[ssadasiv]

I have been following team-bhp for over a decade now and happy to see the transitions. This is my first post and a long one, so please go easy on me ��

Desire is the root cause of all suffering says Buddha, but to Err is also Human . So I took the convenient one and decided to pursue my child hood dream. Below is some background about how it all started and ownership review of a Muscle car



My fancy for automobiles started in teens and used to read car magazines frequently. Thanks to my parents, i got my dream bike Hero Honda splendor by the time I started college. Did some so called modifications; Fury handlebar (was quite a craze in 2000s), Alloy wheels and oversized tires. Bike was a gem and I used it well into first few years of my work too.

Thanks to internet, my interest in cars allowed for access to more car materials, websites and that’s how I started following Team-bhp too. I used to drool over cars in Movies like Steve Mcqueen’s Bullitt, Keanu reeves Street kings, Fast and furious series. I wished to drive one of the V8 cars atleast once in my lifetime.

Santro Xing was my first car. Zippy engine, tall seating position, excellent reliability; except for the bumpy rear ride it was a fantastic car. We had very fond memories of thousands of kilometers of commute. I moved to middle-east for work and Santro was handed over to Parents.

ME is land of petrol heads, cars of all kind are present here right from Suzuki Swift to Bugati Veyron and beyond. But Toyota Land cruiser is the king of the desert. It’s like Maruti 800 of ester years, each and every house has one. Japanese cars are legendary for their bullet proof reliability in the rough weather conditions in ME.

Civic
First car was 8th generation Honda Civic. It was a car well ahead of its time, futuristic design, digital speedometer, spacious, brilliant vtec engine, stylish hand break. To date, I think 8th gen was one of the best looking Civics, I see so many modified cars even today and they look stunning.

<Representative image , sourced from internet>


Family grew and priorities changed, moved to on SUVs for size and safety considerations. But my dream for a V8 still remained. Once in a while I used to go to a showroom to check car, take a test drive and return back saying next time. My better half thought I/She would go mad if this continues, so finally gave me the nod to buy the car. So began the final search

Having owned Japanese cars in the past - Civic, CRV, Pajero/Montero I wanted to check Japanese cars but there were not many big block motors. So started looking German/American. Germans were too pricey and for a secondary car, didn’t want to invest too much. We had a Primary family car GMC Acadia which to my surprise turned out to be a great car so my confidence in American cars was at a high point.

Trusty Pajero, replaced now


New Family hauler


Options considered

BMW M2
Entry level of the mighty M series of cars, its no slouch. Short wheel base, turbo charged screaming 3 litre inline 6, Dual clutch 7 speed Automatic. Car is a looker too with short squat stance and aggressive intakes. Back seats were ok.
The car had 25k on Odo and could have been abused. The ride was too firm for me and realized will not enjoy as a daily driver.

<Representative image , sourced from internet>


Maserati Quattroporte GTS

Came across a pristine pre-owned car. Maserati makes one of the best sounding engines. But the car is known to have maintenance issue and depreciates at a rapid pace. Didn’t want to end up with a lemon as the maintenance costs locally are super high.

<Representative image , sourced from internet>


Ford Mustang GT

My dream car, took a test drive and loved all the features. Rumbling V8, great looks. I was not happy with the seating position, Looked like I was seated in a bucket seat closer to the floor. Maybe my SUV days changed my expectations. Also the car is strictly a 2 seater, kids couldn’t spend time beyond 5 minutes in the back seat. I was shocked that I ended up looking for another car outside Mustang. Maybe GT350 with the mesmerizing Voodoo engine in future.

<Representative image , sourced from internet>


Dodge Charger
Dodge makes muscle cars and some and they have stuck on to doing it while the world moved on to smaller, efficient and powerful engines. Dodge started the HP race with Hell cats, Demon, Red eye and forced other car makers to compete as well. Dodge continues to produce Massive naturally aspirated engines.

Sales rep at Dodge was very cooperative and asked me to take a test drive. We looked at Challenger too, cool car but I was not yet ready for a 2 door sedan. I was given R/T which is 5.7 V8 , 370H HP. Car was quite powerful , seating position was better and ride was good too for a muscle car. I couldn’t get test drive of 6.4 litre V8 as I was told its too risky for a first time rider and they have had some bad accidents. I paid advance amount for a R/T and came back home.

But my heart wanted the 6.4 V8, went back and booked the R/T Scat Pack which gets the bigger engine and a level below the SRT 392. Color booked for Destroyer Gray and loan process began.



Faced an issue with the loan process and I had to drop the whole deal , was frustrating. I believe my family was more worried as they thought my madness was finally done .

I think this cancellation was the best thing that could have happened. The very next day, I came across a pre-owned Dodge Charger with less than 10K on Odo and it was the SRT 392 the top trim with all goodies. Took the car to mechanic, got the checks done and took delivery of car the next day.

Thus began my journey of Dodge Charger and end of my manic search.

Looks

Dodge charger is a full size sedan, longer and wider than a Toyota forturner or a Mercedes E class. Not all of this translates to space, more on this in the next sections. Has menacing looks especially the SRT 392 and higher trims. Charger was redesigned in 2015 giving it nicer interiors and modern looks.

The Front end slopes down giving it a sinister look, almost viper like. There is a small Lip spoiler in the boot. The new bumpers front and rear, unique hood with giant air intake, sill extensions, rear spoiler and 20-inch forged wheels make for an aggressive car.

DRLs look cool, radar sits low in the bumper.



Rear Quarter




Dodge tail lights are iconic to the brand and is a sight to see in the night.




Some photos taken in night



Paint finish is excellent and red color pops. Sheet metal quality is fantastic and doesn’t flex at all. Doors have solid heft to them.

Interiors

The car’s huge dimensions doesn’t translate to space inside. However everything is on Plus side, big for average joe. Massive Seats built with Laguna leather and Alcantara inserts are very comfortable. 8 way adjustable seats with lumbar support help in finding a suitable driving position. Seat at the back are again big and comfy. The seats are heavily bolstered and eat into space. Dodge should learn from Hondas on Maximizing space. But you don’t buy Dodge for space.

Visibility is good overall and the hood is prominent from the front view. takes a while getting used to it. Rear Parking camera and sensors help a lot, quality of camera is so-so. Steering wheel is super cool, big, fat, leather-wrapped, flat bottom steering wheel.



Large seats



The Rear seats can fold down fully at the pull of a strap. Boot space is quite big. Red accent Seat belts are cool.



The Gauge cluster is a mix of Analog dials for RPM and Speedometer and a 7 inch digital cluster in the center. There are 11 pages! of information and some of these individual pages further more pages. I just leave it at Speedo.



At the heart of Dodge is the 8.4 inch U connect infotainment system. I found it straight forward and very good. The infotainment controls all the functions of the car and is a very good system. Harman/Kardon audio system with 19 speakers and 900-watt amplifier is good enough.

There are soft touch materials on most of the places you generally touch.
Interior lighting is okish with some customization options. No complaints here

Feature list is very long, some notable mentions

• HID Headlights
• Six Piston Brembo brakes at front and 4 Piston at Back – Pretty strong and much needed
• 20 inch hyper black rims
• Rear Limited slip differential
• Vented seats Front and Back (Heated and cooled)
• Harmon Kardon Audio with 19 speakers
• Bilstein Adaptive suspension (Street, Sport, Track)
• Lane Keep Assist
• Adaptive Cruise control
• Emergency Auto braking (Didn’t realize this existed until one day when the car braked itself when a car crossed into my lane suddenly, saved my day)

Performance

Engine is 6.4L HEMI V8 making 485 horsepower and 475 lb ft. of torque. Transmission is 8 speed ZF with instant manual override with paddle shifters. Transmission shuffles through gears and changes from butter smooth shifts in Street mode to a sledge hammer when you floor the throttle. Shifts in Sport/track mode are violent and you get thrown back into the seat with each shifts. Exhaust note Changes to insane growl in track mode.



At cold start, car lets out a loud barking sound and continuous growling till the engine warms up. The whole parking lot shudders . It so childish and fun , but I think my neighbors must be cursing me.

Power is instantly available and you can spin up the tyres very easily, in your garage, in signals anywhere unless you are gentle with the throttle. There are various power modes and Normal/default mode is the least aggressive of them all.

At one moment, you could be having a gentle ride with constant burble of the V8, put your foot down and the car will downshift aggressively and a surge of power is delivered with a roaring V8 music. The feeling is addictive and you can be doing insane speeds, makes you a hooligan

There are various direct access buttons to access speed madness. Pressing SRT takes you to SRT performance pages which allows access to customize Transmission, Traction, Suspension, Steering and Paddles.



This is a full size, heavy car and you can feel the weight under normal driving modes. Bilstein Adaptive dampers allows to firm up the suspension. Under Sport mode, the ride becomes firmer and inspires confidence to drive faster. Car feels solid and planted but you can feel the weight always, its not a sports car. In track mode ride becomes too firm.





I have done 120+ sweeping turns and so far top speed done is 242 on highway. 20 inch Forged Alloys run on 275/40 Pirello P-Zero tires Run flats. There is a handy Launch control which lets you choose RPM to hold. P Zero are not great for Launches, best I have done is mid 5 seconds, but is known to do 0 to 100 in 4+ seconds.



Dodge has a whole load of stats and has a dedicated Performance pages for this


Could have been better

• Car needs all-wheel drive, would love to see Dodge besting German cars
• Ride gets jittery only over rough surfaces
• SRTs and higher specs are lower than other chargers, so have to be careful over speed breakers. Have scrapped a few
• Engine drones at sedate driving, Music helps to reduce this to an extent or drive faster!
• Makes you a hooligan!, love it
• Front bumper sensors are missed out, have scrapped this

Final thoughts
Charger SRT 392 has been an absolute pleasure, a family four-door sedan, comfortable and useable daily driver with surge of power as needed. I hope to enjoy many more KMs of fun.

[GTO]

That is seriously one heck of a car, and totally my kind of ride . I love American muscle - nothing else oozes character like this breed. Am all green with envy, man! Thanks for sharing your story. People really underestimate the benefits of practicality in fast cars. While I love the Mustang & Challenger, the Charger is so much more family-friendly! Keeps the enthusiast as well as his wife + kids happy.

Car needs all-wheel drive, would love to see Dodge besting German cars

True, true. I've always been a RWD guy, but am now an AWD convert for anything with a ludicrously sized engine (like your car) or horsepower (e.g. E63).

Your Charger will go to our homepage tomorrow .

[DriverNo.420]

What a ludicrous way to enter Team-BHP! And an equally ludicrous car. This is nothing but a fire breathing monster and the hemi sounds unlike any other V8. Truly solidifies the 'no replacement for displacement' saying. Enjoy her, man. Not many of us Indian enthusiasts would able to experience these beasts before the EVs take over.

One thing I notice in FCA cars is that the interior is almost the same in their cars. The interior look in this car is very similar to the Jeep Compass.

[kamilharis]

That's an awesome-looking beast, congrats on the SRT!
Keep the thread regularly updated with all the maintenance and expense details please, it will help us who are in the ME a lot when planning for an upgrade.

Good to see reviews coming in from ME, which means reviews of not-so-common cars in t-bhp. This also irks me as my ownership review is kept unfinished in the pipeline for the last 6 months!

One question on Acadia if you don't mind. How reliable is the car? I see Acadia's going for jaw-dropping low prices (cheaper than a Nissan Sunny!) here in the used car market and what is the real reason behind that? Is the current model less notorious? Do start a thread for Acadia too if you could. And also, I had traveled in Acadia a number of times, and it's one hell of a tourer, a true beast on the highways with great ride quality.

I guess your current cars are SRT & Acadia, just conforming as I got confused somewhere in the middle.

[Aditya]

Fabulous car. Muscle cars are truly special for those who understand them. I love them. Always have, always will. While 2-door models come easily to my mind when I think of muscle cars, I am not sure I can think of any 4-door models other than the Dodge Charger. Still, it has a legendary name an the car itself is something to behold.

Great to see all that tech in the muscle car world. Since, it's a family car, I will agree that AWD should be introduced as well.

[arshad_98]

Congratulations for your new car, I wouldn't call it a car it's a freaking BEAST!

Your beast reminds me of a black Dodge Challenger that I had taken a picture of in Canada.

[Himanshu809]

Wow....

Looking at these cars in movies, and then reading about the ownership experience are two very very different things.

I'm drooling over my screen. Like GTO said, if all kinds of cars were available in India. I'd drive only and only muscle cars.

Absolutely gobsmacking scorcher of a car you own my friend. Kudos. Always ride safe.

[AirWind]

Congrats ssadasiv on the s-w-e-e-t ride... wish you many happy miles on it!!! It might help add the price point of the car and petrol to leave us Indians envious and dreaming!

Aren't there any speed restrictions in Qatar?

[starke]

Fantastic car and a well-written review.
I never was a fan of Dodge until I drove the supercharged hellcat in one of my travel and oh boy, that charger whine is all I need to exchange all my assets to get one if needed.





By the way, these words got me chills as if I thought myselves as a neighbour drooling over this scenario.

Originally Posted by ssadasiv

At cold start, car lets out a loud barking sound and continuous growling till the engine warms up. The whole parking lot shudders . It so childish and fun , but I think my neighbors must be cursing me.

[Nitish.arnold]

Originally Posted by ssadasiv

I have done 120+ sweeping turns and so far top speed done is 242 on highway. 20 inch Forged Alloys run on 275/40 Pirello P-Zero tires Run flats. There is a handy Launch control which lets you choose RPM to hold. P Zero are not great for Launches, best I have done is mid 5 seconds, but is known to do 0 to 100 in 4+ seconds.

Hey man, You might wanna edit out the speed part before the mods take notice.
High speed mentions are not allowed, As far as I recall....

and Huge Congratulations! One of the most amazing cars money can buy,
Drive safe

[Leem]

Happy for you man..

One needs to be blessed fuel wise also to tap the most of it everyday.
Wonderful choice

[NTO]

Woah! That would be the best dream come true. Here's wishing you a many more happy miles with this beast.

This takes me back to the fond memories of my three days with a Charger SXT (3.6 V6, ~300 bhp and 350 Nm). With a careless right foot, I was able to step the rear out a couple of times. I could only imagine what a fun would it be with your red beast. Next time I am in the USA, I will try to drive one.

Picking it up from a car rental place in West palm beach


A few shots from Port St.Lucie

[Hemi6.2]

Man!! What a ride!
Dodge makes some of the sweetest cars on the planet.
Regarding the AWD setup, Dodge sells AWD Chargers to American Police Departments but they are likely out of reach for private owners unless someone heads to Police Department auctions.
Also V6 Challengers come with AWD.

[dragracer567]

Congrats on your new ride mate! Quite the entry into Team-Bhp.

I must say, you make the right choice going used. The resale values for all cars except Toyotas are terrible in the GCC, this is especially the case with V8s.

Also, you made the choice going American, no other country gives you so much power, performance and all those glorious decibels from the good ol' V8s for the such a low price.

[ssadasiv]

Originally Posted by GTO

That is seriously one heck of a car, and totally my kind of ride . I love American muscle - nothing else oozes character like this breed. Am all green with envy, man! Thanks for sharing your story. People really underestimate the benefits of practicality in fast cars. While I love the Mustang & Challenger, the Charger is so much more family-friendly! Keeps the enthusiast as well as his wife + kids happy.

True, true. I've always been a RWD guy, but am now an AWD convert for anything with a ludicrously sized engine (like your car) or horsepower (e.g. E63).

Your Charger will go to our homepage tomorrow .

Thank you GTO. Car is quite practical and i use it daily. Maybe next gen products from Dodge might have AWD.

Originally Posted by DriverNo.420

What a ludicrous way to enter Team-BHP! And an equally ludicrous car. This is nothing but a fire breathing monster and the hemi sounds unlike any other V8. Truly solidifies the 'no replacement for displacement' saying. Enjoy her, man. Not many of us Indian enthusiasts would able to experience these beasts before the EVs take over.

One thing I notice in FCA cars is that the interior is almost the same in their cars. The interior look in this car is very similar to the Jeep Compass.

Thank you DriverNo.420. These engines are gas guzzlers, EV seems to the future. Make hay while sun shines. Dodge/Jeep does share parts all across their products with some changes, higher spec cars get alcantara/leather inserts.

Originally Posted by kamilharis

That's an awesome-looking beast, congrats on the SRT!
Keep the thread regularly updated with all the maintenance and expense details please, it will help us who are in the ME a lot when planning for an upgrade.

Good to see reviews coming in from ME, which means reviews of not-so-common cars in t-bhp. This also irks me as my ownership review is kept unfinished in the pipeline for the last 6 months!

One question on Acadia if you don't mind. How reliable is the car? I see Acadia's going for jaw-dropping low prices (cheaper than a Nissan Sunny!) here in the used car market and what is the real reason behind that? Is the current model less notorious? Do start a thread for Acadia too if you could. And also, I had traveled in Acadia a number of times, and it's one hell of a tourer, a true beast on the highways with great ride quality.

I guess your current cars are SRT & Acadia, just conforming as I got confused somewhere in the middle.

Thank you Kamilharis. On Acadia, i was quite skeptical as well initially. last gen had reliability issues especially Air conditioner. i remember sitting in my friends Acadia in summer with hot air blowing from AC. Current gen Acadia seems just fine. Quite spacious, fairly luxurious, powerful engine, plush and absorbent ride. I actually Prefer Acadia for casual and family drives. Will try and so another thread on Acadia. I got excited and referred too many cars, Yes SRT and Acadia currently.

Originally Posted by Aditya

Fabulous car. Muscle cars are truly special for those who understand them. I love them. Always have, always will. While 2-door models come easily to my mind when I think of muscle cars, I am not sure I can think of any 4-door models other than the Dodge Charger. Still, it has a legendary name an the car itself is something to behold.

Great to see all that tech in the muscle car world. Since, it's a family car, I will agree that AWD should be introduced as well.

Thank you Aditya. Absolutely, great product from FCA. I was pleasantly surprised with so much tech. Not the best but value for money.

Originally Posted by Himanshu809

Wow....

Looking at these cars in movies, and then reading about the ownership experience are two very very different things.

I'm drooling over my screen. Like GTO said, if all kinds of cars were available in India. I'd drive only and only muscle cars.

Absolutely gobsmacking scorcher of a car you own my friend. Kudos. Always ride safe.

Thank you Himanshu, yes have to stay in control.

Originally Posted by AirWind

Congrats ssadasiv on the s-w-e-e-t ride... wish you many happy miles on it!!! It might help add the price point of the car and petrol to leave us Indians envious and dreaming!

Aren't there any speed restrictions in Qatar?

Thank you AirWind. There are speed limits and cameras through out, Fines are high too. Wherever possible trying to have fun

Originally Posted by starke

Fantastic car and a well-written review.
I never was a fan of Dodge until I drove the supercharged hellcat in one of my travel and oh boy, that charger whine is all I need to exchange all my assets to get one if needed.





By the way, these words got me chills as if I thought myselves as a neighbour drooling over this scenario.

Thankyou starke. Its very difficult to be quite in this car

Originally Posted by Nitish.arnold

Hey man, You might wanna edit out the speed part before the mods take notice.
High speed mentions are not allowed, As far as I recall....

and Huge Congratulations! One of the most amazing cars money can buy,
Drive safe

Thanks Nitish.arnold. Oops, i didnt know that. will edit the post

Originally Posted by Leem

Happy for you man..

One needs to be blessed fuel wise also to tap the most of it everyday.
Wonderful choice

Thank you Leem. Yeah, cheap gas does help.