Beauty and the beast

When I first spotted the black Dodge Charger I was to test drive parked outside Ahmed Zayani’s showroom my first reaction was ‘wow, what a sleek, mean, driving machine’, writes Susan Tealby. 

I sneaked a look inside. The interior oozed luxury and class.

The editor of this newspaper, a loyal Charger owner, thought it was ridiculous that a woman would want to sit behind the wheel of such a macho machine.

He was mistaken. This woman loves a good looking, fast, classy motor and according to the company’s marketing manager I was not alone in these thoughts and the model had regularly caught the eye of ladies who like to live in the fast lane.

As I stepped into the car, I noticed that the driver’s sports seat had fantastic lumbar support, important for those tiresome journeys stuck in traffic in the middle of Manama.

Whilst sitting in the car, receiving my instructions from a helpful assistant on the various gizmos, which were remarkably easy to operate, I was itching to get going. 

The Charger boasts a 3.6 Pentastar V6 engine with an eight-speed automatic transmission. This means that you have an amazing looking car with the fuel efficiency of a mid-sized one in a full-sized sedan.  Perfect! 

I pressed the start button and I was off. As I cruised through the city, I listened to Marillion at full blast on the six-speaker sound system. 

The Charger felt great to handle. I had been slightly nervous swapping from a tiny runaround to what was a huge beast in comparison, but I need not have worried. It handled the road extremely well, felt totally safe and was a dream to park. 

I put it through its shopping paces too, first going to the bank where they let me in for the first and only time to the posh car parking area normally reserved for A-list customers.
The security guards were obviously impressed with the car.

I then moved on to the malls. I was pleased with the boot size, which opened wide at the simple press of a button. 

The other great feature is that you can never lock your key inside the car – it won’t let you! I also liked the touch-screen control panel on the dashboard for Radio, CD, DVD and MP3, together with climate control. 

There were also button controls on the steering column, but as an iPhone user, I much prefer touch-screens. 

Once I had finished shopping and returned to the car, I discovered that it boasts seat memory, power-adjustable pedals and steering column, which meant I was able to slip behind the wheel in perfect comfort and harmony.

You would think that driving a Charger would be exciting enough, but a comical mishap added to the experience. I accidentally touched the panic button on the key and the alarm went off, which is, of course, a very handy safety feature, but really embarrassing when you’re parked outside the Gosi Centre and everyone is staring at you! 

If this happens to you on a test drive, all you have to do is switch off the engine and restart the car.

It was Saturday so the roads were relatively clear and I was able to pull away from my embarrassment and put the Charger to the power test, accelerating towards the highway to check out its impeccable performance. 

I was impressed with the Charger’s style and luxurious overtones and with a starting price of only BD10,500, how can you go wrong?
 
Girls, I suggest you give it a whirl.

For more details, contact Ahmed Zayani & Sons showroom in Zinj on 17238822.