Great car! Drop-dead good looks, raw horsepower, and reasonable gas mileage considering the power. Compare this to your average blandmobile sedan from Japan. No zip ties here, you won’t need sh*tty floormats or a hastily designed gas pedal to do 120 in this beast!

Even though this car has basically been out for years now, it still looks menacing when you see it fly up in your rear view mirror.

Dodge has a car that GM can’t even come close to producing.

Buy American, Buy anything but GM !!!!

If only the interior was a bit more creative, this would be the best on the market. I would take it over a Taurus just because of the overall simplicity it portrays, although I’m inclined torwards the Taurus nameplate.

batting .500 in the battle of propaganda comments vs non-propaganda comments go…i wonder who will win in the end!

For every one of these there are a hundred other Chargers wheezing around with that pathetic 2.7. That’s the image Chrysler has to shed itself of going down the road.

I have a 2006 Dodge Charger Daytona R/T in torRed. I have 20,000 miles on it and not the first complaint. I love my car. It’s not as quick as the SRT8, but she sure isnt slow either. Great power, impressive gas mileage given the size and powe, very comfortable, and it does something that the Camry and Accord, and Taurus will never ever do….turn heads everywhere it goes. People come up to see my car and ask questions every single time I drive it. Did I mention I love my car? lol

burnc003, I picked up a 2009 Challenger R/T in May…same engine as yours (5.7 Hemi) and it leaves a permanent smile on my face everytime i drive it. Nothing else like this and the Charger/300C on the road. Plus I’m averaging 27-28 mpg on the highway with it.

Johnny, I thought most of them had the 3.5?

PLENTY OF G8′S ARE STILL AVAILABLE!!!!

BUY ONE NOW OR SHUT UP ABOUT THE G8′S DEMISE!

I have ordered plenty of Chargers, and they usually do have the 3.5L, Johnny, even rental ones do. They don’t have the 5-spd auto option though, so they still are dated as far as the powertrain is concerned.

If you want an SRT-8 I would suggest you find a very well kept used one. I’ve seen 2 year ones go for less than $20k around St. Louis, they took a hit on the gas spiking. Good luck on the trade-in value, I’m usually not one to be concearned that much – but over a 50% hit on a $44k car is alarming.

BuyUSA, you’re probably right… but that should be the only V6 in the Charger. And speaking of the pathetic 2.7 there was an episode of Pass Time where I guess the car they wanted didn’t show up so they ran somebody’s rental Charger- with you guessed it- the 2.7. I think they were halfway through the next episode before that thing made it to the end of the quarter.

And just clear to up any confusion the current 178 horse E85 2.7 is the version I refer to as pathetic. I have the 200 horse mill in my Sebring (a car that is also at least 500lbs lighter) and it scoots along pretty well for a commuter coffin.

Ever since the G8 came out I forgot this car even existed…

BuyUSA…Congrats on the Challenger. They are simply beautiful. The lines flow so smooth. To me it looks much better than the Camaro…not dissn the Camaro, I just prefer the smoother look of the Chally. The G8 is a great great car, and not bad looking at all. It just doesnt excite me the way the menacing look of the Charger does.

I like it, but 245 rear tires with 425hp. Are you kidding me? Get some 285s on there so you can get the power to the ground.

I love the charger if only it had the 6speed (loved the magnum too) i may have bought one a year or to back 3.5 or r/t. it is one of the few affordable rwd that can be used every day, and is not small .
the 2.7L dose suck and lack power it will be replaced with the redesign. I believe (not sure) it will be getting the new 3.0 pentastar (phoenix) v6 witch though probably wont be fast at least peppy . they will also be getting the 3.6L with 280hp+ with better mpg. and should be no more 4 speed about time.

also the srt8 should be getting a new more power full and fuel efficient 6.4L hemi. hopefuly the hemi in the dodge ram will be there 2.

“With the demise of the Pontiac G8, there simply isn’t another sports sedan on the market that can match the Dodge CHALLENGER on price and performance”

Thought the review was about the Charger, not the Challenger. But hey, I think both are pretty good so that’s alright with me. Love the aggressive stance of both cars, especially the Challenger. Much better than the Mustang or Camaro, and that’s coming from a Mustang guy.

Do U have 2 b STR8 2 drive dis GR8 SRT8/

No ktulu, but the fact you’re asking the question goes a long way towards explaining most of your posts.

johhny +1

If this car is so good, then why are there still ’08’s, with deep discounts, at the dealer lots?? Same goes for the G8’s!

Cause nobody wants an affordable daily driver with the mileage of a full sized pickup truck and none of the utility.

wideopenthrottle i agree. idrinorbarsaku, because the resale value sucks and the Charger is due for a redesign and new pentastar V6 for 2011. Like somebody already mentioned above, you can get a nice used SRT Charger for about 25 grand. Combine that with the current state of the economy and buyer uncertainty over the company, you get hefty rebates.

Sorry, I’m not stupid enough to buy a dodge/chrysler product new let alone USED!!!!!

When I look at a charger it just looks pissed off and angry to me. I think they have a very uniqe agressive american look. I sell these cars and it just seems like you forget about them. Every now and then I have to go out and take a superbee for a drive to remember that I really do enjoy the car but like I said for some reason you just tend to forget about them and what they can do and feel.

No rower and clutch? Meh

i see these on the trucks everyday, the production plant is a few blocks down from my old highschool, nice cars

I’ve owned my 2006 Chrysler 300C SRT8 for well over 3 years now. Other than an ashtray that refused to open [And then refused to close when I did get it opened] the car has been a joy to own. It has been perfectly reliable. [I don't consider the ashtray problem a 'reliability issue'] It’s quiet and comfortable when you want it to be and it’s ‘fast and furious’ when you push it. And I didn’t just ‘luck out’ either. The over-whelming majority of SRT8 owners feel the same way about their cars as I do about mine. Only those who have never actually owned one [Or even driven one] feel justified in knocking these great cars.

So what does SRT actually stand for? I some how doubt its “street racing technology” since that isn’t exactly politically correct. Since RT stands for “road and track”, perhaps SRT stands for “street, road and track”.

It’s the Street AND Racing Technology Group

Obsolete crap,why do they still build it and why bother reviewing something that is 10 years old? Slow day???????????????????????????????????????????

Mach: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_and_Racing_Technology

well fordman, they build them because enough people like them and buy them. As for obsolete….you must not have a true love for driving. I mean the SRT8 has 425 hp, RWD and an handles very very well. 0-60 mph in 5 sec or less and you dont get the point? lol sad. the Taurus SHO is ok and is pretty fast, but it misses the point. Not RWD, no V8 thrust or sound, and certainly no where near as aggressive looking.

As for 10 yrs old…try again.

I just don’t know why they don’t have an acid-wash version.

I like this car, it has a nice look and I love the sound of that Hemi, thing is its a bit outdated and heavy, hopefully the 6.4 can be making around 520HP and be all-aluminum.

I personally can’t wait to see the new LX cars.

I personally can’t wait till they investigate the stench of chryslers bankruptcy where peoples personal
property was stolen from them by obamas autotask force goons , i just hope america someday will see this for what it is .

property

the Dodge IS getting old and considering you spend 100% of your driving time in the interior, and that’s its weakest part, then no thanks, the performance is not enough to suffer everyday with that poor interior.

For less “as tested” money, I’d rather have a “state of the art” 20100 Taurus SHO and add a few tech features with a “world class” interior and still get better MPG that the Dodge and enjoy AWD too!

People who appreciate a RWD tire-smoking beast of a car are the ones that would buy an SRT8. This car is not for everybody.

@greg

Are you kidding? Have you even sat inside one of these? Just because this car has been around for 5 years doesn’t mean you are getting some prehistoric flintstone car. The Charger (and 300C) are on its last year of the current body and interior before a major overhaul for 2011.

there’s nothing special about this car…anyone can pop a 6.1L V8 and get big HP. This car is pre historic, inside out. The trick is getting it done with a smaller disp engine and technology…like the new ecoboost from Ford. The SRT is 45K as tested. For the mid 40K range, you can get an AWD ecoboost taurus with the best incar techology like SYNC and travelink. and if you havent driven one, drive it before you comment! Its not all about smoking tires or 0-60..it’s about finesse, power when you need it and comfort.

Hey Buy USA, you should change your name to Buy CANADA since your Charger is engineered and manufactured in Canada. Also alot of this car is built by Magna, a Canadian auto supplier giant. Maybe you should have got yourself a new Camaro. Oh wait thats also Canadian. Actually its more half Australian half Canadian. Your so pro American car buy you just bought yourself a foreign car lol

@ Everyone who would choose a SHO over a SRT8 Charger

I’m not going to defend the Charger, in fact I don’t even like the Charger (I’m a Mustang guy) BUT there is something about the rumble of a good V8 that makes me smile every time I hear it. The SHO is a great car for what it is, but it’s not for me or other V8 lovers. And technology isn’t everything, nor is interior (The Charger isn’t THAT bad, you guys sure are nitpicky).

The REAL trick is what makes YOU smile when ya drive that car, so buy what makes ya happy.

getting hp out of a small engine is not hard with a turbocharger and even not turboed small engines are not hard to get hp out of, any one can do that to. it more about torque vs mpg.

the 6.1l is a little outdated but still a good engine the 5.7L is probably what people should get because it gets descent mpg and for its power. displacement dose not mean as much as people think in regards to hp, it more in regards to torque. turbo engines may be more advanced but i would prefer something simple that with less parts and less stress on the engine parts.

this is a much more sporty handling car the the Taurus sho and quicker. the next gen r/t probably will get similar mpg to the show and speed at 7k less. the current r/t is fairly close in every regard but a bit cheaper (not the original 340hp)

BuyUSA: well ****ing said! Dodge rocks!

worst 3,
It’s not hard to get a lot of hp from a N/A small liter engine, but it seems to be near IMPOSSIBLE for gm and chrysler…either n/a, t/c, or s/c!

I just don’t think it worth it to go in to small displacement engines for them when it comes to higher hp engine applications. why invest the money it to it, usually they have to rev higher with get exponentially more expensive and offer very little for use on the road, and use similar amount of gas when pushed to the same hp numbers. I dislike high revving high hp low torque engines (i like v8s,v10s).

Chrysler makes mostly larger cars with would not benefit at all from small displacement high hp engines. gm could use a few in economy cars but there economy cars why put the money in N/A high revving engines in them.

all Chrysler 4cyl engines were designed for turbos not high rpm operations (for some reason they don’t use turbos that much, coast and reliability may be)

@sal500:

For some people IT IS ALL ABOUT TIRE SMOKING AND RAW HORSEPOWER!!! You can take your Travelink, SYNC, WiFi, Bluetooth, and all that other crap and shove it up your whiny @ss!!! That garbage is for the birds.

@American_Cars_Crap:

Your precious Hondas and Toyotas are made in the good ‘ol USA, right? Like in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee where they have no unions in those states. That’s where the import companies’ labor is even cheaper, so don’t give me that crap about Toyota and Honda being domestic cars…because all they ever did was exploit a big loophole in order to send more profits back to Japan.

Let’s not forget how many different NHTSA investigations and lawsuits against Toyota are currently underway for everything ranging from premature frame corrosion to top executives illegally hiding crash data.

So there goes a big part of your argument of how imports are superior to domestics in terms of safety and quality.

Morons like you keep losing every argument. Why? Because your unabashed import bias and seething hatred for America overshadows your ability to reason and understand the truth.

Not to mention the far more aggresive look of the current Charger over the new Taurus. I’m not going to knock Ford; they are doing a good job, but you have to ask yourself: Which car stands out the most amongst the rest of the crowd? A Charger SRT8 or a Taurus?

The answer is crystal clear.

BuyUSA,
What’s your point? We are against the domestic 3 because they are stuck with unions but you go against toyota because they found a way to get rid of unions…seems kind of stupid to argue that or make fun of toyota for that reason to me!! The whole union foundation needs a swift kick in the ASS!

Buy USA, you just sound like a complete idiot. Your rant against me has absolutely nothing with what I posted. You are simply too stupid in the head to even understand a comment directed to you. Very sad. Now go eat your nachos and watch some nascar! yee haw!

You know BuyUSA, I really like Chrysler and Ford, but I am still not biased toward any company. If Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Kia, Hyundai, Subaru, any European companies, or Japanese luxury company, or GM, Ford, or Chrysler make a good car, then i give it credit. You don’t have to buy a foreign car, but at least give credit where it is needed. I’m not tryin to be rude here, but I think you may have a so ft spot for the Charger. I’m the same way. If it were the car that I own vs. another car, if i like my car, like you apparently do, then I would prefer my car. Its natural.

In my opinion, because i own neither of those cars, then I would take the Taurus. I’m more of a tech guy so that’s why. Don’t get me wrong, I like both of them, but the Taurus looks better on the inside and is a better value. It is also a fresh re-design.

All automakers have made great cars, so what’s wrong with liking them?

sorry the union foundation does not need a swift kick in the ass. u want people to live in huts here?

IMO:

Pro’s: Decent exterior styling, big power, decent ride quality, assembly quality, reliability,
straight-line performance, good seats, V8 hemi soundtrack is nice….

Con’s: Cheap and bland looking / feeling interior materials (feel like stone!), TOO big and TOO heavy therefore unimpressive handling (except with respect to its weight),
TERRIBLE fuel economy…even if not so bad for 425hp…
fast but NOT extremely fast for this much power….
(it better be able to hit sixty within 5 seconds with 425 hp and that type of fuel econ… again… weight…)

22-24 mpg @ steady highway cruising, but 13mpg in the city!!! (or as soon as you hit the gas in general) !!
that is terrible, lets see if they even can make a new hemi and continue on in existence, with this type of fuel-efficiency!

all in all: a great american sedan with 2000’s styling and late 90s chassis,
but late sixties or early 70s standards everywhere else
now if you like modern-retro…. here is your perfect car…

i saw make the new hemi smaller with superchargers or turbos and direct injection from the factory… or scrap it…. love it but hate it… sorry… its almost 2010 guys…

i say*

nickkop i agree with most of what you said except too big, some people want a large car, I do I dislike small cars even midsized for the most part it handles well regardless except small streetcars witch it is not really competing with. the the challenger dose and what you listed is true for it.

But no supercharger or turbos, DI yes. there not wort it, let that be after market. (maby the 6.4 and the 5.7 get di) i would like to see the 4.7L to become smaller and a hemi but there would be no place for it, and making it smaller wont really do that much for fuel economy. the main problem was the 6.1 was made with no concern for mpg dumb but it was.

aggie531 well said, especially your last line, more people should take that to heart.
(me to when it comes to Toyota)

I was glad when they built the car at all, but I never liked the front end on that car.

I would wish sincerely that DODGE would make a new front end that looked more like the original CHARGER. Take some pages from the CHALLENGER and just ape the design language. The Old CHARGERs look like sedans anyway, if you ignore the doors themselves, so it isn’t much of a stretch.

I think Chrysler should aim to match the LH cars’ weight with the new LX, the Chrysler Concorde weighs around 3500lbs. I know it would be hard but at least aim for 3700.

gxxmen,
What is wrong with you?? Part of the reason why the big 3 are behind compared to other manufacturers is because of the way our unions are formed!

at buy usa:
ok, how often do you smoke your tires or go full throttle from 0-60? if your answer is all the time, you deserve a prehistoric beast of a car..for 40K, there are way better cars for everyday driving..ie the SHO with AWD & ecoboost. As far as the hi tech stuff..well to each his own.

and you know this car is made in canada, right?
and you know chrysler stole all our bailout money and sold out to the italians, right?
and you know chrysler is trying to f*&^ their pre bankrupty customers on product liablity & warranty claims, right?

sal500,
I don’t think many people know that. That’s why I could give a sh!t what happens to them. I hope they fail miserably!! Did we really need to bail them out if they were going to merge with the italians? Just another lame story of how americans get raped by their own country!! That’s one more reason to smile when I see ugly pieces of crap sitting on their lots even though it’s the last years model.

Chrysler changed their minds on the liability issue sal500.

you’re right 2wheel, but the fact is that they tried to weasel out.

Sal500,

Admittedly Chrysler thought they would not be able to afford to maintain those warranties. I won’t make excuses for them so don’t think that I am.

As for the bailout, the cop out is to say they ran off with the money. But the bigger crooks, the guys who really failed monumentally, where the banks. If they had not failed do you think GM or CHRYSLER would have gone to the Gov’t? No. But they were so screwed by their investment divisions, that the one that could have helped had literally broken down, betting on money that did not exist.

I tend to take the proletariat view that any industry that actually makes stuff I can put my hands on is worth saving. Exotic investment scams are not worth saving if anything the Gov’t should be busting down doors and closing those shops just to protect our economy from the next monetary disaster they are cooking up.

Those investment banks are actually trying to monetize people’s life expectancies by buying life insurance policies. The Mega-banks will suddenly have every impetus to want you to die as soon as legally possible so they can collect on your policy. But that is a more disturbing story for another forum.

CHRYSLER was forced to sell out to FIAT because no one else was able or willing to to partner with or buy out CHRYSLER and OBAMA said that if the deal failed CHRYSLER was done. FIAT wanted back into the US and CHRYSLER was the vehicle for it. CHRYSLER was not going to refuse so it was a done deal almost from the word “go”. As opposed to what Rush and other knee-jerk conservatives, lookin for political coup to count, will tell you, OBAMA, being the type of guy that he is wanting to help his people, who were once just the people of CHICAGO but now are the whole of the American people, chose to try to save people’s livelihoods.

With parts suppliers literally living “hand to mouth”, if any one car company folds, it will cripple the parts supply chain. Think of the delays the CAMARO endured because of a payment issue for parts and another company could not deliver parts and even refused to sell the tooling back to make those parts. Now imagine if an entire company’s orders were canceled because they went under. Tire’s, wiring, specific tubing, engines, wheels, hundreds of parts, often unique to that company or just that car, suddenly stopped with no buyers and no one jumping in to save the day, as it were.

Whether you know it or not, very few car companies in America make their own parts. A parts supply disruption, if only one company failed, or collapse if two or more failed could easily cripple the entire Automotive manufacturing sector, domestic and “transplant” and with it retail, service, construction and so on. What is a recession can quickly become and full blown depression… and Walmart and Mickey D’s can hire so many people.

Before the late 1960s, the American Economy was not a house of cards, pull one card and the whole thing could collapse instantly. In fact, contrary to what Conservatives, I tend to think of some of their particular members as greed-mongers, will have you believe, the Economy was pretty well regulated at Gov’t and Corporate levels back then. Sure they wanted to be rich, and they could get there, but NOBODY was allowed to strip the tree bare, which is what is happening in our economy today as investment bankers demand more profits regardless of the long term impact.

Before you start trying to side with those looking to bemoan decisions that HAD to be made, being a Leader, in Government, and an ADULT, is making tough decisions. Not easy ones like whether to wear your sneakers or dress shoes to work, whether to eat Cheerios or corn flakes for breakfast, or whether or not to veg listening or watching to some blowhard tell what to think or going out and finding out what’s what for yourself. The tough decisions are the ones that suck to have to make that no one will happy to have made… no matter which way it has to go. But you have to do something like saving upwards of 7M jobs or whether and how to fix healthcare.

No, I am not happy that the decision to grant loans to or bailout CHRYSLER and GM, though GM looks like the better long term bet, HAD to be made at all. But I’m glad it was made. If you think that TOYOTA or HONDA, or VW, or HYUNDAI is just going to swell to fill the void you are dreaming like a Wanna-be. Frankly, I think the Gov’t should have their hand on all these companies, banks and automakers alike, for a very long time. Not a controlling hand but be in the board rooms as to have an immediate say when they go astray and maybe make a tidy bit of coin for the taxpayers as well.

I’m certainly not excusing their behavior, I was mad they even tried it. Just mentioning it.

Thanks for the info blakarr. I understand how it went down..and actually supported the bailouts because it meant keeping jobs, businesses and suppliers afloat. My problem is with the fact that the goverment poured billions into chrysler in the form of ‘loans’ and then fiat comes and buys in for a fraction!
Also Chrysler & GM got many debts wiped out as part of the BK, which im sure is somewhat of a competitive advantage over say someone like Ford, who has to pay all its debts.

anyway, sorry for the digression! lol the discussion was about the charger rt, not bailouts etc etc!
doesnt change the fact that it is an overpriced irrelevant car with antique technology, and i cant imagine why anyone would actually buy it!

Like I said waaaay up there, some people like “Antique”. Though I wouldn’t want a Charger I’d love a V8 Mustang and plenty of people consider the tech used in that car to be “Antique”. That’s just me, the SHO is a great car too.

But I’ve never been a huge tech fan, I still use magnets to hold a map onto the gas tank of my bike…

I swear Blakkar could compile a full length novel from his god damn posts. Shame nobody would buy it.