The Dodge Charger Daytona 392 Makes No Apologies
A lot of modern performance cars give nods to sanity and sensibility. Some have exhaust settings designed to keep the volume down. Others have stop-start systems. Many even have comfort modes. With these vehicles, you can turn off their performance car-ness when you need to blend in with the rest of traffic, and turn it on when the coast is clear.
The Dodge Charger Daytona 392 doesn't do that; It's loud and hairy-chested and ridiculous all the time. It's a little dumb, but not dumb in a bad way. Dumb in a way that makes you love it for what it is.
The Daytona 392 offers two configurable drive modes, Default and Sport. In both modes, you're never more than one centimeter of pedal travel away from either pitching the car sideways or launching forward at a truly shocking rate. . . if it somehow manages to find traction. All while shouting absurd V8 noises at everyone.
Dodge dropped off the Daytona 392 on an incredibly rainy Friday. With nearly flooded streets, keeping this car in a straight line was a genuine challenge. The Charger would pitch itself sideways with even the slightest suggestion of throttle.
We know that the Challenger Scat Pack, which the Daytona 392 shares a drivetrain with, pulls harder in gear than a Hellcat. I believe it. That sense of absurd speed is also helped (or possibly hindered?) by two things–a razor-sharp throttle pedal, and Pirelli P Zero tires that only measure 275mm wide at all four corners. This simply isn't enough tire to handle the Charger's 485 horsepower.
Oh. It's loud too. And unlike many performance cars, there's no button to close a flap in the exhaust to make things quieter. At startup, it's loud (prepare for dirty looks if you live in a quiet area). Cruising around town, it's loud. At anything more than half throttle, it's obscenely loud, complete with crackles on upshifts.
This car, as equipped, offers lots of features like heated and cooled seats, adaptive cruise control, a full featured infotainment system, and a ton of space for rear passengers. It's not a luxury car though. It's too manic. Even cruising at 50 mph on the highway, the Daytona 392 is all-too-willing to kick down a few gears and race up to illegal speeds.
The Daytona has all the ingredients of a classic American cruiser–torquey V8, automatic transmission, comfy seats–but it doesn't really want to cruise. It wants to shout. It's too knife-edge, too noisy, and too conspicuous, especially in this shade of Green Go paint.
You'll get looks everywhere in this car–some good, and some bad. Little kids adore it, but their parents think you're a menace to society. The Daytona's black HEMI script on the hood doesn't really help you blend in.
It all seems like too much, but it's actually totally addicting. Just starting it up in the morning feels naughty. Even if you never exceed the speed limit, you still feel like you're doing something illegal.
A V8-powered Jaguar F-Type has a similar sense of lunacy, but even that calms down once in a while. The Charger Daytona 392 might feel like overkill in most situations, but that makes you respect it more. The fact that you can have this in a family-friendly package–well, family friendly if your children are in Motley Crüe–makes it all the more ridiculous.
For most people, a Charger Daytona 392 is far too much. It's too loud, too ostentatious, too quick, too green (literally), too in-efficient, but it's all the better for it.
A lot of modern performance cars give nods to sanity and sensibility. Some have exhaust settings designed to keep the volume down. Others have stop-start systems. Many even have comfort modes. With these vehicles, you can turn off their performance car-ness when you need to blend in with the rest of traffic, and turn it on when the coast is clear.
The Dodge Charger Daytona 392 doesn't do that; It's loud and hairy-chested and ridiculous all the time. It's a little dumb, but not dumb in a bad way. Dumb in a way that makes you love it for what it is.
The Daytona 392 offers two configurable drive modes, Default and Sport. In both modes, you're never more than one centimeter of pedal travel away from either pitching the car sideways or launching forward at a truly shocking rate. . . if it somehow manages to find traction. All while shouting absurd V8 noises at everyone.
Dodge dropped off the Daytona 392 on an incredibly rainy Friday. With nearly flooded streets, keeping this car in a straight line was a genuine challenge. The Charger would pitch itself sideways with even the slightest suggestion of throttle.
We know that the Challenger Scat Pack, which the Daytona 392 shares a drivetrain with, pulls harder in gear than a Hellcat. I believe it. That sense of absurd speed is also helped (or possibly hindered?) by two things–a razor-sharp throttle pedal, and Pirelli P Zero tires that only measure 275mm wide at all four corners. This simply isn't enough tire to handle the Charger's 485 horsepower.
Oh. It's loud too. And unlike many performance cars, there's no button to close a flap in the exhaust to make things quieter. At startup, it's loud (prepare for dirty looks if you live in a quiet area). Cruising around town, it's loud. At anything more than half throttle, it's obscenely loud, complete with crackles on upshifts.
This car, as equipped, offers lots of features like heated and cooled seats, adaptive cruise control, a full featured infotainment system, and a ton of space for rear passengers. It's not a luxury car though. It's too manic. Even cruising at 50 mph on the highway, the Daytona 392 is all-too-willing to kick down a few gears and race up to illegal speeds.
The Daytona has all the ingredients of a classic American cruiser–torquey V8, automatic transmission, comfy seats–but it doesn't really want to cruise. It wants to shout. It's too knife-edge, too noisy, and too conspicuous, especially in this shade of Green Go paint.
You'll get looks everywhere in this car–some good, and some bad. Little kids adore it, but their parents think you're a menace to society. The Daytona's black HEMI script on the hood doesn't really help you blend in.
It all seems like too much, but it's actually totally addicting. Just starting it up in the morning feels naughty. Even if you never exceed the speed limit, you still feel like you're doing something illegal.
A V8-powered Jaguar F-Type has a similar sense of lunacy, but even that calms down once in a while. The Charger Daytona 392 might feel like overkill in most situations, but that makes you respect it more. The fact that you can have this in a family-friendly package–well, family friendly if your children are in Motley Crüe–makes it all the more ridiculous.
For most people, a Charger Daytona 392 is far too much. It's too loud, too ostentatious, too quick, too green (literally), too in-efficient, but it's all the better for it.
