BY DAVE VANDERWERP, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY G. RUSSELL June 2007
2006 Dodge Charger Police Package
The Highs: Big-time oomph, quick responses, sharp steering, dynamically superior to other cruisers in every way.
The Lows: Smallish front seats and trunk compared with a Crown Vic’s, notchy and awkward column shifter.
If the police-car market is what gets you excited, you’ve likely been snoozing for about a decade. Mostly unchanged since its 1991 introduction, Ford’s Crown Vic has gobbled up some 80 percent of the U.S. police-car market since Chevy pulled the plug on the Caprice in 1996. Chevy has since offered police versions of the Tahoe SUV and Impala sedan, but they haven’t exactly caught on.
Dodge spiced things up for 2006 by reentering the market with police versions of the company’s excellent rear-drive Charger and Magnum and threw us the keys to a Charger for a couple weeks. Naturally, ours had the 340-hp, 5.7-liter Hemi V-8, although the police model offers the 250-hp V-6 version as well. Aside from the ever-present urge to flip on the fully functional light bar, we reaffirmed our fondness for the Charger’s precise steering and relatively lithe moves for a large, two-ton machine. Although we prefer the looks of the otherwise-similar, three-time 10Best-winning Chrysler 300 on the street, the Charger looks sinister in police garb.
We found the firm cloth seats to be comfortable but not all that supportive (have to leave room for that utility belt, we suppose). Since police gear occupies the center-console area, the police Charger’s gearshift lever moves to the column, and it’s obvious it wasn’t designed this way. It’s notchy, and cops report harder-to-perform-smooth reverse-to-forward spins. Other downsides are the loss of the telescoping-steering-wheel function and a stiffer suspension that can make the ride a bit choppy.
As with other Hemi Chargers, power is sufficient, getting our 4186-pound cruiser to 60 mph in 6.0 seconds and the quarter-mile passing in 14.6 seconds at 97 mph, 0.4 second slower in both cases than a marginally lighter pedestrian Charger R/T we’ve tested. Braking was also slightly worse in police trim, 179 feet from 70 mph versus 169.
But the Hemi Charger (as well as the Magnum) cleaned up in the Michigan State Police’s yearly cop-car smackdown. According to those results, the V-6 Charger’s performance is roughly on par with the 250-hp V-8–powered Crown Vic’s, and the Hemi version cuts a three-second-quicker lap time around Grattan Raceway’s 2.0-mile road course and is more than two seconds quicker to 60 mph. The cops also reported best-in-class braking performance in the Charger, as well as a slightly better ergonomic rating than the Crown Vic’s, despite the Dodge’s smaller front seats and trunk. Further humiliating the Ford, the Charger posts better EPA fuel-economy numbers; 17 mpg city and 25 highway, versus 16/23. The Crown Vic’s only advantage, it seems, is price, which, at $26,380, is cheaper than either the Hemi ($29,160) or V-6 ($26,930) Charger’s.
Even so, more and more agencies are adding the impressive new Dodges to their fleets, and they’ve already invaded each of the 48 contiguous states. You’ve been warned.
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE AS TESTED: $30,345 (base price: $26,930)
ENGINE TYPE: pushrod 16-valve V-8, iron block and aluminum heads, port fuel injection Displacement: 345 cu in, 5654cc Power (SAE net): 340 bhp @ 5000 rpm Torque (SAE net): 390 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 5-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS: Wheelbase: 120.0 in Length: 200.1 in Width: 74.5 in Height: 58.2 in Curb weight: 4186 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS: Zero to 60 mph: 6.0 sec Zero to 100 mph: 15.4 sec Zero to 130 mph: 32.4 sec Street start, 5–60 mph: 6.4 sec Standing ¼-mile: 14.6 sec @ 97 mph Top speed (governor limited): 148 mph Braking, 70–0 mph: 179 ft Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.82 g
FUEL ECONOMY: EPA city driving: 17 mpg C/D-observed: 16 mpg
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