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Dodge Charger 2006+
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Anyway, what did you think of the job Popular Hot Rodding did?
For those that missed it, this is the link to PHR's site. http://www.popularhotrodding.com/features/0404phr_dodge/
They came up with an AWESOME Charger based on the LX platform that everyone said couldn't be done, including Chrysler. I'm partial to the Orange and Black ones on the bottom. They also did a few versions with 4 doors, and as bad as the idea of a 4 door Charger is, they "blended" them in and made them almost invisible(Think 99 Concept). PHR made what the Charger should have been.
Jae, the 66 Impala is a nice car.
As for the PHR concepts, I really like those as well. This is what DCX should be building for Dodge. This would definitely be a "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday" kind of car. But wonder how it really would act on the MASCAR circuits.
Don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I really dislike it when companies reach back to their past and take a great name from a great car, and stick it on something new thinking it's going to magically make the new car great. It just burns me.
The auction will take place on eBay beginning Tuesday, Feb. 1. Bidding will close on Thursday, Feb, 10.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/27/pf/autos/charger_ebay/index.htm
http://www.dodge.com/autoshow/news/news_daytona.html
Allpar.com has these photos as well.
http://www.allpar.com/cars/lx/dodge-charger.html
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If this is true, Dodge had to name the 4 door something, and Charger had the most impact. Also,they couldn't say anything about the 2 door because it would affect 4 door sales.
Personally, I think that the 300C looks better than the Charger. I don't like the ugly truck grill. If I wanted a Dodge Ram, I'd get one.
Anyone know when the 300C SRT-8 will be available for order?
Asthetically, a few small changes with deference to the Charger's traditional styling cues and they would have had a car that would have dropped jaws and caused grown men to weep.
Observe:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/Henry_R/Chargercouldabeen.j- - - pg
Here's the original, as planned for production:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/Henry_R/Chargerprofile-base- - - .jpg
I kept the same wheelbase, but straightened up and lengthened the quarters and the clip slightly, raked the sail panels and reshaped the rear window slightly, got rid of that stupid door guard, added the brake scoop applique on the front doors, squared-off and raked the wheel wells, and stretched the shoulder into the rear door further. Add some mag wheels and the obligatory Scat Pack stripes (and a pentastar emblem behind the front wheel), and you wouldn't be able to keep them in the showroom, IMO.
What a shame it didn't happen this way.
This being from Allpar.com
http://www.allpar.com/cars/lx/dodge-charger.html
We don't need the massive wing, but it seems that the decals make it look a little better, blacked out hood and all.
Turboshadow (who can bolt on his own 89 dollar muffler)
Still, since the Charger (Daytona) is RWD, they could justify a prominent spoiler, unlike these kids with their FWD tuners and those dopey bolt-on wings. Also, I actually think it would be easier to integrate a nose cone into this car's lines too and, compared with most other cars on the road, it wouldn't even look unusual - everyone's got an aerodynamic front, these days.
The problem with this kind of tweaking is the length. The car gets longer by almost two feet if they extend the quarter panels like I have shown and then put a nose on it as well. I suspect one of the reason's DC has snubbed this car down is to keep it under "6 meters", like the 300M. This was intended to make the car more attractive in Europe where everything is smaller, and some governments actually impose punitive taxes on owners of cars longer than 6 meters. My response to that is a) are Europeans really going to buy an American car that simply looks like a European car? and b) how big is the European market for American cars, anyway?
DC's become way to Euro-centric for me, and they appear to have lost touch with the American affinity for performance and nostalgia. Ford sure hasn't. The new Mustang is possibly the nicest version of that car ever, IMO.
I think Pontiac has come up a little short on looks with their new GTO, but I had heard that car will see a new body style soon, and that may fix everything. It has the performance, though (optional 400 HP?).
On that note, when was the last time Chevy, Dodge, Ford and Pontiac all had stock production cars that could do sub 15 second 1/4 miles and turned out 300+ HP all for the price of an upper-mid range car? Aesthetics aside, this is a great time for American (muscle) car enthusiasts.
I look at it this way; a Hemi powered Charger is a lot better than a Corolla with Nova badges on it. Besides, it's going to get better. The SRT boys have just completed their version of the Magnum. The 2006 Dodge Magnum SRT8 will be available in this country this summer, and will have, among it's many performance tweaks, a 370ci Hemi with 425 horsepower. This isn't a concept, it's reality. No one would have ever believed, even 5 years ago, that 2005 would see a 425hp Hemi station wagon. The best news, again, according to my sources, is that this same engine will be installed in an SRT Charger by this time next year. If we're really lucky, the SRT Charger will also get the rest of the AWD driveline as well.
I don't think anyone would have a viable reason to hang their heads in shame, just because the 425hp Hemi Charger has 4 doors instead of two.
"Does anybody know yet? I have been unable to find pricing"
The R/T will start at around $28k.
Take care,
~Chris
No, not really. Overly high-priced, and/or de-contented and/or ill-conceived coupes don't sell. The neo-GTO proved that. Also, high-priced four-doors don't sell either, Mercury Marauder proved that. Many think that just because it's a coupe it won't sell, this is what killed the coupe, particularly the performance coupe market. No, what killed the coupe market was the constant rise in price. There is a 2dr coupe market out, but with the drive towards 4drs, this market is drying up. And in turn, we are forced to either get a 4-dr, or keep our 2-drs.
Again, just because a vehicle has a hot engine, a great name from the past, doesn't mean it's going to sell.
Maybe if the Charger were a 2-door, it would draw in some incremental buyers instead of competing for sales against the 300 and Magnum. What is DCX gaining by cannibalizing sales?
I just get a little upset when the "there's no 2-dr market" phrase is used when a company stops making a coupe.
As stated b4, we all pretty much knew Dodge was going to have a version of this platform, but to call it Charger, Daytona, or R/T, is a G-D shame.
Do you think it will have some sort of Skid Control/Stability Control? (I'm assuming traction control is a yes.)
I live in Cleveland, anyone drive a rear wheel 300C or Magnum? Just how bad would it be in the snow?
I think it is a cool car!!!!
In my case I've spent the last six winters driving RWD cars in the NYC metro area as well as further north in New England (much more snow than NYC, not to mention lots of hilly winding roads to contend with), and find that not only are they quite wonderful to drive in snowy conditions, they are easily the match for any FWD car that I've ever had.
If you want a Charger, then buy a Charger. If it snows, drive it anyway. It shouldn't be a problem unless you have also decided to have the wheels shod with high performance summer only rubber, in which case you should indeed leave the car at home. Of course that also applies to a FWD car running on summer tires.
Best Regards,
Shipo
The factory tires that come on any car are pretty much junk unless you're buying a very expensive model. Remember that the car manufacturers cut deals with the tire makers and it is all about profit and how cheaply they can be obtained for. Does anyone think Good Year is selling their tires to the car manufacturers for top dollar? Do you think they make the tires really good with the best materials right from the start? There would be a lot of cars driving around with 65,000 miles on the odometer and on the original tires then.
The new Charger will have a stability control system and optional traction control. For those that can't handle that while driving in the snow then shame on you. It's all about the tires, nothing to do with the car being front wheel or rear wheel drive.
"...it's all about the tires."
My car, which was equipped with summer tires from the factory was utterly useless in even a quarter of an inch of snow with said tires. Once I swapped them out for a winter set, my car became virtually unstoppable. How unstoppable? Well, since moving to New Hampshire 2.5 years ago, we've had two winters that have had over 100" of snow each, and the only times I've not been able to drive my car was when the snow was well deeper than than the ground clearance of my car. Keep in mind that here in NH it is no where near as flat as it is in the NYC area, my street alone has a 7.5% grade.
It's all about the tires.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Case in point my 530i (equipped with winter tires) is the BEST winter car I've ever driven, and I've driven quite a few (9 FWD cars, 1 AWD car and 6 RWD cars).
When you say, "I'm at a loss as to why your NH RWD cars act like snowmobiles and mine act like snowsleds." I have no option but to repeat again, "It's all about the tires."
As a point of comparison, the All-Season tires on your 1993 vintage Cougar bear little resemblance to the capabilites of a 2005 vintage All-Season tire. In the same vein, the capabilities of those 2005 vintage All-Season tires bear very little resemblance to the capabilities of a 2005 vintage dedicated winter tire. They just ain't the same. Until you give it a try, you simply cannot believe the transformation that winter tires can make in how a car drives.
As for what tires I'm running, Michelin Arctic-Alpin winter tires. Mind you that that really doesn't matter all that much. Many manufacturers make winter tires, I chose the Arctic-Alpins simply because they seem to run much quieter than most winter tires, at the expense if a very small amount of traction.
Best Regards,
Shipo
I run the Michelin Hydro Edges(put them back on last weekend) and they are great in the rain and awesome on the dry. Handle really well when you get some "heat" in them.
My only other gripe about the new Charger (and hey if you can fix this one you should become a salesman for them) - the interior of the car is extremely cheap and bland. The interior door panels are made of hard molded plastic and don't fit properly against the glass (and that's in the TWO models I saw last night, so it's not just an isolated incident). I like my sports cars to have some leather or padded vinyl on the dash and doors....this car looks like the inside of a gypsy cab.
I was at the autoshow Sun. and the interior is what it is. It's all prototype, not to mention the BEATING that those cars take at the autoshow. Saw so many with shifter knobs missing, radio button stolen. I even saw one guy lifting the plastic HEMI cover off of the Yellow Daytona that they had. Wouldn't be suprised if people weren't pulling the panels off and on just to see what's behind it. Oh yeah, gas caps were missing on several makes and models. Total beating!
I think the hardness of the plastic is probably going to stay. Parents have a HEMI Durango SLT and that was the only complaint vs. the last generation was the hardness of the plastic. Maybe something to do with durability? I noticed theirs hasn't scratched like the old. Possibly better for UV protection?
Go to this link
http://www.allpar.com/cars/lx/lx-cars-snow.html
The guys at ALLPAR.com tested a Hemi 300C and Magnum with AWD and RWD in snow and ice. Think you might be suprised. If the snow still is an issue, Jeep makes a nice ride too
Why would you NOT put tires with good traction on the wheels which steer the car? :confuse: You act as though the only circumstances which require traction are acceleration (only worried about the tires which receive power).
jimhemi and shipo are right: you want good performance in poor weather, worry about tire design FIRST and whether the vehicle is FWD or RWD second.
Hey, we got smilees!!!
Regarding the interior of the Charger, errr, sorry, t'ain't much I can do about that one. :P
Best Regards,
Shipo
However the interior looks cheap. As I stated in other posts, the interior door panels are hard molded plastic, as if vinyl or leather have suddenly become too expensive. Even more disturbing is that the door panels on TWO different models in the NY Auto show did not sit flush against the glass...there was a gap that could be squeezed wider and narrower!! This is about as crappy a thing as I've seen on a new car...ever. The only thing that compares is my first car - a 1973 Torino that had a hard rubber mat as it's "carpeting"...Lastly, I WISH the damned thing came with AWD, like the 300 was forced to offer.