Distance: 3,384 km
Location: Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas
Date: 24-31 October, 2023
Up front: The driver’s seat has plenty of movement but the passenger’s seat is manual only and lacks a height adjustment. Despite being a wide car, all the buttons and the touchscreen are within easy reach of the driver without moving their torso away from the seat. Manual controls for air conditioning and multimedia were appreciated but lacked backlighting in the dark.
The cloth bucket seats are comfortable with extreme bolstering. The only thing missing is the ability to adjust the height of the seat side bolsters because they interfered with my elbow. The centre console hides two USB-A ports and a useful 12V outlet, but it only opens towards the driver. The base seven-inch touchscreen is responsive and comes standard with wired Apple CarPlay.
In the back: The back seats are best used to store small bags or folded down to expand trunk space. There is a fold-down centre armrest with two cupholders, but I doubt anyone would want to sit back here long enough to need a drink. Still, better than the Ford Mustang. The boot is cavernous and beats out other muscle car competitors, but has a very high loading lip making it strenuous to lift heavy items up and into the space. A spare tire is only available as an additional option.
Driving: Acceleration is brisk at 6.3 seconds to 100 km/h as tested with the on-board computer and brakes are confident at short yellow lights. Just beware of wheel spin at hard acceleration in the rear-wheel drive version. The steering, however, feels like jelly and is a step below that of the Chrysler 300S with the same naturally aspirated Pentastar V6. It’s a comfortable touring car attaining about 28 mpg while cruising at 80 mph. Given enough planning, the muscle car is surprisingly nimble about town. However, poor visibility in all directions hinders the driver’s ability to park precisely.
The lack of advanced safety features in this in-production model came as a welcome surprise. I don’t need the car to tell me when I’m drifting across lanes because I don’t. But there are creature comforts like one-touch indicators and one-touch window controls. Frameless windows make highways at speed a noisy affair and the hard plastics do not absorb sound, consider that if you make lengthy road trips. Take note that it’s the only muscle car still in production that offers all-wheel drive and a winter package for thrill seekers up north.
