[prakyath89]

This is my first ever Team BHP report of initial ownership! I have waited for a long time for this and this car deserves every bit of it!



Background: My first car in India was the Fiat Linea multijet, one of the most sturdiest cars I've ever driven in India. I never had any issues with it and was heartbroken to let it go when I decided to come to the US for my masters. In fact, I used the Team BHP classifieds to sell the car to another enthusiast. Thanks Team BHP for that.

Here is the Linea on the day before I let her go in 2014!



Fast forward to 2016 and I'm working in the US and the search for the car begins. Initially I started considering the Germans and Japanese, but soon realized there are tons of choices! I was surprised by the number of trims each car manufacturer has to offer. This was a long process which involved a lot of patience. cars.com and truecar.com had become my go to apps on my phone. I had set a budget of $45,000 and I didn't want to go beyond that.

These were the cars in contention (Dodge charger was nowhere in the picture yet):

1. Mercedes C/E class 300 - Luxury personified!

Mercedes has always been one of my favorite car maker and there was no way I would pass an opportunity to test drive one. I test drove one of my friend's C300 and was a pleasure to drive. I decided against these cars because the base models did not offer many features and the packages were too expensive! The on road price for the C300 crosses the 45k mark if we decide to add in the optional packages.

2. Lexus IS 300 F -

Lexus IS is definitely a good looking car. During the test drive I found out the car is nimble and performs really well on the highways when you quickly want to change lanes. The drive was good, but the thing that bothered me the most is the all wheel drive hump near the accelerator! this is such an inconvenience and I don't know how people look past this while buying this. Car feels really cramped inside and the instrument cluster is controlled by a joystick which does not perform very well. They've really not made it easy to enter an address into the navigation system.

3. BMW 435 xDrive Grancoupe -

This car ticked almost every requirement I had. I looked good, drove well, had ample room inside and was a well built machine with the best value for money. I almost (note - almost) booked this. The drive was good and the car behaved like a sports car when I wanted it to. The M sports package sure makes the car look great! I even found some certified per-owned cars within the 45K budget.

4. Range Rover Evoque -

This has been on my wish list ever since I started driving a car! I feel it is one of the best looking compact SUV out there. The 2 liter engine lacked the punch though it has good off roading capability. I will definitely consider this when buying my next car sometime in the future. One more reason to drop this was again the base SE variant didn't offer better features.

5. Jaguar XE/XF -

As the tagline says these cars have cat like reflexes! The 2017 models were already in the showrooms, and boy they look good! There is always a James Bond like feel when you sit inside a Jag, but that feeling soon disappeared when I saw the on-road price with the sports package.


6. Alfo Romeo Guilia -

Man the Italian car makers sure know how to seduce the customers. The Guilia was the most anticipated release of 2017 in the US. It looked fantastic and drove equally well. The car I drove had a 2 liter engine which delivered 280 hp! The cornering capabilities could be compared to the mighty M3. This engine was the most powerful among it competitors. But then it came with a premium price tag. Guilia Ti with all the packages and features costs almost $50000. It would have easily crossed $54K on road and it was not even the 500HP V6. I had to drop this car because of the price.

After this I had to take a break from the search as my sister visited me and we had a road trip planned! We flew to Vegas aand I had booked a "Standard Car" (usually Nissan Altima) from National Car Rental as it had great reviews out of all the rentals out of the Vegas airport. I became a member of their emerald club as they offered free upgrades to those who were. This was the best decision! As soon as I reached the airport we headed straight to the emerald aisle. The person standing there asked me to choose any car from that aisle. This is where things got interesting! The choices included:
1. Dodge charger SXT
2. Chrysler 300 Base
3. Jeep Cherokee
4. Ford Fusion
5. Camaro/Mustang and many others.

I was literally jumping! We had to pass on the coupes as we were 4 of us. I chose the Dodge charger as it looked brand new with only 800 miles on it and because it was a CHARGER!



http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...arger-sxt.html explains the features of the SXT variant that I drove in detail. The only thing I wanted to add here is the suspension setup on it is pretty soft and you can feel the body roll if you corner sharply and it is a heavy car!

Decision: I drove the car for about 1300 odd miles in 4 days and didn't feel tired or experience any back pain! It was really comfortable for the people who sat in the back. Also, it felt like a tank while driving which reminded me of my Linea.

The decision was made! I was going to buy a Dodge Charger, the question was which trim.

The next month I was in Cincinnati and decided to test drive the charger RT and the SRT model (The RT Scat Pack was nowhere in the picture). The SRT was not available for test drive. The salesman decided to woo me and remote started the car as I was waiting next to the RT model for him to get the keys. I literally got goosebumps as I stood next to it! The sound was music to the ears. The test drive was amazing and the car had ample power. But the new car costed $42K on road and this is when I started considering a Certified Pre Owned. This gave an option to consider the RT Scat Pack and SRT models as well.

There was almost $8000 price difference between those two models. The main differences between the two model are:

1. SRT - 6-piston Brembo brake calipers / RT Scat Pack - 4-piston Brembo brake calipers
2. SRT - adaptive suspension / RT Scat Pack - Bilstein sport suspension
3. SRT - Wider 275/40R20 Pirelli tires / RT Scat Pack - 245/45R20 tires
4. SRT - HID headlights / RT Scat Pack - projector headlights

Both cars are powered by the 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 making 485 hp and 475 lb-ft of torque. I decided to go for the RT Scat Pack model as none of the above mentioned features were an absolute must. The search began! I started checking the cars.com and truecar.com apps like facebook

After waiting till June 2017 and getting snubbed by some salesmen who thought I was low balling them, I finally found a used Dodge Charger RT Scat Pack for $35,000!!!

It was sold in Oct 2016 to the first owner and the Carfax report proved that there was no accident or recalls reported. Carfax report is really a boon for car buyers! All the history of the vehicle tied to its VIN number gets recorded and you can see if the vehicle has had timely maintenance done. How I wish this was mandatory in India.

Details about the car:

1. October 2016 Granite Crystal Clearcoat Metallic Dodge Charger RT Scat Pack.
2. 4,900 Miles in the ODO.
3. $35,000 Showroom price.


Features:

1. Heated/Vented Leather seats
2. Sunroof
3. Collision warning
4. Adaptive Cruise Control
5. Heated mirrors
6. Lane sense
7. Reverse Camera with sensors
8. Paddle shifters with Sport mode and Super track mode
9. HID headlights

I immediately contacted the showroom and started negotiating via email. Jeff, the salesman, was really helpful and he even offered to certify the car free of cost! The only issue was the car was in Troy, Michigan and I was in Illinois and the drive was around 6 hours. So he agreed to take the car off the market with some deposit until I could drive to Troy.

D-Day:

Me and my fiance reached the showroom by 10AM on Saturday, June 17th. I had secured the loan and the insurance documents in the time I had before this. The car was polished and ready to go!

The guy in the finance department drafted up the required paperwork and I was handed over the keys by 10:45AM! The whole process was so smooth, I still cannot believe I bought a car via email!

I opted for the basic service package which is valid in any authorized Dodge showroom. I also got the tire/rim protection for 5 years as this car has low profile tires and a single rim with a tire costs around. After all this the car costed less that $40K on road, which seems like a steal for this car.

This is Jeff handing me the keys -




Here's some eye candy!




Note the Adaptive Cruise Control sensor in the bottom. It is a hit/miss looks wise but the functionality is too good. It spots anything in front of the car from a fair distance. It has 3 settings, and the distance maintained between cars can be switched from low, medium and far.






Engine bay - Powered by SRT. It was perfect for a Tendulkar fan!


The 20 inch rim -


Comfortable suede leather seats -


HID headlamps -


Head unit display -


Performance pages (Ignore the best timing It was just while joining a highway). The car can do 0-60 in 4 seconds according to Dodge and I plan to take it to the track sometime before winter for sure -


Other controls. It offers both heated and ventilated seats -


The dash buttons, This includes lane sense, collision warning, traction control and different drive mode buttons -


The steering wheel is a standard SXT steering wheel but with paddle shifters and phone controls. Note the Adaptive cruise control buttons on the bottom right side. -


Heavy doors with beats audio speakers -


The 392 Badge -


I've driven close to 6K miles after I bought the car and it has been a learning experience!

Let's dive into the specifics of the car -

1. Engine - This is why you pay for the car quite literally. Dodge is all about making their cars stand out in the crowd by putting in all the muscle! It is an improved version of the 2014 SRT8 charger engine. The upgrade in 2015 gave it an additional 15BHP, so now the engine delivers 485BHP. So, if you look at the on road price of a new Charger RT Scatpack without any features, it is close to $40,000 and the price per BHP is around $82 which is right up there with a Mustang GT. So ultimately I was getting an amazing 4 door sports car with top hosrepower-to-dollar value.

The engine is mated with an 8 speed automatic transmission and it does are really good job on highways. The shifts are smooth and I hardly notice it. The most used feature for me on a highway is the adaptive cruise control. It works really well and maintains a safe distance between the car ahead and is quick to find any changes in the speed. Since cruising a 70-80MPH for a long time is not an issue here, the car automatically switches to the 4 cylinder mode. It shuts down 4 cylinders and runs as a V4, essentially utilizing only a fraction of the power available. It uses around 30-40BHP. This feature helps improve the fuel efficiency and I get close to 24MPG on highways, which is not bad for a massive engine like this. In a recent trip I drove the car at 70-75MPH and the mileage shot up to 28MPG. If there is any need for me to override the cruise control, the car pulls as though someone let it loose from a cage. There is no turbo-lag whatsoever and the downshifts are quick. The ride quality is a bit stiff (owing to the sportier suspension set-up), but I hardly notice it as the seats are super comfortable.

Come to the city and everything changes! The transmission works well here too, but in stop and go traffic I can here the engine growl after every downshift. I sometimes need to be careful when I start from the signal or when I'm passing another car. The car hits 60 in no time and I have to watch the odometer all the time to make sure I'm under the speed limit. The car idles in the 8 cylinder mode and man it is a gas guzzler! I get around 13-15MPG gas mileage on premium fuel. But this shouldn't matter as the car is not made to be good on gas. I've never really timed 0-60MPH, since I wanted to try the feature out, I used it before joining a highway once when the roads were empty. I slowed down in the end as I saw another car approaching. In this case the car did a 0-60 in 5.4s. Dodge claim that it do it under 4.5secs. I'm waiting to take it to a drag strip once.

The one thing I look forward to every day is starting the car. The engine roars back to life and people get scared if they are not aware that the car is starting

2. Drive modes - There are 3 different drive modes offered in my Scatpack. Sport mode, Normal drive mode and a Custom mode. These are configurable using the dash buttons shown in one of the pictures above or by going to the perform page from the uconnect infotainment system.

Sport mode is an actual driving mode which firms up the steering and shifts faster. It also deactivate MDS (4 cylinder mode) and it opens up the active exhaust. The exhaust node is so addictive and kinda attracts attention from cops! These settings can be tweaked as well using the infotainment settings. For what its worth, I absolutely LOVE sport mode and find myself driving in Sport mode most of the time unless I'm going on a longer road trip and want better gas mileage.

There is also a super track pack button on the dash which brings up the performance pages app. This is a quick shortcut button. I feel this is useless and they've added it just to fill up all the buttons.

3. Handling and braking - The car comes standard with [/SIZE][SIZE=2]4 pistons Brembo in the front with 360mm rotors and 2 pistons Brembo in the rear with 350mm rotors. The brakes are very efficient and I've not really tested the performance as such. From my experience they are very responsive, so much so that when the collision warning kicked in and the car alerted me to brake, it didn't allow the wheels to lock and the ABS kicked in and the car came to a halt. They are pretty good on highways too and the brake dust makes the wheels all dirty, but I'm happy that they do the job well.

The car handles really well compared to the SXT and RT models, thanks to the stiffer suspension setup. The body roll is negligible owing to the fact that it is a low rider. I've not tried cornering it pretty hard, but I feel it handles the corners pretty well. Comparing it with my mates M2, the charger falls far behind in this department.

The car packs so much power that I almost always experience some wheel-spin when I floor the accelerator pedal! Thanks to the heavy body and the steering, It stays planted and the steering response it good too and [/SIZE]it can be controlled by a driver who doesn't have any prior experience driving sports cars!

Things I like about the car -
1. The car has a lot of power to offer, but it doesn't seem difficult to drive at all.

2. The cornering has definitely improved leaps and bounds from the SXT that I drove last winter.

3. It has good gas mileage considering the huge engine! I usually get close to 24MPG on highway if I'm doing 75-80MPH as it switches to 4 cylinder mode on Highways.

4. Controls on dashboard are very easy to follow. The touch screen is very responsive.

5. It has alert systems for every little thing. It once reminded me to put my hands on the steering wheel. It has automatic high-beam headlights. This is really useful when driving in back roads.

6. Adaptive cruise control - This is one level less that the auto pilot. The car controls the speed by itself with the help of a sensor. It even brings it to a complete halt and then proceeds.

7. Collision warning - This is kind of annoying in the city limits. But considering the use case this is a great feature.

8. The car is really spacious. The rear seats get their own charging ports and the the seat warmers. This is a boon during winters as it gets too cold!

9. It is a head turner! I've literally had people driving next to me and complimenting the car.

Things that I didn't like about the car -

1. The tires could have been better. Forget snow, the stock Goodyear tires are awful even in rain. Water gets into the grooves of the tires and the car feels like it is floating. There won't be any traction. But since it is a heavy car, it stays planted to the road. I cannot wait for them to wear out!

2. The interior could have been better. I get that luxury is not what the car is meant for, but could have used a touch of red or even carbon fiber.


Until next time!

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[KMT]

Sheer Awesomeness. Congratulations on the car.
Enjoyed reading your purchase journey and the description of the car.
Have fun and I look forward to regular updates.
My main regret of my years abroad is that I never purchased a V8. I just stuck to big sixes.
Nothing can match the rumble of a V8.
You have chosen well.

[razer2911]

Congrats on the awesome purchase!

I know this must've been said time and again on this forum but i really envy the car prices in US. With the same amount of money you would be choosing between Octavia or Elantra if you were a customer in India. Heck the recently launched Octavia RS costs more and makes less than half the power.

Envy aside, i hope you enjoy the car and that V8!

[tvrspeed12]

Congratulations on the car.

I notice from your signature you are in Champaign, Illinois!?

Thats where I went to college and spent 4 fantastic years! I had a 1997 w202 c class (c230 compressor) and I absolutely adored that car, and my time in the college!

I am interested to see how you will manage with this in the winter. Even with my far lower BHP and torque figures, driving in the snow was a slidy affair. I had a friend with an m3 who kept it parked the entire winter season.

Anyway, have fun with your car! But I am more excited about your location!

[abhishek46]

Congratulation on your purchase.

Have to admit, your elevation, from 1.3 to 6.4 Liters is almost 5 times.

At the same time, you are still under FCA umbrella.

[keroo1099]

Congrats on getting the iconic Hemi. Like tvrspeed12 said, will be interesting to see how you manage the winters in Champaign. I remember had to put a couple of concrete blocks in the back of my Celica just to get it to go past the railway underpass on Green St, tyres still spinning and all.

Cheers.

[jeevadeepan]

Congrats on your great buy! Excellent choice going for the 6.4 L V8. I, once drove a rental Challenger RT with a 5.7L V8 and had so much fun. The V8 rumble was so addictive.

for getting it with 'safety' options like Collision warning, Lane sense and Adaptive cruise control.

Let the V8 put more smiles on your face as you munch miles. Happy and safe motoring.

[Rubbertramps]

I loved this car when i drove it from a rental. There were so many features in it. The one thing that i found interesting was the switch to adjust the accelerator pedal's height. The only problem i had with this car or the Chrysler 300 was the steering during the time of a long winding turn in the road. This is where we have to keep the steering in the same tilted position for a longer time. At some occasions during this stage, there is a slight disturbance in the steering. It loosens for less than a second and comes back to life. During high speeds, i found this scary and a little uncomfortable. I dont know if you faced the same issue.

Have a great drive ahead. Its a great looking car !

[amitoj]

Congratulations! Welcome to the MOPAR family! The ScatPack is touted as the best value for money among all Dodge variants.

Don't worry about the snow. Put on snow tires and go easy on both the pedals. You'll be fine. No one will curse you for going 10 or even 20 under the speed limit under snowy conditions, as long as you stick to the rightmost lane.

EDIT: Btw, good thing you stayed away from Guilia. While it looks gorgeous and drives phenomenally well, it is plagued with all sorts of issues.

[prakyath89]

Originally Posted by tvrspeed12

Congratulations on the car.

I notice from your signature you are in Champaign, Illinois!?

Thats where I went to college and spent 4 fantastic years! I had a 1997 w202 c class (c230 compressor) and I absolutely adored that car, and my time in the college!

...

Originally Posted by keroo1099

Congrats on getting the iconic Hemi. Like tvrspeed12 said, will be interesting to see how you manage the winters in Champaign. I remember had to put a couple of concrete blocks in the back of my Celica just to get it to go past the railway underpass on Green St, tyres still spinning and all.

Cheers.

Wow I didn't know I would find a lot of people who have been in Champaign! Roads have improved quite a bit here, but yeah I need to have better tires for winter especially with the wheel spin I get when I accelerate with no snow! One of my colleague drives a Challenger as a daily driver so he suggested I place a sand bag of sorts in the back and to drive slow and I should be fine.

Anyway, the car will be parked in a garage for a month in December as I'll be in India. Will plan to install the winter tires when I get back. The only issue is that I don't want to just change the tires. I'll probably think of getting a separate set of rims as well.

Originally Posted by Rubbertramps

I loved this car when i drove it from a rental. There were so many features in it. The one thing that i found interesting was the switch to adjust the accelerator pedal's height. The only problem i had with this car or the Chrysler 300 was the steering during the time of a long winding turn in the road. ...

Hmmm I've never really experienced something like that. I've not tried to adjust the steering wheel. The default setting works well for me.

Originally Posted by amitoj

Congratulations! Welcome to the MOPAR family! The ScatPack is touted as the best value for money among all Dodge variants.

Don't worry about the snow. Put on snow tires and go easy on both the pedals. You'll be fine. No one will curse you for going 10 or even 20 under the speed limit under snowy conditions, as long as you stick to the rightmost lane.

...

Thank you! I remember reading your review when I was in India and I was really impressed by the selection. I wanted to buy an AWD car because of the harsh winters here, but I thought if most of the cops in US can drive an RWD car throughout the year then I can too. Moreover the commute to my office is not much. Thanks for your tips, I'll be sure consider putting in winter tires.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by prakyath89

I remember reading your review

That was more than 5 years back! I still have the car and even after 65K miles, it still never fails to bring a smile to my face. Yeah the interiors have aged a bit but mechanically, the car is still solid.

[anand_lukose]

Congratulations on the V8 ! I have a thing for Naturally Aspirated Big displacement sedans and their ability to be an absolute wolf in a sheep's clothing. Plus taking care of family duties !

At any point in time, did you consider the Chevy SS or saw any in the market ?

[prakyath89]

Originally Posted by anand_lukose

At any point in time, did you consider the Chevy SS or saw any in the market ?

The Chevy SS according to me doesn't have an impressive front design, the engine it uses is from a previous generation Camaro which makes about 415BHP. Also, due to the fact that it is imported from Australia makes it expensive! Almost close to $50K on road. It is a nice car to drive but it didn't make the cut for the above mentioned reasons.

[JackSparrow]

Congratualtions!!! Kudos to you for not going the desi way and buying a honda or a toyota. Nothing wrong with those cars but just about every indian drives them, including me ('17 4Runner TRD PRO).
I travel a lot for work and am an emarald club executive member and just love the car selectiong National has at bigger airports. Drove a challenger with a V8 and loved it but the ingress and egress was a pain and hated the blind spots. These shouldn't matter to you in a Charger.
By the way, love those rims!!