Remember a few years back when a couple of noted car zealots, namely race car driver/actor Paul Newman and race team owner/talk show host David Letterman, made popular the stuffing of Ford vee-eights into old rear-drive Volvo 7 and 9 Series wagons? The combination of Mustang GT-like acceleration and soccer-mom-Volvos smoking away from stoplights was more shocking to see than the actual celebs driving these Swedish bricks.
Well if Mr. Newman and Mr. Letterman are looking for their next vehicle that combines frugality and performance, may I suggest the 2005 Dodge Magnum RT.
The Magnum is the station wagon take on the existing Chrysler 300 sedan and upcoming Dodge Charger sedan. Like the rides of Mr. Newman and Letterman, the Magnum is a pan-Atlantic combination of a European chassis with good ol' American muscle underneath the hood, in this case, the last-generation Mercedes-Benz E Class and the return of the muscle-car-era-legend Chrysler HEMI vee-eight engine.
If you like to drive, for a number of reasons, the RT model is THE Magnum to get.
You can get a base Magnum SE for $27,995 with a 190 horsepower/pound-feet of torque, 2.7-litre vee-six. You can get a Magnum SXT for $31,495 with a 250-horsepower/ pound-feet of torque, 3.5-litre vee-six. But with a base price of $37,595, will you ever forgive
yourself if you didn't get the HEMI with its 340 horsepower, 390 pound-feet of torque, 5.7-litre vee-eight?
With the most power of any Dodge car since the '70s, the Magnum RT has the kind of on-demand power that car zealots love to have underfoot. Unlike the HEMI engines from the muscle car era, this engine's torque curve can be accessed throughout the rev range with maximum twist at 4,000 rpms. Matched up to another piece of Mercedes-donated engineering, the mandatory five-speed manumatic, this nearly 2,000-kilogram wagon has moves that an NFL linebacker would relish. This engine/tranny combo is refined when you're taking the kids to diving classes, and brutally explosive when you're alone and reliving your youth smoking rice rockets. It all depends on your mood, circumstances, or the number of points left on your driver's license.
For those brought up on Accords and Camrys, the thought of driving a high-powered, rear-drive car can cause a tightening of the shorts, especially during our ten-month winters here in The Great White North. No worries really, as all Magnum RTs come with a traction control system that in typical Mercedes fashion cannot be turned off despite a deactivation button on the dash.
And for those who think doughnuts are for dunking, all-wheel-drive is available on the SXT and RT Magnums.
After you've shown that kid at the last stoplight in the slammed Integra "who's his daddy", the Magnum actually goes down the road very nicely. Even when compared to such well thought of cars such as VW's Passat GLS wagon (190-hp, $36,560), or Volvo's V70 2.4i (168-hp $38,495). The RT comes standard with 225/60R-18 touring tires designed to provide comfort over all-out road handling. As the Magnum's suspension bits are a steel-instead-of-aluminum variation of the last generation E Class, it's not surprising the balance between comfort and control are what you find in cars costing tens of thousands of dollars more.
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| (photo : John Leblanc, straight-six.com) |
The Magnum is the station wagon take on the existing Chrysler 300 sedan and upcoming Dodge Charger sedan. Like the rides of Mr. Newman and Letterman, the Magnum is a pan-Atlantic combination of a European chassis with good ol' American muscle underneath the hood, in this case, the last-generation Mercedes-Benz E Class and the return of the muscle-car-era-legend Chrysler HEMI vee-eight engine.
If you like to drive, for a number of reasons, the RT model is THE Magnum to get.
You can get a base Magnum SE for $27,995 with a 190 horsepower/pound-feet of torque, 2.7-litre vee-six. You can get a Magnum SXT for $31,495 with a 250-horsepower/ pound-feet of torque, 3.5-litre vee-six. But with a base price of $37,595, will you ever forgive
 |
| (photo : John Leblanc, straight-six.com) |
With the most power of any Dodge car since the '70s, the Magnum RT has the kind of on-demand power that car zealots love to have underfoot. Unlike the HEMI engines from the muscle car era, this engine's torque curve can be accessed throughout the rev range with maximum twist at 4,000 rpms. Matched up to another piece of Mercedes-donated engineering, the mandatory five-speed manumatic, this nearly 2,000-kilogram wagon has moves that an NFL linebacker would relish. This engine/tranny combo is refined when you're taking the kids to diving classes, and brutally explosive when you're alone and reliving your youth smoking rice rockets. It all depends on your mood, circumstances, or the number of points left on your driver's license.
For those brought up on Accords and Camrys, the thought of driving a high-powered, rear-drive car can cause a tightening of the shorts, especially during our ten-month winters here in The Great White North. No worries really, as all Magnum RTs come with a traction control system that in typical Mercedes fashion cannot be turned off despite a deactivation button on the dash.
And for those who think doughnuts are for dunking, all-wheel-drive is available on the SXT and RT Magnums.
 |
| (photo : John Leblanc, straight-six.com) |