Perceptions aside, this is a still a Large Car, and that's the EPA speaking. The second row is nearly as roomy as the first with 40.2 inches of legroom, fine space for feet, and wide doors easing access. If your passengers report feeling cramped, just tell them to close their eyes.
You, the driver, find a perfect driving position easily with the tilt-telescoping steering wheel. The front seats are a mix of strange suede and good-enough leather (with some nylon lining the sides), with effective side bolstering and good long-term comfort.
Materials and ergonomics are mostly standard-issue
Chrysler. The dashboard has that rough, grainy look to it, bins and compartments aren't sprung well, and there's too much inexpensive plastic. The visors feel constructed of FedEx shipping cardboard, and the dumb map lights only illuminate the area behind the steering wheel.
Some redemption is found in the decisive movement of most knobs, switches, and buttons. The pretty cool instrument cluster simultaneously displays a lot of useful information: compass, temperature, radio station, odometer. The ignition slot stands nice and high on the dash and most controls are well sorted, though the jury's still out on how the stereo's six preset buttons contain 12 stations. The optional 276-watt Boston Acoustics totally supports the Charger's personality, adding a lot of depth to every note and featuring a trunk-mounted Kicker subwoofer that boasts a bunch of BOOM. And with a 6-disc CD player with MP3 playback, it scores big in features.
The easily-programmed navigation system makes a nice traveling companion, giving pleasant-sounding directions by voice, in its screen, and in a little dash display all at once. Minor gripes: it can't be used when moving (common), the color of highlighted menu items is camouflaged when it should be contrasted, and one time when I ignored a turn, it had only this to say: "Route cannot be calculated to destination. Please enter a destination."
Dodge transplanted one ergonomic region straight from Mercedes - the one region best avoided. That would be everything on the steering column's left side: the cruise control stalk awkwardly placed where the turn signal should go, the now-displaced turn signal now down by your knee, etc. Oh well. As with Benzes, it goes on auto-blink with one tap - four times, in this case.
The trunk has no carpeting on its lid but is at least held up by space-saving struts. 16.2 cubic feet is plenty of space for four people's stuff, and the back seats fold down in a jiffy.
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