OK, Here It Is: The '11 Dodge Charger R/T

[Ghoste]

Same turd, different toilet.

[BigBlackDodge]

Same turd, different toilet.

BBD

[Nacho-RT74]

something similar ?

[FastbackJon]

I think it would sell better with a different name. Too many people saying it is a decent car for what it is but that they wouldn't buy it because it isn't worthy of the "Charger" emblems.

[TUFCAT]

What's this? ....see pic

[MoparManJim]

Man, thats just wrong, makes me want to pull the charger nameplates of my 69.

Hang onto that thought! don't do it to yours! do it to the new emforcers! 

[Ponch ®]

I think it would sell better with a different name. Too many people saying it is a decent car for what it is but that they wouldn't buy it because it isn't worthy of the "Charger" emblems.

Too many people meaning like the 100 or so DC.com members who hate it with a passion? The Charger is one of Dodge's best sellers...remember that the world is a little bigger than the relatively tiny MOPAR enthusiast community. 99% of the car buying public could care less about what it's called.  Dodge is not going to (nor should it) go out of it's way to please a very small minority of blowhards who probably wouldn't buy the car anyway.

[472 R/T SE]

   a whole bunch.

[Chris G.]

Too many people meaning like the 100 or so DC.com members who hate it with a passion? The Charger is one of Dodge's best sellers...remember that the world is a little bigger than the relatively tiny MOPAR enthusiast community. 99% of the car buying public could care less about what it's called.  Dodge is not going to (nor should it) go out of it's way to please a very small minority of blowhards who probably wouldn't buy the car anyway.

Except for the 100 part. Those are way overinflated numbers. It's more like 40 and most likely 39 of them would bitch about a 2dr Charger or couldn't afford one anyway.

[bill440rt]

Well said.

To me, the Charger has been a model that has simply evolved over the demand of the times. In it's early inception during the muscle car days it was, well, a 2-door muscle car. Then came the early '70's. Smog regulations, more comfy ride, down on horsepower. People couldn't insure musclecars anymore, not to mention the gas crunch. Charger was still muscular looking, but somehow... a little different.

Ahhh, the mid-'70's. Luxo-barges were all the rage. Didn't stop the Charger's evolution here one bit. Charger became a luxury car. Any complaints??  

Gas is up again in the '80's, fuel economy and 4-bangers everywhere. Where was Charger? Oh yeah, a little pocket rocket Omni in disguise 4-banger. Let the bitching continue.  

The 4-banger rage continues into the early '90's, and the Daytona name is raped once again (not since the luxo-barge days of yesteryear when the Daytona was a "muscle" luxury car) as it is placed on a 4-banger hatchback. YES! A hatchback. Soapbox, anyone?  

Fast-forward to the next decade, the Charger is reborn in a time of practicality. SUV's, hybrids, cars that will fit in  our pockets, and 4-door vehicles that are in demand during this era. Charger evolves once again, meeting the demands of the times not anything unlike what it has done previously in the past. BUT, this time it's available with a powerful V-8 that surpasses the 1/4 mile times of it's former muscle car days. And the complaining continues.

The point I'm getting at, is that no one is complaining about the other pathetic times of the evolution of this vehicle. It's simply a matter of meeting the demands of the consumer, no different than Dodge has done with it in the past.

[Chris G.]

The point I'm getting at, is that no one is complaining during the other pathetic times of the evolution of this vehicle. It's simply a matter of meeting the demands of the consumer, no different than Dodge has done with it in the past.

Geez Bill, is there a Page 2???

Funny thing is, most people strictly want a 68-70 type design. That's basically saying the other years didn't really matter. At least that's what I have been seeing/reading.

[Back N Black]

Bottom line is ford nailed the retro style to perfection with the Mustang and mopar did a nice job on the challenger, But Dodge Shit to bed with the charger. I don't care what people say to justify the new charger, it should not have 4 doors. can you vision a 4 door mustang or challenger. We can pick pepper out of fly shit all day long, but a 4 door charger is just wrong.
Again, just expressing my opinion. 

[TK73]

MUCH BETTER!!   

[BigBlackDodge]

Well said.

To me, the Charger has been a model that has simply evolved over the demand of the times. In it's early inception during the muscle car days it was, well, a 2-door muscle car. Then came the early '70's. Smog regulations, more comfy ride, down on horsepower. People couldn't insure musclecars anymore, not to mention the gas crunch. Charger was still muscular looking, but somehow... a little different.

Ahhh, the mid-'70's. Luxo-barges were all the rage. Didn't stop the Charger's evolution here one bit. Charger became a luxury car. Any complaints?? 

Gas is up again in the '80's, fuel economy and 4-bangers everywhere. Where was Charger? Oh yeah, a little pocket rocket Omni in disguise 4-banger. Let the bitching continue. 

The 4-banger rage continues into the early '90's, and the Daytona name is raped once again (not since the luxo-barge days of yesteryear when the Daytona was a "muscle" luxury car) as it is placed on a 4-banger hatchback. YES! A hatchback. Soapbox, anyone? 

Fast-forward to the next decade, the Charger is reborn in a time of practicality. SUV's, hybrids, cars that will fit in  our pockets, and 4-door vehicles that are in demand during this era. Charger evolves once again, meeting the demands of the times not anything unlike what it has done previously in the past. BUT, this time it's available with a powerful V-8 that surpasses the 1/4 mile times of it's former muscle car days. And the complaining continues.

The point I'm getting at, is that no one is complaining during the other pathetic times of the evolution of this vehicle. It's simply a matter of meeting the demands of the consumer, no different than Dodge has done with it in the past.

The internet wasn't around back then for people to voice their displeasure like it is now. So asking why people didn't complain about those versions is kind of silly....maybe they did complain? How would you know how everyone felt about them decades ago? I know I wasn't thrilled to see the Daytona name used like it was or see a mitsubshi 'challenger' but what was a person to do back then?

People complain about the current version in hopes that Dodge will hear them. Unless you have a time machine we can't go back and influence a change in the omni chargers, so what the point in bitching about them? They've added the Charger styling cues to the current version because of all the complaining...so it does work to an extent.


BBD

[Ponch ®]

Too many people meaning like the 100 or so DC.com members who hate it with a passion? The Charger is one of Dodge's best sellers...remember that the world is a little bigger than the relatively tiny MOPAR enthusiast community. 99% of the car buying public could care less about what it's called.  Dodge is not going to (nor should it) go out of it's way to please a very small minority of blowhards who probably wouldn't buy the car anyway.

Except for the 100 part. Those are way overinflated numbers. It's more like 40 and most likely 39 of them would bitch about a 2dr Charger or couldn't afford one anyway.

Seriously, look at the Challenger. Ever since the 4 door Charger came out all we heard how Dodge/MOPAR needed to have a 2 door muscle car. Then they came out with the Challenger concept and all the 4 door Charger haters said how cool it was and that DC better put it into production and they would run out and get one. So it goes into production but it's too big, or it's too heavy, or it isn't an exact replica of the E-body Challenger, or it has too many gadgets, or it's too expensive, or the stitching pattern on the seats isn't what they expected, or "It's ok, but no way in hell I was ever gonna buy a new car again anyway...my 85 Ram is still running".

You guys that are saying that the Challenger was Chrysler "admitting to a mistake with the Charger" or that the restyled '11 Charger is a result of the complaints are giving yourselves way, way too much credit. Like I said, 99% of car buyers don't care about the history or heritage of the nameplate. Chrysler/Dodge is doing what any company that needs to sell a product does: looks at the overall taste patterns of the buying public and then tries to cater to it. And right now the trend is retro. If Ford came out with a retro-styled Mustang II and it sold like pancakes, you bet your ass that Dodge would come out with a retro Volare.

Chrysler doesn't care about the 40 of you guys that think they should change the name, they care about the millions of potential buyers. You're like those lost Japanese soldiers that didn't know the war was over and were still trying to fight years after the fact. It's not going to be a 2 door any time soon, and it's not going to be redesigned to look like a 2nd gen. It's over Johnny, it's over. If you don't like it, don't buy it. Move on already.

BTW - I also own a 2 door charger. But its a 74, and I've been told that it's not a muscle car...

[Mike DC]

Seriously, look at the Challenger. Ever since the 4 door Charger came out all we heard how Dodge/MOPAR needed to have a 2 door muscle car. Then they came out with the Challenger concept and all the 4 door Charger haters said how cool it was and that DC better put it into production and they would run out and get one.  So it goes into production but it's too big, or it's too heavy, or it isn't an exact replica of the E-body Challenger, or it has too many gadgets, or it's too expensive, or the stitching pattern on the seats isn't what they expected, or "It's ok, but no way in hell I was ever gonna buy a new car again anyway...my 85 Ram is still running".

What Ponch is saying.  

GM's F-bodies began to lose sales in the 1990s.  GM asked the diehard F-body fans what they wanted and they just kept hearing "more horsepower!"  Pretty soon the F-body was getting the same motor as the Corvette . . . and the sales weren't getting any better.  The problem was that GM was taking advice from the eventual 2nd and 3rd owners of those cars, not the first ones.  All that extra HP did for the first owners was help a few rich kids kill themselves quicker and drive up the insurance rates on the cars. 

-------------------------------------


The existing 4dr Charger sells great.  They won't take any major risks changing it.  

[bill440rt]

The internet wasn't around back then for people to voice their displeasure like it is now. So asking why people didn't complain about those versions is kind of silly....maybe they did complain? How would you know how everyone felt about them decades ago? I know I wasn't thrilled to see the Daytona name used like it was or see a mitsubshi 'challenger' but what was a person to do back then?

People complain about the current version in hopes that Dodge will hear them. Unless you have a time machine we can't go back and influence a change in the omni chargers, so what the point in bitching about them? They've added the Charger styling cues to the current version because of all the complaining...so it does work to an extent.


BBD

The point I'm getting at, is that no one is complaining about the other pathetic times of the evolution of this vehicle. It's simply a matter of meeting the demands of the consumer, no different than Dodge has done with it in the past.

I went back & slightly modified my post. I could see how one word would convey a different message.
Point is everyone is so hung up on Charger being a 4-door that their losing sight of the other transformations over time. It has a lifespan longer than those three short years. Each generation was a fitment of their time. Was I crazy about the Omni-Charger? Not really. I actually used to own a '77 Charger decades ago, it was a comfy, nice riding car. But was it really a Charger??
Fact is if I were in the market for a 4-door family sedan (which I'm not), I'd buy one.

[chargerjy9]

Finally, the voices of reason.... that get it.

it doesn't do any good to live in the past. I'm weary of hearing that if it ain't a 69 or 69 (IMO the 70 rules,any way)  then it isn't a "real Charger".
TM Creed was  dead wrong when he used that analogy, but he didn't understand the legacy of the marque. The Challenger was NOT done to appease those who wanted a 2 door Charger, it was intended to be a niche car ala Prowler, although now it has evolved into more than that. the new Charger is exactly what the old Chargers were: a family sized sort of luxury sport vehicle. bigger than the pony sized muscle cars. Today the vast majority demand 4 doors for that reason. I believe that Ma Mopar listened to the complaints and adressed them as well as they could given what was there to work with.
Car design is evolutionary, the manufacturers are out to make a profit, so they must appeal to the majority, not just the die hard  tunnel vision few. Hell, the Model T was a great car that put America on wheels, let's go back to that.
I want Chrysler to suceed, I think they are on the right track, my pension depends on it.

[Bigun426]

Go shopping for an "Old School" car a north /south sitting V8 engine and rear wheel drive the only place I know to shop is Chrysler, Mercedes , BMW, the out of production Pontiac G8 which is now or was a high dollar Impala which I think was made in Australia by Holden, a Crown Vic with a plat form as old as me that needed a bullet in the head   unless you got big bucks The Chrysler platform is the most practical. Chrysler has a whole segment to themselves and should exploit it. They ought to test the waters with a retro two door Charger with a very limited production version ( like the Prowler) They would sell all they built simply because of limited production at the money they need to make a profit and gage the market at the same time. Anyway I got tired of front wheel drive cars because of the lack to dampen all of the drive train vibration to the steering wheel and you feet and any serious performance gains would torque steer you off the road. Four doors on the Charger was a non factor when I purchased mt 08 Daytona R/T Number 1613 of 1650 Hemi orange ones. A little sales gimmick that worked to sell 1650 cars a a higher profit. I bought it because it was a Mopar had a V8, almost a hemi, rear wheel drive, and Performance and quality that are excellent for the price range. Remember the original Charger like my 66 was a modified Coronet.  Think of how many drivers there that have never driven a rear wheel drive car. I don't mean suv's and pickups     

[Cooter]

I just want the "Musclecar" to return..Instead, if we want 500 HP, we have to get everything else that goes with it and that huge price tag..I've never heard anybody that bought a new '69 Charger R/T tell me how it cost them $10K nd $275.00/month in 1969...


Well, today, if you want that huge engine in that car, you are paying just that...$30K,$40K,$50K,$60K??? I can remember when a Corvette cost that much, and it was too much then....Why doesn't Chrysler err Fiat errr Whatever, offer  Customer's choice on the options they want on their new car when they order it? Like it used to be? I mean, it's just like mentioned above..People aren't buying the Charger because of the heritage and that's sad...There are PLENTY of soccermomvans in the Mopar line-up for those people....You buy a Bright Purple/Yellow/Orange New Charger and you are doing it to make a statement just like before in '66-'74...Only nowadays, people are willing to "Settle" for what they can get..I wonder how many 4dr Chargers were traded in on new 2DR Challengers?

[bull]

Finally, the voices of reason.... that get it.

it doesn't do any good to live in the past. I'm weary of hearing that if it ain't a 69 or 69 (IMO the 70 rules,any way)  then it isn't a "real Charger".

I understand how you feel because I'm weary of hearing that I should ignore the past, say to hell with the heritage of the name and fall in love with this alleged "Charger" just because... Um, why am I supposed to like it again? I keep forgetting. Oh yes, because it's rear wheel drive, has lots of power, the windows go up and down without me having to burn any calories, etc. I need to write this stuff down somewhere I guess.

Nah, forget that. This guy's got the right idea.

[bull]

I think it would sell better with a different name. Too many people saying it is a decent car for what it is but that they wouldn't buy it because it isn't worthy of the "Charger" emblems.

Too many people meaning like the 100 or so DC.com members who hate it with a passion? The Charger is one of Dodge's best sellers...remember that the world is a little bigger than the relatively tiny MOPAR enthusiast community. 99% of the car buying public could care less about what it's called.  Dodge is not going to (nor should it) go out of it's way to please a very small minority of blowhards who probably wouldn't buy the car anyway.

They are very popular, especially with rental car companies, police departments, taxi cab companies, etc. Oh yea, I forgot to mention that the gangstas and rappers are all over them too. You're getting a little too jacked up here Ponch.

[T3/RT]

Here ya go Bull...

[Landonsrt]

I didn't think they could make the grill any uglier but they managed to surpass my low expectations. The design changes make me think of what a 10-year-old kid could do with a big cardboard box and a Sharpie.

When they change the platform we'll see if they decide to finally make a Charger. Until then the "improvements" only amount to a half-assed admission of regret.

Isn't this thread a repost?

[ionracer24]

well the good thing is, is that they trashed one on this weeks episode of Supernatural........as for the 11 "charger" is still 4 doors, its still ugly, it still looks like a midget ram 1500 with 4 doors and it will be abominated even more by the bling/dub/idiot crowd, which just goes to show, theres no accounting for taste i say, and who cares what a bunch of bonehead power hungry cops think?? not me dangit!!  Hopefully the price will put the final nail in this disaster unless the police force decides to keep it.....at least they got the Challenger right.......MORONS