Dodge really muffed the new Charger

Rocket Sauce · Oct 5, 2004

boo 4 doors....

calypsocoral302 · Oct 5, 2004

Lawman85 said:
Who said that the Charger's competition is the Mustang?????
Dodge is aiming at the sedan market with the Charger, Magnum, and 300C. They are trying to take the customers from the Crown Victoria's, Town Cars, Lincoln LS's, Impalas ... and not to mention the BMW 3 and 5 series. That is their target market, not the pony car market. It is ridiculous to compare a Magnum or Charger to a Mustang.
Next everyone will me crying because the new Pacifica offers a sunroof and DVD player and the 05 Mustang doesn't... Comparing apples to oranges.

FINALLY!!!!! Someone freakin' GETS IT!!!!!

Thank you, lawman, for bringing sanity back to this thread. And, in case your occupation fits your username, both the Magnum and the Charger are supposed to be available as cop cars by the middle of 2006.

Now, let's watch Ford's Crown Vic suddenly drop in sales when something finally competes with it on the law enforcement fleet level!

ryanrule · Oct 6, 2004

but dont the 300c and this new charger overlap?

Lawman85 · Oct 6, 2004

calypsocoral302 said:
FINALLY!!!!! Someone freakin' GETS IT!!!!!

Thank you, lawman, for bringing sanity back to this thread. And, in case your occupation fits your username, both the Magnum and the Charger are supposed to be available as cop cars by the middle of 2006.

Now, let's watch Ford's Crown Vic suddenly drop in sales when something finally competes with it on the law enforcement fleet level!

I got tired of reading stupid debates on Charger, Magnum, 300c vs the Mustang. Two different car segments.

I think Dodge will have a few problems competing in the law enforcement fleet for a few reasons
1. Dependability.... we all know the service records of Dodges. I had to take my 04 Durango back to the dealer 2 months after buying it to have the entire A/C system redone.
2. Too much horsepower.... alot of agencies will see 340hp as a HUGE liability and danger to their officers. I know it sounds stupid but we have officers that are overpowered by the Crown vic. Dodge can beat this if they make the AWD standard on police interceptors... if they do that.. then watch out!!!
3. Gas mileage... We can barely make a Crown Vic last 8 hours on a tank of gas. We would have to fill the Hemi up at least 2 times and they run on mid grade gas. An agency would spend over twice what it does now in gas.

Just my observations

USArmyPhotog · Oct 6, 2004

Interesting points Lawman, I would love to hear from you or some of your pursuit friends who may have sat some long hours in a Mustang, vs. hours in a Crown Vic/Caprice.

Nonetheless, the new Charger is a TREMENDOUS letdown. The 1968 Charger, (like the one in the movie Blade) is one of the most beautiful, intimidating cars ever made.

This one looks like an admin assistant sent the low-res file by mistake and the engineers just shrugged and said, OK, lets make it work....

OR they just pulled the car from Gran Turismo 1..

I don't like the 300 either, but the Magnum is OK.

Lawman85 · Oct 6, 2004

I've pulled 7 years of long hours in the Crown Vic. The only hours I have in a Mustang are the drive to work and back in my duty gear. The Crown Vic is obviously much more comfortable. We have a few Camaros and the guys complain about them all the time. They love the speed but when you have to get in and out of a car 40+ times in 8 hours it gets old. Sitting in the Magnum and 300 I can say it would be more comfortable than the Crown Vic because of the dash layout and leg room. The current Mustang is almost impossible to get out of in full uniform because of the seat/dash position. The pre-94 cars were much more police friendly.

mattdee1 · Oct 6, 2004

Here's another picture of the Charger and its Nascar counterpart. This is supposedly an official sketch. I like it better than the GTO, anyway.

ryanrule · Oct 6, 2004

yeah thats its, just ditch the 22's

Ohio 1989GT · Oct 6, 2004

The rear looks like the mitsubishi galant to me, or Im just wrong.

Mitsu:

Dodge:

calypsocoral302 · Oct 6, 2004

Lawman85 said:
1. Dependability.... we all know the service records of Dodges. I had to take my 04 Durango back to the dealer 2 months after buying it to have the entire A/C system redone.

Yeah. Owning a '96 Caravan has taught me that much. Had more problems with that thing than the Escort I currently drive... and the Escort is a higher-mileage car!

Lawman85 said:
2. Too much horsepower.... alot of agencies will see 340hp as a HUGE liability and danger to their officers. I know it sounds stupid but we have officers that are overpowered by the Crown vic. Dodge can beat this if they make the AWD standard on police interceptors... if they do that.. then watch out!!!

Wow... I honestly didn't see that one coming... though it is worthy of note that the 3.5L Dodge V6 has almost as much horsepower as the ancient iteration of the 4.6L Ford V8 in the Crown Vic (the version used in the Mustang is multiple times better in almost every concievable way), while being lighter and more efficient.

Lawman85 said:
3. Gas mileage... We can barely make a Crown Vic last 8 hours on a tank of gas. We would have to fill the Hemi up at least 2 times and they run on mid grade gas. An agency would spend over twice what it does now in gas.

Okay, let's talk powertrain:

-- Crown Victoria- 239hp @ 4,750 rpm; 287 lb/ft @ 4,100 rpm
EPA Est. MPG: 17/25 city/highway

--Charger V8- 340hp @ 5,000 rpm; 390 lb/ft @ 4,000 rpm
EPA Est. MPG: 17/25 city/highway

The 3.5L V6 delivers 245 hp and lb/ft, at 19/27 city/highway...

It actually looks like the HEMI offers the most bang per drop of regular unleaded... looks like a pretty good option for the highway patrol, anyway...

Lawman85 · Oct 7, 2004

calypsocoral302 said:
Yeah. Owning a '96 Caravan has taught me that much. Had more problems with that thing than the Escort I currently drive... and the Escort is a higher-mileage car!

Wow... I honestly didn't see that one coming... though it is worthy of note that the 3.5L Dodge V6 has almost as much horsepower as the ancient iteration of the 4.6L Ford V8 in the Crown Vic (the version used in the Mustang is multiple times better in almost every concievable way), while being lighter and more efficient.

Okay, let's talk powertrain:

-- Crown Victoria- 239hp @ 4,750 rpm; 287 lb/ft @ 4,100 rpm
EPA Est. MPG: 17/25 city/highway

--Charger V8- 340hp @ 5,000 rpm; 390 lb/ft @ 4,000 rpm
EPA Est. MPG: 17/25 city/highway

The 3.5L V6 delivers 245 hp and lb/ft, at 19/27 city/highway...

It actually looks like the HEMI offers the most bang per drop of regular unleaded... looks like a pretty good option for the highway patrol, anyway...

Those powertrain numbers are correct from the factory. We do our gas mileage at the end of every shift and the best I ever got on a Crown vic is 10.5 mpg. We do alot of idling and stop and go. If the Crown vic only manages 10.5 mpg I can't see the Hemi doing that much...maybe 7 or 8. The 25mpg highway from Dodge is with the MDS. The MDS only kicks on at constant cruising speeds, which we don't do.
The V6 would be a better choice but I don't see them doing that..... Who knows.. we'll just have to wait and see.

Dodge really muffed the new Charger

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