2018 Dodge Charger Review

[MUSIC PLAYING] ELANA SCHERR: Today we've got the 2018 Dodge Charger Daytona 392. It's a 485 horsepower four door that runs a 12 second quarter mile and costs around $50,000. Does a car like this even have any competitors? Let's take it out and see. This, the Daytona 392, has retro big, thick stripes on the back, and a hood scoop with a blackout and the Hemi across the front. Certainly no one will be wondering what's under the hood, or what kind of car you're driving. There are a ton of different color combinations, including this destroyer gray, which is really a love it or hate it color. I have stolen the Charger from the Edmunds offices. And I am running from Mexico right now, never to return it, because I am not in agreement with the rest of the Edmunds staff about this car. I mean, we agree about some things. We all think that the engine in the Charger is fantastic. I mean, 485 horsepower, 475 pound feet of torque. Nobody is going to argue against that. And we agree that the interior is maybe not spectacular. There's a lot of plastic. It's kind of rubbery. So we're in agreement about those things, but overall, they think there are other cars that would be better to own than this car. BMW 3 Series, and the Audi S4. And those are smaller cars, but they're in about the same price range and about the same performance. But nobody is going to be that comfortable in the back seat of those cars. So they're already pretty different. It's actually kind of hard to think of a competitor for this exact Charger. Dodge has so many model versions of the Charger-- I think it's 9 or 10 different things that you can get-- that if you like the Charger at all, you're going to be able to find a specific Charger that you really like. The question is, which one is it? And how do you pick a competitor for a car that there are so many versions of? In particular, how do you pick a competitor for this version of the charger, which is very specific. This car, the Charger Daytona 392 is about three down from the Hellcat. So it's the best engine you can get before you get the supercharger. So, again, 485 horsepower. The only car that we could agree on back at the office that we thought really was kind of a true competitor for this car, kind of doing the same thing, having this great performance, having a lot of room, being comfortable, four doors, was the Kia Stinger. Well, there's a sentence I never thought I'd be saying. Hey, let's compare a Dodge and a Kia. But they really do sort of add up. They have about the same quarter mile time. They both seat four. They've got four doors. Since the performance and price are comparable, the main difference is whether you like that slightly more technologically advanced Turbo Six to get your power down, or you like the naturally aspirated V8 Hemi. [CHUCKLING] Oh, Hemi. So it's not just a number when you talk about the horsepower and the torque in the 64 Hemi. It's really this effortless application of power. It's just hugely entertaining. And it gives you such a sense of confidence when you're driving. I mean, there just isn't anything that you can't pass. And if you haven't ever driven a car that has a lot of horsepower, and that has a good response like this, I really recommend you do a test drive. Because you might think that you're not interested in having a fast car, but once you drive one, you might feel differently. The Hemi is backed by Chrysler's eight speed automatic transmission. There is no manual option in Charger. Not anywhere. Not in Hellcat. Not all the way down in the Six. Just the automatic. But it's a really good transmission, and you're not going to have any complaints about it. There are paddle shifters. You can run it in manual. The Charger Daytona 392 has two different modes, the sport mode, and the normal driving mode. And then you can adjust different things within those modes. So you can have the steering set in sport if you want a little bit more weight to it. The normal driving mode and the normal weighted steering is just fine for regular street driving. One thing that I will complain about in this car is that the throttle application, the gas pedal, and the brake pressure are not very well balanced. The throttle is pretty jumpy. I mean, it will move you forward very quickly. So that's something that you need to get used to. You have to be very gentle with the initial application. And the brakes are sort of the opposite. They're really good. This car had a great stopping distance at our test track. But they don't feel really good. They feel very soft. They don't have an immediate bite. And they're always sort of squishy. Like I can press on it right now, and the pedal moves. Which is a little bit unnerving, even though they absolutely stop you. Inside the Charger is extremely comfortable and not very pretty. I'm sorry. It's true. It's just a lot of plastic. If you're feeling generous you could say that it's sort of a retro throwback to the '60s Chargers and their big alligatory dashes. But I would say it's less than exciting. It's really not that nice. The Daytona has specific details, like the seats and the door panels that are just for this trim model. And they're very pretty. But it's kind of funny, because it's just like, oh, look at this really nice insert with its contrast stitching, and that. Not so good. This is something where you really have to look at which car you're buying and how much it is. Because if you are considering the Kia Stinger to be competition to this car, the Kia Stinger interior is just much nicer all around. The materials are nicer. The fit and finish is nicer. Some of the folks at the office felt like it was even more comfortable, which is amazing, because this is very comfortable. And it's just a more sophisticated interior altogether. It's more modern. This is a little bit dated. While the interior might not be anything to write a letter home about, Dodge's infotainment system is incredibly easy to use and very responsive. They call it U-Connect. So you can get a seven inch touch screen. Or this is the bigger 8.4 inch touch screen, which has a different surround. One thing that's sort of nice about an interior that hasn't changed a huge amount in the last few years is that everything is where you expect it to be. They didn't try to redesign everything. So it has actual volume buttons, tuning, and the climate control. Everything is tactile. You can find it while you're driving. And you don't have to use any sort of weird mouse pad, or joystick, or anything. You can customize the car to turn stuff on for you when you auto start it. And if you live somewhere really cold or really hot, you get into the car, and the air conditioning's already on, and it's delightful. The dashboard is what now might be considered old fashioned. I mean, it's actual physical gauges with like an actual needle that moves. It's not digital stuff. There is a center section that's digital. And you can adjust that to show fuel economy, or a trip meter, or whatever song is playing on the radio. Depending on which radio you get, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are available. Not only is there a ton of room in the Charger for the passengers, both in the front and in the back, I know I've said that this car is comfortable like 27 times, but it really is comfortable. Like even when we were filming this, one of the video guys got in the back and he said, oh, dang, this car is comfortable. There's also a fair amount of room for stuff. There's nice big cup holders. There's a sort of shelf in the door panel. There's little non-slip trays so you can have a phone sitting here and it's not going to be sliding around. Cup holders. A fairly deep console with a removable tray. And USB ports, auxiliary, and two different 12 volts. That's in the front. There's also additional USB leads and 12 volts in the back. Everything that's nice in the front is also nice in the back. In fact, I almost think that the back seat is nicer than the front in terms of aesthetics. And it's got nice storage, little armrests. And it even has a little console back here, two cup holders in the middle. I have this seat as far back as it will go, so far back that I can't even reach the pedals if I was sitting in it. And I still have leg room. There is no reason you'd be uncomfortable in a long road trip in this car. I was lucky enough to have this car over a weekend, and I went on a pretty solid road trip. I did almost 500 miles. Had the dogs. Had my husband. We were going to a lake. So we had all the stuff that you need for a weekend of boating. So the car was all full of floaties, and coolers, and all of that stuff. And it was great. It was so comfortable. We didn't have any problem fitting everything in it. And then going sort of back and forth between our campsite and the lake wasn't a problem, even once we had two more people with us. The cabin noise in the charger is minimal, and it doesn't really matter anyway, because the whole point of this car is so that you can hear that exhaust note. [LAUGHING] Oh yeah. One thing that always comes up when you talk about Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger is, oh, sure, it's good in a straight line, but it can't go around corners. Well, I'm on a curvy mountain road right now, and I haven't driven off the side yet. So clearly, it can go around corners. Yes, this is a heavy car. And yes, you can feel it. The brakes are excellent. The steering is responsive. And it's very consistent. So it's not a problem. The thing that I really like about this car is it's so usable. I mean, it's a really practical choice. And then it's also super fast. At the test track, our test team ran a 12.6 quarter mile with this car, which is really fast. If you're into drag racing and you like to go to the track and participate, that's so quick that you have to wear a helmet. They have rules about when you need to start wearing a helmet. With that in mind, I figured, all of this driving around town and road trip stuff is great. It's really useful information. But we ought to do what Dodge designed this car for. We've already seen that the Charger makes an excellent daily driver. It's comfortable. It's easy. And it's fast. But there's one thing that Dodges are really known for these days. And while the 392 might not be able to hang with those Demons in the background, we want to go drag racing. My nose is itchy in my helmet. It's difficult. Dodge has made a big deal about dragstrip runs. And obviously, this isn't the Demon. This isn't the top of the line Dodge drag racer. But it's a really fun car to take to the strip. And Dodge's marketing saying, hey, go drive this car at a dragstrip seems to be working, because there are a lot more Dodges out here running than there are, say, contemporary Camaros or Mustangs. That's not to say that those cars can't do this. It's just that the owners of the Charger and the Challenger have really been encouraged to come do it. And it's working. So I'm actually pretty proud of Dodge for that. I mean, it's cool. It's important to support your local racetracks. And it is hugely fun. It's so much fun. It's so cheap. You got to just go and do it. There's no reason not to. Most of these cars will roll through the water box, and then they'll do a big smoky burnout. That is one of the most fun parts about drag racing. But we're not doing it because we have just regular treaded street tires. And all that happens is you pick up a whole bunch of water in the tread of your tires. Traction control is off. We're in sport. [ENGINE REVVING] Ha, ha. Sucker. And that's your drag run, friends. I think we just beat a faster car. It's hot in here. You're not allowed to run the air conditioning, cause it drops water on the track. It's funny to come down here. You can hear people talking about the car. SPEAKER 2: Here you go, babe. ELANA SCHERR: Thank you. The car that we just raced sounded really aggressive, looked really aggressive. And it ran an 8.66 at 82 miles an hour. And we ran an 8.47 at 86 miles an hour. So that's not even a stock car. That's a car that somebody did work to to make it faster. And this thing like straight off of the freeway and being hot lapped is quicker than it. And I'm not dissing. It's just unbelievably awesome that you can go buy a car for 50 grand and come to the dragstrip, and be competitive. That said, I don't want to line up against one of those Demons. I am lining up at the eighth mile drags against a Dodge Demon. SPEAKER 3: Uh oh. Uh oh. ELANA SCHERR: This car is quick. I beat every car that I raced tonight at Irwindale. I'm not going to beat that guy. But I'm definitely going to try. [ENGINES REVVING] SPEAKER 4: Ron [INAUDIBLE] in the right lane [INAUDIBLE] the Dodge Demon. ELANA SCHERR: All right. We're on. SPEAKER 4: [INAUDIBLE] [LAUGHING] ELANA SCHERR: Oh, my god. It's so fast. [LAUGHING] Bye. Bye, Ron. All right. Well, that is the difference between 480 horsepower and 840 horsepower. But this car is cheaper. His car is a lot more work as a daily driver. The 2018 Charger 392 is the cowboy boot of cars. It's not the most sophisticated or the most elegant option. But it's comfy and bold, and it'll work in any situation. If I was looking for a four door family fun car, I would definitely take a look at the Charger. If you want to find out more about the 2018 Charger Daytona 392 and all of its variants, look for our review at Edmunds. If you like videos like this, please subscribe. And make sure you follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.