Dodge's new Charger looks nothing like the old General Lee. While it might not be the right ride to attract Daisy Duke, this all-new version is a muscle car-meets-sedan hybrid that any family man would kill to have sitting in his garage. Some might think calling this square-jawed, flat-topped, all-American neo hot rod a Charger is heresy, but Dodge has certainly created one hell of a badass-looking new family cruiser, no matter what they named it.
The interior of the new Charger is a lot like one of those generic store brands -- basic and simple but filling. Inside you'll find big, sturdy leather seats, large, easy-reader style two-tone dials and smooth metal-plated accents. There's an awesome amount of rear passenger room and a commanding view from the back seat, which made us think how much cooler the Charger would be as a livery vehicle than those dull black Town Cars.
The new Charger comes in several performance modes. At the low end are the 250-horse SE and SXT models (bargains at $22,995 and $25,995, respectively), but we were lucky enough to flog the much beefier 340-horse V8 Hemi-powered R/T along the winding rural roads of North Carolina. The five-speed "Autostick" shifted effortlessly, giving us great power and control as we blasted in and out of wicked curves. The R/T is a big, burly car, but it's a lot smoother and more nimble than its size suggests with less body roll than you would expect. And its Hemi's horses definitely know how to gallop, clocking zero to 60 in just over five seconds.
