In Which An Editor Goes Car Shopping
At virtually every other automotive outlet for whom I’ve worked, the communication between writer and reader has been a one-way street. I give advice. The reader listens. Whether the reader acts on that advice is completely unknown. Also, the reader never gives advice to the writer.
Thankfully, TTAC is different and the Best & Brightest will drop a nugget of information in the comments that I can use not only in my professional life, but in my personal life as well.
And it’s on this advice that I drove 2 1/2 hours to Moncton to drive a 2015 Dodge Charger R/T Road and Track.
Thanks to BunkerMan’s information, I sent an email to Moncton Chrysler Jeep Dodge to make sure the car was in stock. It was. Within 30 minutes, my girlfriend and I planned a day trip to Moncton.
I know I can be long winded, so I am going to keep the rest of this short. Here were my impressions of the car and new-car shopping in general.
The Charger R/T sounds incredible, but the Road and Track package takes away a number of characteristics from the Charger SXT Rallye V6 AWD that made me fall in love with the LX-platformed four door.
- The R/T Road and Track comes with 20 inch wheels as standard with minimal tire sidewall, hampering comfort.
- “Sport Suspension” appears on the order sheet.
- The plush seats are gone, replaced with sport buckets that mimic school bus benches in their comfortability. This is exacerbated by the fact I couldn’t get the power-adjustable seat low enough.
- There’s not much more in the power department over the V-6, though there isn’t a massive jump in price either.
That said, there is a Scat Pack nearby now, but I’m fairly certain based on my test drive of the R/T Road and Track that the more performance-oriented model won’t be for me either. It looks like I’ll need to find a normal R/T before making any decisions.
Besides the car itself, the dealership itself turned me off from the whole car shopping experience. I don’t mean the salesman. Paul was a stellar guy and far from pushy. He knew I wouldn’t be buying that day but still catered to my needs. The dealership was holding a “sale weekend”, complete with plexiglass cash grab booth and a showroom floor — devoid of cars — covered in “free” household appliances.
I thought we were beyond this kind of sales gimmickry, but it looks like I was wrong.
More by Mark Stevenson
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Good luck on your search. I flew from Denver to Oklahoma City to pick up a 2014 Charger RT Max. It has a great ride even with the 20" wheels. It even floats a little bit like the old malaise era boats I love. Why the distance? I wanted RWD which is hard to find since everything in CO is AWD. I also wanted one with something other than an all black interior. The tan leather is a great color and the deal on the car was incredible, about 8k off sticker at the cost of a $125 plane ticket. I already knew what I wanted though since I previously owned a 2012 clone. Had a family member check it out in person though before I took the plunge.
It kind of seems to be you are doing everything you can to avoid buying the Charger. If the suspension is too hard, order one with 18" wheels and it will ride much softer. I find your comments about the power differences between the 3.6 V6 and 5.7 V8 to be, well, odd. I drive a V6 300 quite often, along with a 300C once in a while, and the difference is not minor in any way. Both cars have the 8 speed auto and have 20" wheels. Maybe you needed to reset the adaptives? If the V8 was driven "like an old man", it will not show what it's really capable of. When I had my 2008 Charger R/T (Not a Road and Track) it rode pretty decently, but my 2010 Challenger R/T rides a LOT softer. I was kind of surprised, it's almost as smooth riding as my Ex-GF's 2011 300C.