Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
I LOVE my Dodge Charger. It’s meaty, full of muscle and made to measure and I’ve been motoring up and down the highways of Bahrain for more than four years without a hitch and with plenty of enjoyable kilometres to match.
When I first arrived on the island I was urged by my new colleagues to choose a 4x4 – especially when they found out my wife and young family would be joining me within a few months.
But I much prefer to slip into a saloon car. The good lady wife was bound to want a ‘tank’ to protect her and the children from
the menace of those speeding,predatory lane switching pests; I simply needed a motor with a bit of presence on the road.
The Charger fitted the bill perfectly and it would appear that the men in suits at parent company Chrysler have finally come around to my way of thinking … the new 2011 Dodge Charger comes with a simple message: never neutral.
And the new model lives up to the new confidence oozing from the US automobile industry, which has seen a dramatic change in its fortunes in recent months.
There’s pride and purpose behind the new launches like never before and the latest Dodge Charger continues in that vein.
This time you can touch the tension. The Dodge designers are so proud of this baby they are shouting about it like never before.
There is no mistaking you are in a Dodge nowadays. The name is brightly displayed at the rear thanks to a new tail lamp design incorporating 164 illuminating LEDS above the double exhaust as well as in the cabin.
But the aerodynamic exterior of the 2011 version is still spirituallyinspired by the iconic secondgeneration Charger from the late 1960s, so it continues to strike an emotional chord with enthusiasts like me.
It’s distinctive; it’s dynamic … but in 2011 you get so much more in a car than you did only 12 months past, let alone four years
ago.
Crafted in premium materials, the interior surrounds its passengers with comfort, craftsmanship and style and the cockpit is a driver’s dream with a thick-rimmed threespoke steering wheel for enhanced performance feel and grip.
Best of all is the state-of-theart ‘U-connect’ touch screen integrating the latest technology to keep driver and passengers connected, comfortable and secure.
The navigation system is the best I have witnessed and with one simple touch of the screen you can adjust the dual zone climate control.
Dodge engineers have tuned the Charger’s cabin for sound quality, rather than sound level, by isolating wind noise. Major material and structural design improvements help absorb more road noise to keep the cabin quiet, placing the latest Charger’s interior sound quality among the best in its class.
The Dodge brand’s flagship is available with a new 3.6 litre Penta Star V6 engine which delivers world-class levels of power, refinement and fuel efficiency.
For maximum thrills, the line-up also includes the legendary 5.7-lire Hemi V8 engine with new fuelsaving technology. And, if that was not power enough, a 6.4-litre Hemi V8 powered model will also join the line-up next year.
Safety and security features available for the first time in the latest model include adaptive cruise control with forward-collision
warning, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross path detection (how much did I miss this when I had to return the test car!) plus ‘Park View’ a handy rear back-up camera with grid lines.
It also smells sweet too, according to the kids. But that might have something to do with the fact that my sweaty gym gear and damp towel was still laying in the floor well of my own, old Charger.
I may not have quite achieved my dream body just yet … but I’ve certainly driven my dream car.
The price starts from BD9,999. Check it out yourself by contacting Ahmed Zayani & Sons on 17238822 for more details.
