodge Charger. The recently introduced Chrysler 300 was a sensation; the Dodge Magnum was a ballsy station wagon. Now there would be a sedan. There had been a Dodge Charger R/T concept car, back in 1999, that was very promising, its styling inspired by the excellent '68-'70 model. But when Chrysler design boss Trevor Creed pulled the drape off the production Charger, I could only think, "What happened?"
The cool influences of the iconic Charger were nowhere to be found. Instead there was a weird hop-up ahead of the rear fenders that didn't match the shape of the rear side glass, the graphic for which came to a point even though the glass area and the door opening didn't. The car had the same squashed roofline as the 300 but none of that car's design cohesion and none of its presence. To make matters worse, the interior, cheapened compared to its Chrysler counterpart, was an unrelieved house of rubberized hard plastic.

The Meathead Division

Here was a rare beast, a V-8-powered, rear-wheel-drive, American sedan, but it was impossible to get excited about it because the execution was so dumbed down. This was around the time Dodge was running its "That thing got a Hemi in it?" ads, with white-trash actor dude Jon Reep. It was as if Dodge was trying to position itself as the Meathead Division.
In the years since, we've seen a spate of mostly disappointing products. A redesigned Charger, developed during Chrysler's darkest financial hours, was not hotly anticipated. All of which makes the new Charger one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2011 model year.

A wholesale improvement

The new Charger's exterior dimensions are all within an inch of the previous car, but the overall impact is far greater. (The new car is significantly more aerodynamic as well). A new greenhouse features a more raked windshield and taller side windows, and the pillars aren't quite as fat, all of which improves outward visibility. The upsweep at the rear fenders flows from the C-shaped side scallops, which recall the '68-'70 Charger (and the '99 concept). Full-width rear taillights give the back end a lot more distinction, and also echo the muscle-car-era Charger. Here, however, they're modernized with 168 LEDs.

Exit the cave

The previous Charger interior was a dark cave that was impossible to see out of, and yet given its cheap materials, one wonders why Chrysler designers would want to focus your attention inside. Now, however, not only is the Charger (somewhat) easier to see out of, but when your gaze returns to your surroundings, what you see is a whole lot nicer.
The interior has a fairly simple dash, with the instruments and the huge touch-screen encased in a swath of machine-turned silver trim -- which may be to everyone's taste. The sleek fonts for the gauges, however, are unlikely to find any detractors, nor will the large, grippy knobs for the fan speed, the stereo volume, and the radio tuning. The touch-screen is huge, but it has sucked up too many functions that deserve their own, dedicated switches or buttons. The radio band and presets should move off-screen, because they'd be easier to use by feel and they wouldn't disappear when you switch the screen to navigation. So, too, should the seat heaters. The screen graphics and resolution, however, are top-notch, and the procedure for pairing a phone with Bluetooth is the quickest and easiest I've yet to experience -- and you needn't talk to the dashboard to do it.
My particular Charger presented particularly well, as it was equipped with supple Nappa leather. The seats have a neat sew pattern, which is repeated in the contrasting-color door panel inserts. The driving position is quite good, with a prominent dead pedal. Getting into the rear seat is hazardous to one's cranium due to the sloping door opening (a problem in more and more sedans). Once you're plopped down on the soft seat, however, headroom is adequate and legroom is okay.

Once upon a time, sedans tuned by Chrysler's Street and Racing Technology group may have looked different from each other, but they certainly didn't feel discrete. How could they? Beneath the skin, they shared powertrain, suspension tuning, and virtually every piece of mechanical hardware that influences how a car behaves both on the road and on the track.
When it came time to revamp the Dodge Charger SRT8 for the 2012 model year, however, the SRT guys took a slightly different tack. Was it possible to share platforms, powertrain, and basic components with other Chrysler offerings and at the same time instill a distinct look, feel, and personality into Dodge's ultimate muscle sedan


An Extroverted Exterior

SRT brand president Ralph Gilles -- who also holds court as Chrysler's vice president of design - says each of the new 2012 SRT offerings was designed "to have each brand's identity prominently displayed through the sheetmetal." That's perhaps most evident with the Charger, which Gilles describes as the "extrovert of the bunch."
He's not kidding. The base Charger, which was revamped and resculpted for the 2011 model year, already bears an aggressive, muscular shape. In SRT8 form, however, that aesthetic has been given the BALCO treatment. The Charger's already angry front fascia is further twisted into a menacing snarl, thanks to a taller air dam and chin spoiler, a blacked-out bumper section between the upper and lower grilles, and an enormous heat extractor on the bulged hood. Two-tone 20-inch wheels (wrapped in Goodyear Eagle RS-A 245-section rubber), chiseled side skirts, and a lowered ride height lend the car a nefarious stance. In back, the tail is capped off with a tall decklid spoiler, an angular rear bumper fascia, and dual exhausts exiting through a unique valance panel.
All of these showy modifications aren't simply for looks. With the exception of the blacked-out bumper (which can be deleted, if so desired), each part plays a role in helping the SRT8 reach some incredible speeds (drag naturally limits the car's top end to a wild 172 mph) while simultaneously remaining planted on terra firma.

A Touched-Up Interior

SRT's interior amendments are a little less significant. A new flat-bottom steering wheel incorporates small aluminum shift paddles, and cast aluminum accelerator and brake pedals add some brightwork to the driver's footwell. Front bucket seats receive large side bolsters and are trimmed in both Nappa leather and perforated suede, with the door panel inserts trimmed to match.
That's not to say there's much more that needs revision. Dodge blessed the Charger with an exhaustive interior makeover in 2011, adding a cleanly arranged (and slightly nostalgic) dashboard design, narrowing gaps between panels, and liberally bathing the cabin with soft-touch plastics. Buyers have the choice of two color schemes, but the two-tone scheme -- which bathes door panels, seating, and the center console lid in a bright red hue -- turns as many heads as the Charger's exterior.
A large 8.4-inch touchscreen display dominates the center of the instrument panel and provides quick access to the climate, audio, and navigation system controls, along with Bluetooth hands-free calling. On SRT8 models, this screen is not only tied to an excellent 19-speaker, 900-watt Harman Kardon speaker system, it also provides an additional page of performance-related data, including an accelerometer, acceleration timer, and other potentially relevant gauges (i.e. transmission and oil temperatures, oil pressure, and battery voltage).


A New Engine, but No New Gearbox

Another gauge measures engine output -- and there's plenty of that to go around. For 2012, the Charger SRT8 gets a heavily revamped 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 under its hood. Not only does this engine have another three-tenths of a liter on the previous 6.1, but its 470 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of peak torque also surpass the older engine by 50 ponies and 50 lb-ft, respectively. That gain is courtesy of a longer stroke, larger cylinder ports, and a hearty 10.9:1 compression ratio. Predictably, the extra output only helps make the Charger even quicker. Chrysler predicts 0-to-60-mph times in the high-four-second range and a quarter-mile time in the high twelves.
Big power doesn't necessarily mean a big thirst for premium-grade fuel. While the Charger SRT8 will still be somewhat thirsty -- especially when driven to its full potential -- the 6.4-liter V-8 now features Chrysler's so-called MDS system, which deactivates four cylinders under light load in order to decrease fuel consumption. Finalized EPA numbers have yet to be delivered, but Chrysler predicts the engine may return a 25-percent improvement on highway fuel consumption over the previous car. If true, expect the official figures to ring in close to 13/ 23 mpg (city/highway).
Power continues to be sent to the rear axle by means of a five-speed automatic transmission - perhaps somewhat archaic in the age of six-, seven-, and eight-speed transmissions, but still well suited to the task of rocketing the SRT8 forward. Gear changes are smooth and are fairly quick -- especially when sport mode is selected from the touchscreen menu.

AUTO SHOWS:  Dodge and the Street and Racing Technology (SRT) division have divulged information on two new special-edition high-performance models. The 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8 Super Bee and Dodge Challenger SRT8 392 Yellow Jacket receive a host of visual changes to make the cars stand out from the crowd.
Mechanically the two cars are unchanged, continuing to house a 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 that pumps out 470 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque. The Charger is available in either Stinger Yellow or Pitch Black paint, with unique stripes and graphics on the hood and trunklid, as well as unique 20-inch wheels. The fenders wear "392 HEMI" badges, and the front grille features a 3D helmeted bee logo.
The Charger's interior receives a new three-spoke steering wheel, yellow and silver stitching for the seats, and an embroidered Super Bee logo on the front headrests. Super Bee logos also have been added to the dashboard and in the software of the Electronic Vehicle Information Center screen.
The Super Bee package is designed to recall Dodge Super Bee cars of yore, starting the 1968 Coronet. From 1971, the Super Bee package was made available on the Charger.
The Challenger SRT8 Yellow Jacket also gets a healthy dose of visual changes, with exclusive Stinger Yellow paint, black stripes, unique 20-inch wheels, and a Yellow Jacket logo on the rear fender. Inside, the leather seats receive a Stinger Yellow accent stripe along with silver accent stitching and an embroidered Stinger Yellow logo.
The Challenger was inspired by the 1969 Dodge Yellow Jacket show car, a special vehicle based on a 1970 Challenger which made the rounds at various auto shows.
Both special-edition cars will be made available in limited quantities, and can be ordered from Dodge dealerships starting in early 2012. Pricing hasn't been announced yet.