A Day With A Charger

[Marc]

My 2001 started to idle very roughly & the check engine light came on. My scan tool pulled up a P0171.....lean condition. To make a long story short, this Chevrolet dealer found a bad intake manifold gasket.
As I don't like being without a car, I rented a 2012 Charger at Enterprise for the day. It had the 3.6 VVT Pentastar V-6.
Excellent power for a really small engine. The only thing that I didn't like about it was the keyless ignition. It had 2 remotes that automatically unlocked the doors when you were within a few feet of the car. Starting was done by pressing the engine start/stop button. All in all, not a bad car.....................................

[lanceslambos]

that 3.6 in the charger is pretty comparable to the Aurora isn't it?

[Marc]

I don't know how the Classic compares to the 3.6.....I've never driven a Classic. Compared to the 2G, that 3.6 felt fairly good, but not as good.

[Blacky Bulger]

Before my father and I had looked at a Yellow "Top Bannana" 2006 Dodge Charger.... really great car with the Hemi!!! (350hp) The Challenger we also test drove had the 3.5l v6 with 250hp and it felt pretty peppy... I'm sure the 3.6 Pentastar v6 had 292 hp in the charger with 0-60 times of around 5.4 - 6 seconds flat.

But then again the Auroras are a masterpiece!

[Marc]

You're right about the Pentastar V-6 HP. 292 HP @6350 RPMs.

[kyngofpop]

Only thing I don't like about them other than the build quality on the previous gen is that the interiors are pretty sparse and the materials are really cheap. Not many toys to play with in those things..

[nelson480]

Cool car marc! Did you like it?

[Marc]

It was basically a pretty good car, but, needless to say, I really prefer my Aurora.

[scottydl]

Pretty cool, I do like the new rear end taillights of the Chargers... resembles the "retro" look that the new Challenger picked up when it was reintroduced a couple years ago.

*Moved to Auto News/Reviews and added to the "test drive" sticky.

[northofyou]

Drove my buddies '09 R/T Challenger a couple summers ago when I bought a (sorry!!!) '08 Mustang GT (i ABUSED IT!). There are a couple things I don't like about the dodge's and that's is the fit and finish in the interior, the fact that those 20" look a like chrome wheels are HUB CAPS!!! Yuck! the size of them - still pushing over 4k lbs! and it's a dodge! Lol!

[kyngofpop]

Agree with EVERYTHING the above poster stated. Fit and finish and material quality is subpar at best.

[Marc]

Dec 20, 2011 1:30:54 GMT -6 northofyou said:

Yuck! the size of them - still pushing over 4k lbs! and it's a dodge! Lol!

I have thinking about an AWD sedan for my next car. I was wondering how much the 3.6 AWD Charger weighs. I looked at Dodge's site & was astounded to find out that that car weighs over 4100 lbs.......too porky for me.

[ntrenn]

Marc - just spent a day with one myself - a rental with 59 miles on the clock - white like the one you had. I did not like the push-button start, nor the push the trunk button 2 times to open the trunk.
Good power. Got 29 + on a mostly highway 140 mile RT run. It had a weird drifting feeling in the car - it would wander to the side and felt squirmy on the road. I could not get it to go away, regardless of the road surface. Not a bad car, but you could tell it was portly....but not a bad package all in all.

[aj]

You are still gonna keep your Aurora right Marc? I have had tested quite a bit of cars and the era of the Aurora has to be one of the best if not The Best car!

That is all that the Dodge weighs in at? The Buick Lucerne is over 4938 lbs! But the reliability of Dodge is pretty pooor and the finish is just not up to par! I get about 27 on the highway with the Lucerne and 17,18 in the city.

[Marc]

Right! It's the best car I've ever owned or driven. And I have gotten to drive maybe over 100 cars since I started driving (1959)
ranging from the 1941 to the 2012 model year, and my 2001 is the best of the bunch!