LOOKS

With a classic muscle car look -- complete with a menacing grille up front, a long hood, nice lines and sharp wheels -- This vehicle is the opposite of a wallflower. It’s shiny purple paint scheme is unmatched on the road, and you’ll be able to pick it out in a parking lot of 500 vehicles from a mile away.

If “Plum Crazy” doesn’t do it for you, you have lots of other standout color options offered by Dodge -- resurrected from the 1970s (including a bright orange “Go Mango” offering and a bright green “Sublime” paint scheme). And if you are more conservative, various trim levels of the Charger offer the more traditional alternatives too.

Inside the Charger, you get an impressive amount of leg room and head room in both the front and the rear, so this is a muscle car the whole family can enjoy. Though the ride is a bit bumpy at times, so you might not want to get too crazy with the little ones in back. Save that for after you drop the kids off at school. Trunk space is more than ample for your storage purposes. Materials inside are nice but not overly luxurious (you get cloth seats, for example), which makes sense since this isn’t a luxury vehicle.

ENGINE, HORSEPOWER

Now let’s get to the nitty gritty. This machine is pure power -- courtesy of a 6.4-liter V8 SRT HEMI engine. You have 485 horsepower, and 475 lb.-ft. of torque, at your disposal. The Charger R/T Scat Pack features an 8-speed automatic transmission, plus paddle shifters on the steering wheel.

The Charger’s speedometer goes up to 180 mph (though I didn’t do any drag racing, so I diddn’t test it if could actually reach that level).

If you can’t have fun driving a vehicle like the Charger R/T Scat Pack, I don’t know what you will enjoy. With a growling engine, oh-so-sensitive gas pedal and rear-wheel-drive setup, it’s like being a kid in a candy story for those of us who like speed and a racecar feel to our drive. It’s not quite a Hellcat. but that’s OK -- (and really, who needs 707 horsepower?).

Helping the performance of the vehicle are a Bilstein high-performance suspension and Brembo high-performance brakes, plus electronic stability control. The Scat Pack only comes in rear-wheel drive (beginners beware: the back end can get a bit loose if you don’t drive it properly), but lower trim level Chargers with V6 engines do offer all-wheel drive.

TECHNOLOGY, SAFETY

The tech features also do not disappoint in the Charger ... particularly the infotainment system. The UConnect 8.4 system is one of the best in the business today, easy to use with a well set-up touchscreen and responsive to voice commands. It’s one of the best things FCA has going for its vehicles, as the system beats many of its automotive rivals in terms of overall performance.

Other helpful safety and tech features include the ParkSense rear park assist system, ParkView rear backup camera, tire pressure monitoring display and remote start.

MPG
Official fuel mileage numbers on the Charger R/T Scat Pack are 15 city/25 highway/18 combined. This is not great MPG (I only got about 17 on average); But this isn’t a car you buy for gas mileage -- It’s a muscle car; you’re definitely not cross-shopping with a Prius here.

PRICE, BOTTOM LINE
The Scat Pack trim level has a base price of $39,995 ($40,990 with destination charge). A base Charger starts at $27,995; Hellcat and its 707 hp starts at $67,645. In short, this is one vehicle with many, many options as far as pricing goes, and power and included features increase as you go up in price.

The looks of the more outlandish versions of the Charger might turn off more traditional buyers, but for those looking for a bit of an edge, something like the Plum Crazy colored Charger I tested is right up their alley.

And no one can argue with the power the Charger provides, which really has no direct rival in the automotive marketplace. Dodge has chosen its niche to be in this area of power and performance, and they do it well.

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Matt Myftiu can be found on Twitter @MattMyftiu.