Dodge Charger Reviews – Dodge Charger Price, Photos, and Specs – Car and Driver
Dodge Charger
Car and Driver
Tested: two thousand sixteen Dodge Charger V-6 8-speed Automatic
2016 Dodge Charger V-6 8-speed Automatic
- Jul 2016
- By TONY SWAN
- Photography By ALEX CONLEY
They say it’s good to be bad, but sometimes it’s good enough to merely look bad. This version of the Dodge Charger we recently tested is an excellent case in point. At a glance it could lightly be taken for an R/T or even a Hellcat, with black 20-inch wheels wearing low-profile Goodyear Eagle tires, a decklid spoiler, and black accents and badges inwards and out. It looks deliciously menacing: low, muscular, and mean. The key word, however, is “looks.” Renewed for 2016, the Blacktop edition is an appearance package—visual muscle, if you like—and it’s something of a bargain at $995.
Appearance Amplified
The look implies muscle, but what you see is not exactly what you get. The SXT sits at the entry end of the Charger lineup, propelled by Chrysler’s excellent Three.6-liter V-6 and the identically excellent eight-speed automatic transmission. However, this powertrain excellence is mitigated by vehicle mass—two-plus tons.
In this example, with the optional Rallye Group ($1695), the V-6 is rated at three hundred horsepower and two hundred sixty four lb-ft of torque, a little more than the standard SXT version’s two hundred ninety two hp and two hundred sixty lb-ft. The net result is 6.Two seconds to sixty mph and 14.7 seconds through the quarter-mile, hitting ninety six mph. That’s quick enough to ward off drowsiness, and the driver won’t have to worry about watching the rear bumpers of Toyota Avalons and Hyundai Azeras pulling away when the light turns green. But it’s a long way from the numbers achievable with a 370-hp Hemi V-8 (Five.1 seconds to sixty mph) or the brazen 707-hp Hellcat (Three.Four seconds).
However, there’s more to this particular SXT than just the bad-boy cosmetics. With optional Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar summer tires (size 245/45R-20) and sport suspension tuning, this big car has surprising agility, accurate electrically assisted power steering, and respectable grip of 0.86 g.
Braking spectacle is about what you’d expect of a two-ton sedan—173 feet from seventy mph, albeit fade free. Understeer ramps up rapidly, and there’s a sense of large masses moving up and down at the corners of the car (those sizable wheels).
On the other palm, rail quality is reasonably compliant considering the level of roll stiffness in the sport suspension, the spanking paddle shifters react promptly, and the eight-speed is fluid in total auto mode. This is a big sedan, with a roomy, adult-friendly back seat—we also had no trouble fitting both a forward-facing and a backward-facing child seat—and its trunk is generous, even if it’s only about average for the segment.
The Good, the Bad, and the Value
Besides the Rallye Group, other extras on our test car included the Plus Group (heated and ventilated power front seats, leather, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, heated side mirrors, and HID projector-beam headlights, $2495) and navigation ($795). But even at $37,360 as tested, this Charger is a lot of car for the money. If looking bad is good enough, look no further.
Highs and Lows
Highs:
Bad-boy good looks with Blacktop package, silky eight-speed transmission, remarkably supple rail.
Pretty pudgy at two tons, get-up-and-go is only so-so, understeer arrives early.
Dodge Charger Reviews – Dodge Charger Price, Photos, and Specs – Car and Driver
Dodge Charger
Car and Driver
Tested: two thousand sixteen Dodge Charger V-6 8-speed Automatic
2016 Dodge Charger V-6 8-speed Automatic
- Jul 2016
- By TONY SWAN
- Photography By ALEX CONLEY
They say it’s good to be bad, but sometimes it’s good enough to merely look bad. This version of the Dodge Charger we recently tested is an excellent case in point. At a glance it could lightly be taken for an R/T or even a Hellcat, with black 20-inch wheels wearing low-profile Goodyear Eagle tires, a decklid spoiler, and black accents and badges inwards and out. It looks deliciously menacing: low, muscular, and mean. The key word, however, is “looks.” Renewed for 2016, the Blacktop edition is an appearance package—visual muscle, if you like—and it’s something of a bargain at $995.
Appearance Amplified
The look implies muscle, but what you see is not exactly what you get. The SXT sits at the entry end of the Charger lineup, propelled by Chrysler’s excellent Three.6-liter V-6 and the identically excellent eight-speed automatic transmission. However, this powertrain excellence is mitigated by vehicle mass—two-plus tons.
In this example, with the optional Rallye Group ($1695), the V-6 is rated at three hundred horsepower and two hundred sixty four lb-ft of torque, a little more than the standard SXT version’s two hundred ninety two hp and two hundred sixty lb-ft. The net result is 6.Two seconds to sixty mph and 14.7 seconds through the quarter-mile, hitting ninety six mph. That’s quick enough to ward off drowsiness, and the driver won’t have to worry about watching the rear bumpers of Toyota Avalons and Hyundai Azeras pulling away when the light turns green. But it’s a long way from the numbers achievable with a 370-hp Hemi V-8 (Five.1 seconds to sixty mph) or the brazen 707-hp Hellcat (Three.Four seconds).
However, there’s more to this particular SXT than just the bad-boy cosmetics. With optional Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar summer tires (size 245/45R-20) and sport suspension tuning, this big car has surprising agility, accurate electrically assisted power steering, and respectable grip of 0.86 g.
Braking spectacle is about what you’d expect of a two-ton sedan—173 feet from seventy mph, albeit fade free. Understeer ramps up rapidly, and there’s a sense of large masses moving up and down at the corners of the car (those sizable wheels).
On the other arm, rail quality is reasonably compliant considering the level of roll stiffness in the sport suspension, the spanking paddle shifters react promptly, and the eight-speed is fluid in utter auto mode. This is a big sedan, with a roomy, adult-friendly back seat—we also had no trouble fitting both a forward-facing and a backward-facing child seat—and its trunk is generous, even if it’s only about average for the segment.
The Good, the Bad, and the Value
Besides the Rallye Group, other extras on our test car included the Plus Group (heated and ventilated power front seats, leather, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, heated side mirrors, and HID projector-beam headlights, $2495) and navigation ($795). But even at $37,360 as tested, this Charger is a lot of car for the money. If looking bad is good enough, look no further.
Highs and Lows
Highs:
Bad-boy good looks with Blacktop package, silky eight-speed transmission, remarkably supple rail.
Pretty pudgy at two tons, get-up-and-go is only so-so, understeer arrives early.
