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robg · 10-12-2012, 03:18 AM

Took a long road trip (LA to SF) and the rental company had a choice of Altima, Camry or charger. Had to go with the charger!

Love the looks of the latest gen version and have always been a bit curious. Being a rental this was the base v6 with a rather archaic 5 speed auto. But the interior is nicely done (and much more solid than any recent BMW). No rattles and everything works well. Very nice plastics with real aluminum trim on the dash (better than audis fake trim in the a4)

The steering felt like good old hydraulic rack and pinion with good on center feel (let down only by the rental spec 65 series tires).

Granted the car is enormous. I started laughing at what a boat it is. But even on the twisty pacific coast highway the solid Mercedes Benz
Underpinnings held their own.

Also liked the surprising amount of info available from the center screen including total engine hours and individual tire psi (again BMW wtf).

The trunk is fully finished and the lid opens fully by double clicking the trunk button on the fob. Again it's ridiculously huge.

The only thing that outright sucked were the seats. These were the base 6 way jobs and weren't very supportive or comfortable.

Given that I'm not impressed with recent German efforts, im kind of tempted to pickup a v8 version of one of these. With better seats, and a nice hemi sound-track for around 30k it's kind of hard to beat.

10-12-2012, 03:18 AM	#1
robg Carmudgeon Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 3,243	Rented a charger..better than I expected Took a long road trip (LA to SF) and the rental company had a choice of Altima, Camry or charger. Had to go with the charger! Love the looks of the latest gen version and have always been a bit curious. Being a rental this was the base v6 with a rather archaic 5 speed auto. But the interior is nicely done (and much more solid than any recent BMW). No rattles and everything works well. Very nice plastics with real aluminum trim on the dash (better than audis fake trim in the a4) The steering felt like good old hydraulic rack and pinion with good on center feel (let down only by the rental spec 65 series tires). Granted the car is enormous. I started laughing at what a boat it is. But even on the twisty pacific coast highway the solid Mercedes Benz Underpinnings held their own. Also liked the surprising amount of info available from the center screen including total engine hours and individual tire psi (again BMW wtf). The trunk is fully finished and the lid opens fully by double clicking the trunk button on the fob. Again it's ridiculously huge. The only thing that outright sucked were the seats. These were the base 6 way jobs and weren't very supportive or comfortable. Given that I'm not impressed with recent German efforts, im kind of tempted to pickup a v8 version of one of these. With better seats, and a nice hemi sound-track for around 30k it's kind of hard to beat.