2011 Dodge Charger R/T - First Drive

What Is It?
In case you've been under a rock the past two months-we'll explain. The rear-wwheel drive Charger gets a complete redesign for 2011. The last car was a product of the old DaimlerChrysler merger, and had a lot of Mercedes-Benz mechanicals or derivations thereof. We had no problem with that, mostly because Mercedes-Benz products are built to kick ass and take punishment. Nevertheless, the push is on at the new Fiat Chrysler to banish the German influence, and we're told this Dodge has none of the German stuff. Whatever. The main thing is that the 5.7L Hemi is still underhood with 370 hp. Gone are both of the stupid 2.7 and 3.5L V-6s making 178 and 250 hp, respectively. The only V-6 you can get is the new 292hp 3.6L and that's reason enough to celebrate. An SRT8 version is in the works with the updated 475hp 6.4L Hemi. We'd love to talk about fuel economy on the R/T model, but Dodge is still cooking the numbers. Regardless, look for mid 20s on the highway for the 5.7L Hemi.

Who Is It For?
If the '11 Dodge Charger R/T isn't for the masses, then who is it for? It's for power-hungry guys who need to have their cake and eat it too. He's a family guy, with hot rod aspirations. He might have a hot rod or muscle car in the garage that he can't (or shouldn't) drive every day. He may also be a frustrated hot rodder who can't justify having a toy languishing in the garage. Either way, he wants the Hemi's 370 hp to thrust him in the back every day when he stomps on the loud pedal. That's it in a nutshell-although the extra agility is a big bonus. The thing that makes the '11 Charger R/T a "go" in family circles is the concession to four doors, and an option sheet chock full of stuff the kids and wife will love-for a price, of course.

What Else Is Out There?
Powerful rear-drive domestic sedans like the Hemi Charger are a rare breed. Ford has abdicated the segment (Can you imagine a Crown Vic with the Mustang's new 5-liter?!) and so has GM. (Let's have a moment of silence for the Pontiac G8 GT.) If you buy used, there is the '94-96 Impala SS, the '94-96 Buick Roadmaster, the '03-04 Mercury Marauder, the Pontiac G8 GT, the '05-07 Dodge Magnum R/T, plus used versions of the outgoing Charger R/T and Chrysler 300C. GM will be continuing a Chevy version of the Pontiac G8 as the Caprice PPV (Police Pursuit Vehicle), but it will be for law enforcement only. The alternatives are pretty slim, so the segment is wide open for Dodge, with competition coming mostly from itself in the form of the 300C.

By taking inspiration from the '68-70 Charger, Dodge has endeared itself to an entire generation of car nuts, including us. (Pause for a second and imagine Buick doing a rear-drive V-8 Skylark that actually looks like a GS Stage I, or Ford doing a '69 Torino that looks like a Talladega. Yeah. Not gonna happen.) In the profile, you can see the side scallops in the doors, and from the top, you can see the twin scallops in the hood-both key styling elements from the original. You can also see the Coke-bottle form-sometimes called a double-diamond shape-that pinches the car in the middle where two tapered wedges converge. There's even a slight tunnel-back shape in the rear glass that was a defining element in the original. Unfortunately, the tunnel-back aerodynamics of the original were so horrendous (NASCAR racers abandoned it in 1969, changing to the flush-window Charger 500 body) that we can never go back to that. Still, they tried as much as they could. The taillight panel is perhaps the crowning jewel of the entire design-164 tiny LEDs rim the circumference of a completely retro lighting valence that looks even better than the '70 Charger it takes its cue from. The taillight panel is a masterpiece of design that will turn heads for many years to come.

The Bad News ...
The weight. For some reason I haven't figured, but for which there are mountains of excuses by engineering types, new cars are always heavier than the old ones they replace. My '68 Chevelle weighs a beastly 3,666 pounds with me in it, and other car guys brow beat me for running it heavy. And that's a heavy car? The '11 Charger R/T tops the scale at 4,253 pounds, which is 222 pounds heavier than the Hemi-powered '10 Charger R/T, yet the horsepower rating of the '11 Hemi only goes up 2 hp (from 368 to 370). This extracts a painful toll in performance for acceleration, turning, and braking. Even if you can finesse another 5 percent more power from the engine (about 18.5 hp) to counteract the 5 percent increase in mass, you still gotta turn and stop the monster.

To be fair, the Charger R/T is not a track car, nor can it become one for any reasonable sum of money while keeping its family use mandate. Even with that being the case, the Charger is a remarkably agile sedan, but only in the context of the street. As a family truckster, the Charger has plenty of 'nads for taking on highway exit ramps, making passes on two-lane roads, or taking twisty mountain curves at eight-tenths. Most hardcore gearheads, however, are going to feel the extra weight in the seat of the pants in a straight line. The Charger R/T is no Camaro/Mustang beater, so just go into this with your eyes wide open. For what it's worth, the new Charger will be a spectacular blank canvas for the aftermarket. Blowers, cams, exhausts, cold-air packages, big brakes, springs, adjustable shocks, and sticky rubber will push the Charger over the goal line-but at a price that will be pretty steep.

I'm an eight-tenths driver behind the wheel of someone else's car-and I found the brakes more than adequate for braking deep at the end of a high-speed straight. Riding along with a more experienced driver with a more adventurous attitude showed some weakness in the brakes, but only after three or four really hard laps. (We were on the 1.99-mile NASCAR circuit, and that's pretty big praise for such a heavy car.) For the record, we did drive the '06 Dodge Challenger R/T on Virginia International Raceway's south circuit. Even with four years separating the experiences, we'd have to say both cars behaved too similarly to tell any difference; the improved suspension geometry and stiffness of the new Charger is sufficient to disguise the more than 200 pounds of extra mass, and that practically qualifies as a miracle.

If you're a family guy and you desire street cred with the muscle to pull off the look, the '11 Dodge Charger R/T might be your car. In the old days, Buick guys called it "going fast with class." Heck, you might even be able to keep the new Camaro SS within sight if we're talking corners and not a straight line. If you're looking for a commuter that doubles as a serious weekend track car, the '11 Mustang GT 5.0 is the only smart way to go-and less expensive, too. There is one other option to consider: If you like the outgoing '10 Charger, now is a great time to pounce on one. Since there is no appreciable improvement in performance for the '11 model, your decision maker will be the looks, and possibly the price-which hasn't been announced on the new model. When we find out, we'll tell you.

Dodge Charger Colors
Billet Silver Metallic Clearcoat, Blackberry Pearl Coat, Bright White Clearcoat, Brilliant Black Crystal Pearl Coat, Redline Pearl Coat, Toxic Orange Pearl Coat, Tungsten Metallic Clearcoat

2011 Dodge Charger R/T Specifications