Plum crazy is right, get winter tires
The first time I saw a plum crazy purple Charger R/T it was on my Facebook feed from someone in one of my many “motoring” groups. I hadn’t seen it yet in person, and I’m not a die hard Charger fan either, but even I had to say “Damn. That looks good. Wild, but good.” It’s something about the combination of the super aggressive R/T front fascia and that bluish-violet paint that makes people smile. At least, that’s what I experienced while driving this thing.
The latest Charger redesign was a polarizing one. The base model looks a little too, brawny maybe, squarish…it looks tough but not slick. This R/T, especially in purple, is about as slick as they come. I’m debating on whether this will be an instant classic or not, or whether anything built today will be an instant classic, besides the Jaguar F-Type and the Mazda Miata. The lump under the hood, however, will definitely be talked about.
The 6.4-liter “392” V8 makes some of the best noises this side of a V8 touring car. It has a gravelly roar that kicks in early and often. It does sound a little funny when you’re driving normally through all eight gears and it just goes up and down and up and down. But just hammer on it for a few seconds, keep it in a gear until redline. It sounds better than the new Mustang and probably better than the new Camaro as well.
Originally debuting in 1970, Plum Crazy hue spans several generations of muscle-car collectors and enthusiasts and has been a signature Dodge muscle car color ever since
Throttle tip in is hard to get used to. Even today, my fourth day with the car, I still had trouble taking off quickly without spinning the tires. Granted, that’s fun and I’d like to do it 100 percent of time, but we live in a civilized society. And that’s with the traction control on. With it in sport mode, forget about it. Even a quick one-inch stab will light up the block with loud tire squawk. If it’s wet or snowy, just get ready to counter steer. Get winter tires, you’ll appreciate it.
Once going, everything remains mostly civil. I never felt the need for more power. Shifts from the eight-speed are smooth and quick in automatic mode. In manual, it feels a little slower. I do love the proper, up-is-down format on the gear shifter though. Even when you’re hard on the gas the car doesn’t lunge or surge at any speed, it just hauls ass. It’s easy to hit triple digits on the highway and easy to maintain it. The 4,400-pound curb weight makes it feel stable at that speed and probably far above.
The brakes seem plenty strong to haul this purple dinosaur down. I did notice the weight when slowing but there isn’t much pedal movement, which breeds confidence. I never had to lock them up, thankfully. I did feel the downshifts though, especially in sport mode, when coming to a stop.
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I’m normally a fan of the different modes. Usually they make the car feel a good bit faster in sport and a good bit safer in eco. But on this car, I could live without it. Sport mode, like I said, amps up the throttle sensitivity, weights the steering down and speeds up the shifts. No adjustable suspension here. My problem is that the steering weight in normal mode is good for me, as is the gas pedal. I suppose I could use the faster shifts. The RT doesn’t have an eco mode, exactly, but it does drop into four-cylinder mode on the expressway and with a light foot one could probably get decent mileage on a long trip.
The steering is heavily weighted, and that’s where you can really feel the mass of this car. It’s not hard to control, but I’d like a little more responsiveness. As for the suspension, the small bumps make it bounce a bit, especially when they get a resonance going, but big potholes can be plowed through with the all-season Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires. You probably want to get winter rubber, because thing has some torque.
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Inside, the R/T Scat Pack is kind of a stripper. It doesn’t have navigation or heated seats or steering wheel. But it does warm up quickly. And at $ 41,000, this is smoking deal.
The newish infotainment system works well, though it glitched out on my iPhone a few times. The radio is plenty loud and the configurable screen in the gauges is great, though the most useful is the speedo. The efficiency gauge is cool when trying to keep the mpgs up on the expressway.
The seats are a little flat and without a lot of bolster in the shoulders. During normal driving it’s not much of a problem but I could see myself sliding around on a race track. They are comfortable though and I found a good driving position easily. I love the airplane throttle gear shifter, it’s a good hand rest.
In a power per dollar sense, this R/T has to be near the top of the heap. Now, in power to weight per dollar it might fall back. I’d bet both the Camaro and Mustang have it beat there. But you can’t stick a family of four comfortably in a Mustang and you can’t fit anything in the truck of a Camaro. And neither comes in plum crazy purple.
Is it the instant classic we’ll want in 40 years? I’m not sure, but it’s the one we need, right now.
–Jake Lingeman, Road Test Editor
Even a quick one-inch stab will light up the block with loud tire squawk. If it’s wet or snowy, just get ready to counter steer. Get winter tires, you’ll appreciate it.
OTHER VOICES
Wow. 485 hp and 475 lb ft for 41K? Having done zero research, that’s gotta be one of the smokinest deals out there.
From the plum crazy paint (reminds me of when I was a kid) to the gobsmacking-sounding V8 to the comfortable, roomy interior, I love this thing.
Around town and on the freeway, it’s just plain old-fashioned fun – and by old fashioned I don’t mean outdated: It has an eight-speed automatic transmission and an excellent infotainment system. I appreciate the big rubber-coated knobs for radio volume and such rather than having to stabstabstab at some random button that sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. Likewise the big steering-wheel-mounted buttons make it easy to operate all sorts of menus without having to remove eyes from the road. Nice.
As Stoy pointed out on an earlier Charger drive, there’s not really a single feature making the car good, it’s a combo of well-thought-out, easy-to-navigate interior controls and options that make the car instantly comfortable.
I didn’t stop-watch launch it or anything but mashing the gas a couple times when I could find dry pavement I don’t doubt Dodge’s mid-four-second 0-60-mph figure. Plenty of punch here. The driving experience is composed and like I said, fun. Yeah the chassis is getting old, but the car hides it well.
As Dodge officials have said not everyone can get a Hellcat, and this baby is plenty. For me at least. It’s good to have options.
–Wes Raynal, Editor
