Car Review: 2015 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack

The Dodge Charger Scat Pack 392 has a tremendous dollar per horse power ratio. You get 485 horsepower for $42,680. That works out to roughly $88 per horsepower.

On a car with 500 plus horsepower and a six figure sticker, the ratio was $192 per horsepower. The Charger Scat Pack might be the best deal around when it comes to the horsepower per dollar scale for cars with 400 plus ponies under the hood.

What’s even better is that the Charger Scat Pack is a sleek, four-door full-blown sedan. In other words, it is capable of carrying four people comfortably – friends, girlfriends, their friends, whoever.

The car has 475 pound feet of torque, which it delivers at a respectable 4,200 rpm. The Scat Pack’s engine is a normally aspirated 6.4-liter V8 with sequential multiport fuel injection and a fuel saver mode. Four cylinders shut off when not needed.

Power is funneled to the pavement through an eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. It also has a dual chrome tipped exhaust with performance note. I knew upon startup that there was something special under the hood; the Scat Pack has oomph and it sounds like it.

The swift sedan has an EPA rating of 15 mpg in the city, 25 mpg on the highway and 18 mpg combined. This Charger has a zero-to-60 mph time in the mid-four seconds, and a top speed of 175 mph. There is another Dodge Charger, the SRT 392, that is better equipped for $7,300 more, but it has the same engine.

The Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack has a base price of $39,995. My test car had an option package that included a 552 watt 10 speaker premium audio system, an infotainment system with 3D navigation, HD radio, satellite radio and an 8.4 inch touchscreen. It was plenty of stuff.

This car is exhilarating to drive. Just the slightest pressure on the accelerator pedal and I went speeding down the road. Sightlines are great, cornering is good, braking is outstanding and acceleration can breathtaking.

The Scat Pack has a black performance spoiler, a bulging hood with a duct center air intake, new fenders, new performance fascia fore and aft, side sills and 20-inch forged aluminum wheels.

It has an aggressive look with the nose pulled down towards the ground. The front end overhang is taunt, the rear is tapered and the car is aerodynamically smooth. It looks like it was slicing through the air even when parked.

Dodge said it has “Charger’s bold signature Dodge ‘face mask,’ larger ‘flying buttresses’ and Coke-bottle silhouette are now complemented with new LED fog lamps, turn signals and LED racetrack tail lamps.”

The bottom line is the Charger R/T Scat Pack looks good, real good. This car has a performance-tuned suspension, four piston Brembo brakes with red calipers, Dodge’s performance pages with configurable drive modes, and a three-mode electronic stability control.

The interior is comfortable, sensible and simple. Although Dodge still calls it a center stack, the Charger has a horizontal instrument layout with an 8.4-inch touch screen dominating. Most controls are operated from the touch screen.

Gear selection is in the console, and though the car has a three-spoke, thick steering wheel, it isn’t too thick. Thus, it was easy to get your hands around. My test vehicle had cloth seats that weren’t heated or cooled. There was no sunroof either. That was okay, though, because all the missing creature comforts kept the sticker price low.

There’s also a backup camera, a smart key with push-button start and remote start. It’s a nice package. I think the car could be used as an everyday driver, but why would you, especially in the winter? Put the rear-wheel-drive Charger R/T Scat Pack in the garage during the snowy season.

Again, keeping the price tag as low as possible, my test car didn’t have forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control with full stop, lane departure warning and lane keep assist. It adhered to an old fashioned concept: drive and pay attention while you’re doing it. That was really okay with me.

Dodge wants to make performance available to more consumers by offering reasonably priced powerful automobiles. With the 2015 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack, it seems to me that they are on the right track.

Frank S. Washington is editor of AboutThatCar.com