In the end Dodge won - forced into being a Charger Hypocrite

[resq302]

Well, with regards to the "new 4 dr charger" we just got rid of our charger police car here at work.  Mind you, our crown vics usually last around 100,000 miles before we have to get rid of them due to major probs.  When we just decommisioned our charger police car, it only had 51,000 miles.  We broke 2 motor mounts, went through 8 sets of brakes, too many electrical problems to list, dead batteries, etc.  Honestly, this car had more down time being repaired than it was on the road.

[DodgeChargerNeeded]

It is a sad fact as much as we all hate the new charger and love the new challenger. The charger will still get the nod because of the number of doors for families. So on one hand Dodge had something figured right.

[BigBlackDodge]

Last I checked the new Chally has back seats for the kiddies too..............


BBD

[Ghoste]

Well, with regards to the "new 4 dr charger" we just got rid of our charger police car here at work.  Mind you, our crown vics usually last around 100,000 miles before we have to get rid of them due to major probs.  When we just decommisioned our charger police car, it only had 51,000 miles.  We broke 2 motor mounts, went through 8 sets of brakes, too many electrical problems to list, dead batteries, etc.  Honestly, this car had more down time being repaired than it was on the road.

In all fairness though, the Crown Vic was around a long time so many reliability issues should have been long worked out.  If Chrysler keeps the Charger platform around long enough it should get tougher too.

[resq302]

I agree, however, from talking to other departments, they have had twisted driveshafts, rotors that have been cracking, brakes going through way too soon, etc.  The list goes on and on.  You would think that if Dodge was going to market a car that was known to be abused that they would at least do their research on it before the marketed it as a police package.  Aslo, the rear seat area is too small when you put the cage into the back.  Someone had to come up with a special cage and a half seat in order to tranport a prisoner.

[Mike DC]

 
I've thought for years that Ford should have just started producing a modified Crown Vic chassis specifically to the police/official/taxi buyers. 

Right now Ford has BY FAR the best suitable vehicle for cop-cars anymore.  Ford could take the current full-framed Crown Vic chassis, make a set of changes that cost well within the range of what they'd do for a significant mid-decade update anyway, and end up with a customized car that easily corners 95% of that market for the foreseeable future. 

How hard would it really be to add a few inches into the backseat area?  Make the rest of the outer skin's body panels into 100% bolted-on sheetmetal items, for quick & practical repairs?  Make the cabin pillars strong enough to skip the internal rollbar, and include mounts for the internal cage?  Build the rear end & gas tank stronger for highway rearend collision protection? 

(And imagine . . . what if a modern car factory actually WANTED to make something work right?  What if they DIDN'T cut corners all over every subassembly & electrical system to squeeze out that last $25 per car?)



I don't see why not.  It's not the most lucrative per-car market out there, but the total govt/law enforcement contracts on the Crown Vic are already something like 49% of all the CVs they sell anyway.  The market is absolutely huge.  If they do it reasonably well the first time, the car would be a fish-in-a-barrel cash crop for the next 20+ years without any significant retooling whatsoever.  Most of the OEMs would KILL  for that kind of situation in a civilian-buyer niche.

[1969chargerrtse]

Oh boy....here we go again!

Say what you will...I still like my orange beast!
Good luck with the new car!

Hey chris, is that the same spot you took pictures of your 69 at many years back?

[resq302]

The only good thing my cops could say about the charger was that it was a great traffic car as it had excellent pick up speed and would have been a great pursuit car.  But that was about the only good thing that they could say.

[Mike DC]

As I understand it, that's basically the complaint they have about every modern car they have tried.  Scuff one or two curbs and everything on the front chassis gets bent. 


It's not even necessarily the unibody vs full-frame issue either.  The departments generally loved the durability of the old Mopar unibody-chassis cop cars from the 1970s and 80s. 

It's just modern car designs.  They're saving weight & tightening down tolerances everywhere.  Pretty soon they've got a chassis where nothing gives a millimeter until it suddenly collapses entirely.   

[WingCharger]

For '09 the Daytona R/T Charger will only be available in White with Black Script. The SuperBee will also be discontinued.

I really like the new Chargers.  ALMOST as much as the new Challenger.

[bull]

Rented one for a weekend, don't ever want to drive one again...

I was "test driving" a few cars prior to buying a few months back.  The Mustang ABSOLUTELY blew the new Coronet away on fit/finish, comfort, drivability...

but in the snow - that rear-wheel drive is a bit tough to get around in.

The AWD is pretty nice. Mustang didn't have that.

Aren't there several AWD/4WD cars that get better mileage than the "Charger" gets, if fuel economy and poor weather traction are two of your main criterion? I mean, it's kinda late now but just wondering... One example I can think of right off the bat is the Ford Escape hybrid 4x4 that averages about 10 mpg better.

EDIT** Just did a quick check on fueleconomy.gov and found that the '08 Chevrolet Equinox AWD, the '08 Buick Enclave AWD, the '08 Dodge Avenger AWD, '08 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid 4WD, '08 Ford Taurus AWD, '08 Pontiac Torrent AWD, '08 Lincoln MKX AWD, '08 Mercury Milan AWD and the '08 Saturn Outlook AWD all get better (a couple get the same) gas mileage than the "Charger" gets. There are others that do better too but I don't feel like listing every "American" car. Let's just say the "Charger" is pretty low on the AWD/4WD list of cars that get good fuel economy. And isn't the "Charger" made in Mexico?

[WingCharger]

Rented one for a weekend, don't ever want to drive one again...

I was "test driving" a few cars prior to buying a few months back.  The Mustang ABSOLUTELY blew the new Coronet away on fit/finish, comfort, drivability...

New Coronet? 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

For '09 the Daytona R/T Charger will only be available in White with Black Script. The SuperBee will also be discontinued.

I really like the new Chargers.  ALMOST as much as the new Challenger.

Negative....the Super Bee will sadly be Hemi Orange for the 2009 model year

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Hey chris, is that the same spot you took pictures of your 69 at many years back?

Yeppers....good eye   Probably around the same time as well....although the '69 was shot in bright sun while the '08 was shot on an overcast day....thats why it looks more red in the pic

[bull]

Rented one for a weekend, don't ever want to drive one again...

I was "test driving" a few cars prior to buying a few months back.  The Mustang ABSOLUTELY blew the new Coronet away on fit/finish, comfort, drivability...

New Coronet? 

Yea, more "name accurate" than Charger. Since four door cars are not msucle cars by definitiion, though some can be considered cars with muscle. If I may speak for TK73, he's making the point that "Coronet" would have been a more appropriate and accurate name for the car if Chrysler's goal was to revive nostalgia... because there once was a four door, V8-powered, rear wheel drive car named Coronet.