The Dodge Charger is the winner of Edmunds.com's 2012 Technology Breakthrough Award. The award is presented each year to a vehicle that sets the standard for intuitive, practical and affordable automotive technology that enhances safety and convenience for both drivers and passengers. All new cars and trucks available for sale in the U.S. within the last 12 months are eligible.
The 2011 Dodge Charger won for its cutting-edge -- but intuitive -- UConnect Touch infotainment user interface, its reliable Bluetooth hands-free and voice-recognition features and its innovative active safety technology. Edmunds.com's editors chose the Dodge Charger because it embodies some of the most modern technology available in a car today -- and it's available in a vehicle that's within the budget of average consumers.
And since the Charger is a sensible sedan that masquerades as a modern day muscle car, the total package is that much more attractive to consumers and enthusiasts.
The generous size of the UConnect Touch system's 8.4-inch in-dash screen combines with a logical control layout to make infotainment -- as well as climate and vehicle functions -- easy to operate and access while driving. The Charger's UConnect Bluetooth hands-free phone system is one of the easiest to use, and the voice-recognition technology that controls some of the infotainment, navigation and climate systems is highly accurate. The Charger also includes a USB port for easy connection of an external music player and Bluetooth wireless music streaming and the UConnect Touch 8.4N system includes an SD card slot for access to additional digital music files.
The Charger also features top safety technology such as blind-spot and rear cross-path detection. SmartBeam auto-adjusting HID headlamps, an 8-speed transmission and 164-LED taillights are all additional features that are not typically found on other vehicles in the Charger's class.
For those who want to add more bells and whistles, the Charger's $650 Navigation/Rear Back Up Camera Group option comes with a one-year trial subscription to Sirius Traffic and Travel Link services, as well as Sirius satellite radio. Autonet Mobile in-car Wi-Fi can also be added as a dealer-installed option.
Last year's Technology Breakthrough Award winner was the Audi A8. Edmunds.com issued the inaugural award in 2010 to the Ford Taurus.
duck87 says:
09:20 AM, 01/10/12
"the total package is that much more attractive to consumers and enthusiasts."
attractive enough to perhaps end up in IL's long term test fleet? =D
gxp_mike says:
09:46 AM, 01/10/12
I'm considering this as my next ride and would love to see it in the fleet too! Has to be a R/T though imo.....
IL could use a 4 door V8 AWD, and now award winner!
stovt001 says:
10:24 AM, 01/10/12
+1 to adding it to the fleet. I seriously like the new Charger. Great looking interior, better looking exterior, and while a bit big and cumbersome it is still what I would most like to have as a "family" sedan.
dougnash2009 says:
10:32 AM, 01/10/12
That's an interesting award. Just HOW much time did Edmunds spend using this technology package?
The reason I ask, is that I have noticed the similar UConnect and loaded Navi package on the brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee seems to be massively buggy. There are countless threads on the Jeep forums with new owners acknowledging that the Chrysler system seems to have bugs everywhere - from not working well with iPhone/iPods to forgetting all the saved settings in the Nav, to unexpected automatic updates which take the entire system off-line, even if the driver needs to use the Nav.
I would be surprised to find out that the Dodge car uses different equipment from the Jeep.
bodyblue says:
01:30 PM, 01/10/12
Dittos to everybody wanting it in the LT fleet. It has the best in class interior now hands down. Its the best "retro" dash this side of a Mustang. But I want to see them test the Pentastar 8sp auto not the Hemi. That is a known quantity and the V6/8sp is not.
threemopars says:
01:41 PM, 01/10/12
"The reason I ask, is that I have noticed the similar UConnect and loaded Navi package on the brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee seems to be massively buggy."
The UConnect 8.4 system (in the Charger, 300, Journey and now the Dart) is different than the system used in the Jeep and Durango.
mk40 says:
03:58 PM, 01/10/12
Well executed system and affordable too.
cr_driver says:
05:59 PM, 01/10/12
"It has the best in class interior now hands down"
BB
Which cars are direct competitors of the Charger?
bodyblue says:
06:06 PM, 01/10/12
Full size cars.....Lucern..Taurus...And I think it competes easily with the big Acura as well as the Genesis and actually the Equus' interior is no nicer. The 300 with its new lux package easily competes with Lexus, Audi, Lincoln and Caddilac etc....it is stunning.
gtrguy2012 says:
07:09 PM, 01/10/12
A huge improvement over the last model's interior.
alpha01 says:
07:10 PM, 01/10/12
Agree with all who want this car in the LT fleet. This is an impressive and attractive vehicle that offers incredible value for the dollar, it appears.
duck87 says:
08:19 AM, 01/11/12
@cr_driver: I'd add that the 300's most direct competitor is the Hyundai Genesis sedan.
wikiwiki says:
08:59 AM, 01/11/12
Drove a new Charger in DC as a rental. The V6 version. It was better than the Impala I rented down there before but so is my mountain bike. That's about it. Other than that it was pretty cr@ppy. The dash was a huge black field that you could use as a lounge. The interior was pretty comfortable though. MPG was pathetic. Acceleration was good. And the car's overall quality was pretty meager. And it felt big in DC traffic. No thanks. I'd rather have a better car with less techno gadgets.
1919diesel says:
10:42 AM, 01/11/12
VERY IMPRESSED with the new Charger - have driven previous gen Charger (low visibility, on wet winter roads - SCARY!) and then the previous gen 300 (felt better, more control) and the new Charger drives way nicer than either of those (looking forward to checking out the new 300). The new charger looks as nice as it drives (and I only had the V6 in a rental unit, but it roared!).
bodyblue says:
04:03 PM, 01/11/12
"And the car's overall quality was pretty meager. "
I call BS...you always trash American cars. I have driven and been in a few and the quality was rather good actually.
lostboyz says:
03:38 AM, 01/12/12
@wikiwiki, rental grade gets rental grade materials. That doesn't mean it isn't as well put together. What kind of mileage were you expecting in city traffic with a full sized sedan with 300hp? Also, felt big? It's a FULL-SIZED sedan. Unless you were driving a maybach, or SUV it doesn't get much bigger.
Oh wait, I remember you, the troll. Well since I already typed the response I guess I'll leave it. I guess all the publications and awards groups got it wrong, you must be right.
lzks says:
06:54 AM, 01/12/12
Stupid award. Also, the main reason why Charger won this award seems to be the low price tag, NOT innovative technology.
wikiwiki says:
06:57 AM, 01/12/12
lostboyz, apology accepted.
The guy who was with me on the business trip thought it was junk too and he was in the market to buy a new Grand Cherokee. So it isn't American hate.
bodyblue says:
11:57 AM, 01/12/12
so there are too idiots in the same car......not very rare in your case.
nachiman says:
06:03 AM, 01/13/12
Wiki has no credibility. Number one troll on this site.
hooklyn says:
11:07 AM, 01/13/12
While this is a very nice car and a huge improvement over the previous model it is nowhere near the show stopper a lot of you claim it is. My neighborhood is riddled with these things so I have a lot of experience with them.
I heard someone say they likened the 300 Luxury Package interior to what BMW/Merc/Audi do??
Go spend some time in an A8 and THEN you can comment. Until then, you are clearly mistaken in thinking that. WHAT they do is similar interior wise. HOW they do it and what they do it WITH makes the difference.
I think a lot of us still hold American cars to a lower standard (due to previous product quality in the last decade) than other cars so when they actually build good, competitive products (like everyone else), you freak out and celebrate as if it is some sort of achievement.
The Dodge Charger/Chrysler 300 are GREAT cars. Some of my favorites of the Domesitcs NOW. That past ones were dog shit. But no Dodge or Chrysler is at the level of any Audi/Merc/BMW/Lexus/etc. They aren't supposed to be so that is ok...
Everyone looks at different things when they see a car. I know for me, there are a lot of things I notice regarding the quality, build, and fit/finish of cars that their owners didn't even know were there. To the non-discerning consumer, the Charger is fantastic. To the discerning, detail oriented, nit-picky customer (me) it is a good product, not a fantastic one.
I just notice more details about a products quality, honestly because I look for it. I try to find fault in cars. And if you look, you will find them. Just more in some cars then others.
Example, just this morning I stopped at a gas station on the way to work to get a juice. Parked next to a new model Escalade and it was snowing out. We both had our wipers on when we parked at similar times and turned our cars off. My wipers finished their cycle and rested in the position they would be if they were off. His wipers, just stopped in the middle of the windshield. He has a $65k+ Escalade and I have a $25k GTI... That is the difference in the attention to detail.
That is a detail I notice that most don't and could care less about. It is important to me because it eludes to other 'details' that were also not missed by VW in my car.
Chrysler, with the Charger and 300 got it 85% right. BMW/Merc/Audi take it to 100%. That extra 15% will always cost more, disproportionately, due to the theory of diminishing returns.
hooklyn says:
11:10 AM, 01/13/12
@ lzks
I agree.
This award is BS... 'Breakthrough Technology' should have nothing to do with affordability. This Charger actually has NOTHING 'breakthrough' about it. It has all been done before.
hooklyn says:
11:46 AM, 01/13/12
And things get very hypocritical around here. Everyone, yes me, has to act like a know-it-all all the time and I don't understand it.
Someone says FROM A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE,
"And the car's overall quality was pretty meager. "
And others attack him like 'quality' is something that can be measured and proven. It can't. Like he is wrong for thinking the quality wasn't that great after having driven the product in question. What one person perceives as high quality can vary from what another perceives as high quality.
Also, I have found out from here that the definition of quality can vary from person to person as well.
Some view quality as a metric for measuring reliability and durability and the products ability to perform its core function consistently. I would personally argue this is reliability and durability and not quality, hence the reason there are 3 different words for it. Quality and Reliability are not the same to me.
Others (me) view quality as the details. The materials used. The tolerance of the build and evident margin for error. The attention to detail. The fit and finish. The ergonomics or layout of its design. The man-machine contact points. An all encompassing component of the overall product merits and demerits. Quality, to me is everything. I when I say a car is a 'high quality car' it isn't in regard to just one or two areas but everything the product offers.
AND, to properly evaluate quality you have to have a benchmark. That also varies between people. You can't say something is of high quality if you don't know what high quality is. You can't say something is of high quality if it is the ONLY quality of its kind.
I would say a lot of you can say the Charger/300 are high quality products because they are nicer than 90% (volume) of new cars sold today. Cars like the Fusion/Camry/Corolla/Altima/Accord/Focus/Civic/etc.
But, if you look at the lowest quality product sold today (Nissan Versa) and the highest quality product sold today (Rolls Royce Phantom/Maybach Landaulet/Bentley Mulsanne), the Chrysler 300/Dodge Charger, wouldn't really fair that well. Maybe just average. At best.
Its all relative.
hooklyn says:
12:29 PM, 01/13/12
@ bodyblue
I trying to learn more tolerance but I just couldn't help myself with you on this one...
"The 300 with its new lux package easily competes with Lexus, Audi, Lincoln and Caddilac etc....it is stunning."
Whilst I disagree with this entire statement I do find it humorous how you put LINCOLN in the same realm as AUDI when it comes to their interiors...
And then to go one step further, while the 300 'easily competes' with other more luxurious cars in terms of content and features, it certainly does not in terms of overall execution.
Audis equivalent to the 300 is the A8... That is the first and last time I will ever mention those two cars in the same sentence...
And Lexus and Cadi don't make tremendous interiors anymore. Cadi is just Buick 1.5 and Lexus is the king of plastic.
pisado says:
08:16 AM, 01/15/12
I am glad to see the Italians are placing this company in the right directions. GM and Ford are scared!