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When I picked up the two thousand sixteen Dodge Charger SRT 392, I had absolutely no idea what I was in for.
Engine: 6.4-liter V8
Power: four hundred eighty five horsepower and four hundred seventy five lb-ft of torque
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
EPA Fuel Economy (MPG): fifteen city, twenty five highway, eighteen combined
CAN Fuel Economy (L/100 km): 15.7 city, 9.Five highway, 12.9 combined
Price (USD): Starts at $52,090 including destination fees
Price (CAD): Starts at $57,890 including transportation fees
Bright blue, with an angry scowl on its face, I thought this was just another family sedan with a bigger-than-usual engine. I got in, took note of the bright crimson seatbelts, attempted to get convenient in the driver seat, and poked the ignition.
Then something under the rubber hood barked out an angry warning and it caught me totally off guard. Before that, I had no idea that this a car would turn out to be so much more than just a family sedan with a fatter engine. This is a legitimate four-door muscle car.
But I wasn’t the only one astonished by the Dodge Charger SRT. Everywhere I went, it elicited reactions and a ton of quotable moments. Here’s a list of the more memorable ones.
“That’s some kind of blue!”
The pickup location for my weekly press car isn’t far from my parents’ place, so I dropped by to see how they were doing.
As my mother opened the door, she scarcely noticed me and just exclaimed how eye-catching the Charger’s paint job was. The bright “B5 Blue” that this tester has is a throwback to the Chargers of yesteryear. For 2016, Dodge offers the Charger and Challenger in a number of attractive paint finishes, including “Go Mango” orange, “Plum Crazy” purple, “B5 Blue” and “Sublime” green. The best part of these attractive paint jobs is that they come at no extra cost.
“I heard you coming from a block away!”
As I walked through the door, my sister mentioned that she could hear the Charger coming from at least a block away. The Charger SRT features a massive 6.4-liter V8 engine that bellows as it reaches its 485-hp peak output. And the noise that escapes the two tailpipes is absolutely flawless and very, very noisy.
“YES. I’M THERE!”
An all-caps text message displayed me what kind of enthusiasm some car fans get when they see the three letters SRT. My friend reacted with joy when he heard that I was in possession of the fresh Charger SRT for a week and hopped at the chance to come check it out. He wasn’t disappointed with what he spotted.
“Uhh, this thing is kind of slipping around back here.”
This was uttered from a rear-seat passenger after an aggressive begin. Indeed, this four-door muscle car features rear-wheel drive, and that includes all the shenanigans that go along with it. With your foot down to call all four hundred eighty five of those ponies, the rear tires fight to find traction, and there’s certainly a bit of shimmy as they grab at the asphalt for grip.
Both the rear and front seats are poorly bolstered, tho’, featuring vapid and upright seatbacks that are not very comfy. This is the thickest criticism to be found in the Charger, albeit the rest of the interior is also in need of a thorough modernization. With the exception of the digital dash and intuitive UConnect infotainment system, the interior seemed abate and boring, and far less arousing than the exterior of the car.
“Was that wheelspin?”
The same passenger noted some wheelspin when I backed out of a spot — and I promise I wasn’t driving that aggressively at all. The Charger SRT has so much power going to its rear wheels and is so responsive and excited to get going that it can mock the chirping of a bird even in switch sides.
“That sounds amazing!”
One little bit of misbehaving I will admit to is downshifting and gunning it in a tunnel. The resulting roar was epic. The Charger features lightly accessible spanking paddle shifters and three driving modes that will adjust the way the car behaves. Throttle response, shift points (in automatic mode), traction control, steering, and suspension are all adjusted through the driving modes, inbetween mild (called Street), hot (named Sport), and spicy (called Track). An significant element of the drive modes is that you can pick and choose inbetween all the settings to tailor the rail exactly as you like it. So if you want a light steering feel, but aggressive downshifts, you can mix and match until your heart roars like the the 6.4-liter Hemi does.
“What does this button do?”
Right next to the button that permits you to adjust drive modes is another inconspicuous button labeled “Launch.” Pressing this button enables launch control and the various settings associated with it. When flawlessly set up, the Charger SRT can hit sixty mph in just Four.Five seconds, which is amazing, tho’ hard to repeat. As mentioned before, the Charger fights with traction, but when it gets going, it will certainly get you laughing maniacally. Launch control will help you get spectacular launches time after time, as long as your tires aren’t bald yet.
“Is that a Hellcat?”
The legend of the Hellcat seems to have hit the mainstream. Upon parking in the AutoGuide.com garage, some construction workers noticed the Charger SRT and instantly asked if it was the 707-hp Charger SRT Hellcat. While that model uses a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 that makes much more power than my tester, it seems a bit excessive, because no one needs that much power.
Considering a Charger SRT three hundred ninety two starts at a reasonable $52,090 including destination ($57,890 CAD), while hopping to the SRT Hellcat will set you back a whopping $68,740 ($83,435 CAD), the normal SRT three hundred ninety two has more than enough power, it seems like a deal, and regular people will think it’s a Hellcat anyway!
“Please tell me you’ll do a burnout.”
I’ve been in slew of cars and, for whatever reason, my initial reaction to the Charger SRT three hundred ninety two was one of limited excitement. Returning it, tho’, was a harsh pill to gulp. It was a mechanical bull on the easiest setting, one that’s joy and arousing without being scary and intimidating.
And people asked me to do burnouts everywhere I went. I’m always glad to oblige.
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