Vehicle: 2006 Dodge Charger R/T
Price as tested: CDN$37550

Performance: Our Charger R/T is powered by Chrysler’s proven Hemi V8. With 340 horses and 390 lb/ft of torque, the performance is simply amazing for what you get in this price range. Its fast, its responsive and its surprisingly refined. Not to mentioned its flexible and willing to rev at high rpm. The biggest highlight to this Hemi compares to ones I drove last year is the transmission. Chrysler has upped one gear to a 5-speed manumatic tranny. The shifts are crisp, smooth and willing to both up and downshifts. Its also got nice ratios to matched the engine’s powerband.

Handling: The R/T package comes with performance suspensions and 18″ wheels. These 2 additions really have a desired effects as it provides taut control through twisties. Along with the already stiff chassis for suspensions to hang its heads, the overall dynamic package is impressive. The steering provides decent feedback and response. The sports suspension provides enough stiffness when pushed without all the harshness when driving through washboard pavements and expansion joints. This suspension setting is really able to absorb all the worse pavements with ease. On the other hand, ESP is the uninstrusive variety. That means it won’t kicked in until the driver got out of hand when pushing into a corner.

Brakes: With 4-wheel discs and standard ABS, Charger’s pedal feel has to be considered one of the best in American auto industry. The pedal is firm and easily modulated. Thanks to the Electronic Braking Force Distribution, there aren’t many fore and aft during hard braking. The ABS also kicks in when necessary.

Interior: Inside the Charger, everything is very well layout. The instrumentation gauges are clear and analog. The stereo placed higher than automatic climate control for excellent ergonomics. Speaking of auto climate control, its a very logica system that uses knobs for temperature while the buttons are for positions and fan speed. Its air conditioning is also cold enough for Westcoast’s 30 degree weather. The leather seats are comfortable with decent back and side supports. Its driving position is easily found. There are couple of drawbacks, however. The use of materials remain cheap considered its close to 40 grand. The same goes for use of leather which feels more vinyl than many leatherette seating surfaces.

Despite Charger has uninstrusive trunk hinges, its liftover remains too big. The cargo space also seems to be swallow for a car of this size.

Conclusion: Charger is a welcome addition to Chrysler’s LX family of RWD cars. Its not only have the same merits as its 300/Magnum silibings, which are powerful engines, comfortable interior, confident handling dynamics and great value. It also provides a much sportier driving feel than its sedan silibing, while you can treat it as a “4-door Magnum”. In a nutshell, if you are shopping for a sports sedan for somewhere around 40k, you must put Charger into your shopping list.

OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2006 DODGE CHARGER R/T
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Performance: 4.75/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 4.5/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 4/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 2.5/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 2/5
Value-for-money: 5/5

Overall rating: 4/5