2019 Dodge Charger R/T

The Dodge Charger has been around for quite some time, going back to those good old days when the Chrysler Group was part of the Daimler Chrysler organization. Of course there have been some face-lifts going on and there have been changes in the power train and interior, but the basics are still very much the same, based on the Mercedes E-Class platform of yesteryear.

In fact FCA have just introduced another refreshment to this, a wide bodied, read fender extensions, version with more power. All of that doesn’t change the fact that it is an old chewed over again and again car, but the basis is so good, thank you Daimler Chrysler, that it seems impossible for FCA to come up with something to replace it with and not loose all of their current customers. Within the FCA organization there is just nothing that would be possible to sell at this price range. Anything that can remotely compete with it is currently being sold for much higher prices, so it seems likely FCA will have to stick to this for some time to come.

Over the 14 years of it’s life thus far, the world has changed, a lot. People have become much more environmentally conscious, have partially embraced global warming and the need to save fuel, reduce exhaust fumes, CO2 emissions. So what does this Dodge Charger say to that? Screw that!! This is a very loud, in your face gas guzzling of yonder year, and it does not apologize for that. It screams it, literally and figuratively. The exterior design in any of the 3 colors we drove recently, is very aggressively styled, with menacing down road graphics, intimidating. That is anhanced by the rear end, equipped with a substantial spoiler, not as loud as some Mitsubishi’s have been, but definitely not hiding their presence.

Inside the IP is very much redesigned from what there was 14 years ago, but this redesign has also been done quite a while ago, and it does show. It is a bit long in the tooth, and the choice of materials was once really up-to-date, but is no longer. It does all feel solid, feels like it won’t break easily, definitely not a delicate flower type of interior. The front seats were managed to embrace in a very good way. They really stood out in that everyone felt a positively snug fit in them. Very good. And of course the platform still offers plenty of interior space for all 4/5 seats, so in that sense it also still stands out positively.

It leaves us wandering how FCA will resolve this in the long term?