There are no words to how insanely awesome, I found this sports car to be. The 2020 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack Plus is spectacular.
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2020 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack Plus
I got to spend a week in a fully loaded TorRed 2020 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack Plus. The one I drove and that is pictured in this post is priced at $51,570. That’s quite a bit more than the starting price of $39,995. Build your own.
I’ll be the first to admit, I had a little too much fun driving this car. Just ask my son Noah. He is in college and he asked me to slow down at least twice. But what’s the point of having a super-fast car if you don’t open it up a few times. And by a few times, I mean every single time you drive the car.
Super Fast
The car has a tracker on it where you can time yourself going 0-60 and since it’s able to do 0-60 in 4.3 seconds I had no choice but to try and hit 0-60 in 4.3 seconds. Sadly, my best time was only 5 seconds. I had to switch to track mode to get it down to 5 seconds. You can see in the photo that it will tell you your most recent time, best time, and your last time.
Now, why is it that this particular Charger is so fast? It’s because it has a 6.4-liter V8 SRT HEMI engine in it. The one I drove was an eight-speed automatic with steering-wheel-mounted paddle-shift controls. However, I never used the paddle shifters, so I cannot comment on that feature.
Maybe I could have hit the 4.3 seconds had I used the Line lock launch control or the Launch Assist. Sadly, I never got around to it.
To be honest, the car was so powerful there were two times I felt it was borderline out of control. Keep in mind both times were in the rain. It’s a lot to handle, so I do not recommend getting a teenager this car.
Drive Modes
The Scat Pack Charger has several selectable modes including street, custom, sport, and track. It also has an automatic mode. My favorite mode for everyday driving was sport mode, but when I was on the back roads in Texas I most certainly enjoyed track mode as well.
I saw a few comments while I was researching where people complained about the overall handling of the vehicle. I thought it handled fine.
Widebody Optional
The Scat Pack I drove did have the wider body upgrade which is new for this year. This costs an additional $6000 which is part of the reason the one I drove was much more than the starting price. The wide-body version boasts integrated fender flares that add 3.5 inches of body width. The extra width allows for 20″ x 11″ “Devil’s Rim” split-five spoke wheels, on wider Pirelli 305/35ZR20 tires. The wide-body models have a unique front and rear bumper design as well.
The widebody upgrade gives you widebody competition suspension. The front suspension is Sport-tuned Independent SLA with high upper “A” arm, coil spring over gas-charged ADS Bilstein® shock absorbers and 32 mm hollow stabilizer bar, lateral and diagonal lower links. The rear suspension is sport-tuned five-link independent with coil springs, gas-charged monotube shock absorbers, stabilizer bar and isolated suspension cradle, ADS Bilstein shock absorbers, and isolated suspension cradle.
The car was just wide enough that its turns are pretty wide, which did make it slightly more difficult to park. After a week of driving it, I had easily adjusted to the width.
Comfortable Ride
I found the Charger Scat Pack to be super comfortable. It had good lumbar support and the seat kind of hug your body. The driver’s seat can be adjusted in 8 ways.
It has Dual-Zone Automatic Temperature Control with a humidity sensor which allows you and your front passenger to select your ideal comfort levels. The seats can be heated or cooled. Now that I am back in Texas I am all about those cooling seats!
The telescoping steering wheel allows you to adjust it to best suit you. New for 2020 is the leather flat-bottom steering wheel, which I liked a lot.
Infotainment
The Charger does have an infotainment system. You can drag and drop the applications around to have things organized exactly how you want them. This is also where you can switch drive modes or set up your own custom drive mode.
- 8.4″ touchscreen
- Navigation
- Harman Kardon sound system w/19 speakers.
- Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
Now there was one thing that pissed me off to no end. I could not find the USB ports in the front of the car. I like to think I am not a complete moron, but I just could not find them. I eventually gave up and used an adaptor in the 12 volt. And because I couldn’t find the USB, I could not use Apple CarPlay. As you can see from this photo the USB is located at the back of the center console. I guess I never opened the console all the way, otherwise, I would have spotted this.
In my defense, Noah and I had just finished a 14-day hospital stay where they slept deprived him every night which meant I too was sleep deprived. Maybe if I was fully functioning when I first got in the car I would have found it no problem.
Decent Back Row
There happens to be excellent rear-seat legroom, plus the seats are heated. There’s also air vents, illuminated rear cup holders, and two USB ports back here. I had Noah sit back here to give you an idea of the legroom. I had the front seat adjusted to my height of 5’7″ and Noah is over 5’9″. As you can see he has plenty of legroom. The rear seat is 60/40 split/folding.
What a difference it makes for a muscle car to be four doors instead of two. There’s no having to crawl into a teensy back row. Instead, the back row is fully usable.
Spacious Trunk
One thing that surprised me a lot was the size of the trunk. We had quite a bit of junk in the trunk when we left the hospital in December, but we still had plenty of room in the trunk. Noah drives a Mustang and in my opinion, one of the worst things about it is not enough trunk room. This was a non-issue in the Scat Pack, which has 16.5 cubic feet of trunk space.
Safety
The model I drove had lots of safety features included. Some of these features are not available on the lower models. Here’s what was included:
- Adaptive cruise control
- Automated emergency braking
- Blind-spot monitoring and cross-path detection
- Lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assist
- Full speed forward-collision warning plus
- Five-star crash test rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
What you need to know
I didn’t have to get real low to the ground in order to ride in the Charger. For me, as I get older the less I enjoy having to get low to the ground to get into a car or being crammed into a tight space once I am in the car. (Well, unless I am driving. And then I don’t actually mind that much.)
- Accommodates five passengers
- 15 mpg city / 24 mpg hwy
- 0 – 60 mph: 4.3 seconds
- Remote Start
- Brakes from 60-0 in 107 feet. The brakes are Brembo six-piston fixed front caliper brakes.
- Rain sensing wipers
- Limited warranty covers 3 years or 36,000 miles
- Powertrain warranty covers 5 years or 60,000 miles
Conclusion
Screw the minivan. Instead, buy yourself a muscle car for the carpool. The 2020 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack is an ideal vehicle for moms that want a sports car, but still have to fit car seats in the back row.
