Experienced by Kimatni D. Rawlins
It was brick cold in Maryland the weekend I decided to take my youngest on a daddy and daughter getaway. This was the second of such trips where I split my two girls up for a one-on-one session with their Fit Father to create individual memories and experiences. I leave all work behind while letting them choose the destination and timing, as well as their respective itineraries. It’s all about them!
Aya chose Florida so she could visit her favorite organic restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. We escaped ominous, freezing temperatures back home to heat up the Sunshine State with our “Go Mango” hued 2016 Charger R/T Scat Pack from Automotive Rhythms’ friends at Dodge and Prestige. The tropical weather was impeccable for our long, energetic weekend and allowed me to set up a multitude of activities including running, biking swimming, holiday gift shopping, watching Star Wars: Rogue One, eating healthy at vegan café Green Bar and the aforementioned Sublime restaurant, hitting the beach and visiting Barnes & Noble for continuous education on new topics. But most importantly we drove the tale off this domestic beast!
My kids grew up on Speed Racer, Pixar’s Cars and Fast and Furious so the Scat Pack was perfect for the occasion. Of course the festive paint job was a conversation piece, especially with the Westin valet attendants who couldn’t stop talking about the vehicle while the 6.4-liter V8 SRT HEMI roared around town like a prowling lion. Its 485-horsepower and 475 lb-ft of torque felt far greater than the numeric sum and overall the Charger executed unlike your typical muscle car. This was due to a few key performance features such as 14.2” front rotors, fixed 4-piston Brembo calipers finished in red, a TorqueFlite 8-speed automatic transmission, a functional hood scoop, 20×9” polished aluminum rims with black pockets wrapped in Goodyear Eagle RS-A 245/45 ZR20 all-season performance tires, a Bilstein high-performance suspension, dual exhaust tips, an aggressive satin black rear spoiler and metal pedals. With this courageous formula the 2016 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack is able to accelerate from 0-60 mph in the low 4-second range.
What I’ve always liked about the Charger is its roomy cabin, four doors and added comfort. Yes, the power is raw but the vehicle is always in your control whether using the paddle shifters for manual shifting or the wide gear selector for manual or automatic shifting. Additionally, if you set the domestic sedan in Sport Mode while downshifting (as I did often) for authoritative acceleration you’ll instantaneously recognize why a muscle car is a must for your garage collection. Sport Mode allows the driver to attune the engine response, paddles, traction control and steering to his/her individual specifications. For example, traction control is turned off and ESC is minimized for various moves such as burnouts. Then you have the Super Track Pack (STP) button which is a time saver to opening the Drive Mode setup screen for configuring Default and/or Sport Mode.
Cruising around town from the movie theater to the mall, back to the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort and to various restaurants, the Scat Pack certainly made itself heard by way of an active valve exhaust system. Even in the garage I could hear valet pulling the vehicle out almost 100 meters away. I believe they enjoyed my vehicle more than I did. Moreover, this Charger is pretty smart with Uconnect 8.4, WiFi, ParkView rear back-up camera, ParkSense rear park assistant, Electronic Roll Mitigation and Dodge Performance Pages to customize drive settings.
Already fully loaded, the only options on my ride included the $995 Beats Audio Group package which is too generic for my ears of understanding and the $1,595 Alcantara Suede/Nappa Leather Performance Seats with firm side bolsters for a cozy but snug fit when taking high-speed turns. Starting at $39,995 our Scat Pack totaled $43,580 with mileage rated at 15 city mpg and 25 highway mpg. Catch me if you can!
