So, I picked up the Hertz Regional Manager from the airport. He just got back from a vacation golfing in Phoenix and "meetings" in Las Vegas. He was beat. We got to talking about future cars. I asked him when the new "Adrenaline Collection" cars (namely the Challenger R/T) are coming in. He estimated by the end of June. I helped him get his clubs into the trunk of a Camaro SS sitting in front of the Gold Board. It was no easy task, but the rear seats folded down and everything fit. He said "whenever the Challenger comes in, just give me a call and I'll set it up for you. I waited and waited, but no Challengers. I needed to rent a car for a day and decided to try the Charger. I picked a white one with the 17" five spoke wheels. I parked it where nobody would get it and picked it up at the end of my shift. 
My manager tried to get me in a Charger with the bigger center screen with navigation, but I figured that I wouldn't need it. I didn't like the 18" split spoke wheels, either. So, I sat in the white Charger and set all the seats and settings and whatnot. Right off the bat, I noticed a couple of things I didn't like. First, when both front seats are pushed all the way back, they don't line up. The Challenger is also this way. I still don't know why they did that. Secondly, my Charger didn't have Sirius or XM radio. As far as Hertz is concerned, only the Chargers with the bigger 8.6" center screen get Nav and Sirius. That brings me to another point. The center screen itself (mine was a 4.3" screen) is somewhat complicated to use. Dodge provides actual buttons below the screen, but they can only perform basic functions for the climate and radio. You can turn both systems off and on and adjust volume and tune (or hot and cold), but doing anything else would require using the mindless screen. I did enjoy the "vehicle settings" on the center screen. You can change stuff like daytime running lights and whether or not the horn should sound when you lock it. The dash was adorned with nice materials, compared to last year's model which was slathered in knurled plastic. The dash bezel is made of aluminum (the SRT8 has carbon fiber) and houses retro-styled gauges. I wasn't pleased with the little screen in between the gauges. You can select it to show either vehicle speed, fuel economy, trip or vehicle diagnostics. I wanted a screen where it would show vehicle speed, direction, time, temp, trip/odometer AND either instant or average fuel economy. Unfortunately, I could not get all of that. If I wanted to check my fuel economy, I had to change screens. Luckily, there are buttons on the front and back of the steering wheel spokes to prevent taking your hands off the wheel. The steering wheel is the standard three-spoke wheel seen in almost all Dodge cars and vans. The R/T gets a leather wrapped wheel. The seats were wrapped in a nice suede-ish cloth. Front and rear legroom was ample as well as cupholder and storage space. The trunk was big enough for the double stroller and groceries. I liked the USB and IPod plugs in the center console. Road noise was almost non-existent due to a laminated, noise-reducing windshield and dual-paned front side glass. The windowsills and armrests were sitting up a little higher than I like as was the hood. I feel comfortable seeing a hood in front of me, so it wasn't so bad. I felt like I was sitting behind the wheel of a '75 Electra 225, all sunk in and everything. The Charger has a push-button start. In the Challenger, one can remove the start button and use the "key" to turn the ignition. I didn't get a chance to find out if the Charger also does that.
My BIGGEST issue with the Charger is it's handling. Let's clear the air, first. The car can carve out a road like a Christmas turkey with almost no body roll or tire squeal. Cruising down the freeway at 110 is nothing. You feel like you're on the living room couch. You are in control the ENTIRE time... just as long as you don't do anything stupid. Granted, the Charger has outgrown it's hammerhead, teenage-punk adolescent stage and has become more like your dad riding shotgun. For example, the first time I tried to drift the car around a turn (and I had the traction control off), I floored the gas from a dead standstill. The tires lit up and protested all the way to the apex of the turn. The back end was trying to come around for an awesome power slide, but just after the apex, there was a loud CLUNK from the front right corner and the car magically righted itself, as though nothing had happened. I brought the car to the threshold of irresponsibility and the "Dad" persona of the Charger slammed the door in my face. The only other time I tried doing that was when I was returning the Dodge. I tried to powerslide around a couple of taxicabs and the car acted totally different. It just pushed right into the curb. I felt like I was driving a front-wheel drive Impala or something. I have never, in all my years of driving big rear-wheel drive sedans, encountered understeer on dry pavement. I slammed that curb with the front right wheel, scratching the rim, bending a tire rod, and denting my ego all at the same time. I drove the car down Bessie Coleman drive and let the wheel go. The car started a long arcing pull to the right. I sighed in relief since I had the insurance.
The kids seemed to enjoy the Charger. My wife drove it a couple of times and her complaint was that the car felt like it was doing 30 when she was doing 55. Also, she complained of the window sill, hood and armrest height. Her final complaint was the center screen, so I didn't feel so stupid that I had a hard time operating it.
It filled the vacuum that the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis are leaving behind. I used to rent them all the time but was frustrated with the lack of Sirius radio, performance and efficiency. The Charger is just as big, rear wheel drive, has more power and gets better fuel economy than the Crown Victoria and has two less cylinders. The Ford Taurus doesn't have anything on the Charger. The Taurus is front-wheel drive, ugly, and I think it's costlier. Compared to the Chevy Impala, the Charger is roomier, classier, and handles much better than the Chevy. Toyota doesn't have a comparable mode. The Charger would fall in between the outdated Camry and the expensive and boaty Avalon, both front drivers. A Nissan Maxima, VW Phaeton or a BMW 5 or 7 series would give the Charger a run for it's money, but are all more expensive.
With all that being said, I would not be suprised if the police agencies of the US, Canada and Mexico (if they can afford them) will turn to the Charger once the Crown Victorias get sold off as taxicabs. Dodge makes a couple of police packages, the "Pursuit" and "Enforcer" package. Let's put it this way, cars will pull over for the Charger even if the red and blues aren't on, solely because the Charger is such an intimidating vehicle.
To sum up the Charger, think of it like this. When it came out, it was skinny, ugly, angry, and unrefined. The 2012 Charger went to the gym, cleaned itself up, trained countless hours honing it's skills and road manners and went to anger management. It's ready to settle the score.
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