When the first Dodge Challenger you drive is the SRT Hellcat it sort of spoils any chance for the other models to make a good impression. However, it doesn’t take an upscale automotive pallet to taste the Burger King quality of the entry level Challenger.
It’s an obvious throwback to 1960’s muscle cars and that’s great for the target market who’s likely buying this car. For most people, however, the Challenger is a behemoth nautical vessel boasting average performance and efficiency with very little room for passengers.
Let’s start with the size. 4000lbs is a bit on the chubby side for a 2+2 vehicle these days and it shows in the city mileage. You’re lucky to get 18 mpg and that’s carrying around a 6.3 second 0-60 number. Hardly what you’d expect from a claimed 305 horsepower. There are Toyota Camry’s on the road right now with a claimed 276 hp that will run a 5.6.
Another downfall of the husky Challenger is visibility. The hood is enormous. I’m sure it provides large amounts of nostalgia for some, but for most it’s a popped tire on a curb or parking lot ding waiting to happen. It’s fairly hard to tell where your giant nose is pointing half the time. The cabin feels a bit like a chopped hot rod’s and zero rear visibility reminds you of that at every blind spot check. Not exactly a safety-mobile.
The dashboard layout overall works well enough and the digital control of car status works well. Most of the buttons, however look silly with their huge font and larger than necessary size. That part feels very “Dodge”.
A couple redeeming factors that really scream ‘Murica are the large, easily accessed cup holders, the range, and ability to run on regular; which all coincidentally reference drinking. The cup holders are even illuminated via some nice LEDs hey! As for range you can go about 450 miles on one tank if you’re on the freeway most of the time. That’s way above average for the 2016 model year, nice job Dodge! Some pretty serious road trip capability there. Nice thing about being somewhat low-tech is being able to run on the cheap stuff. I just filled up for under $30 @ $1.69 per gallon! These are strange times.
If you love the challenger style and can’t be without one do yourself a favor and spring for something with a V8. It doesn’t make it nicer to own on the day to day but at least it will be fast.