The Dodge Magnum was a car we didn't want to stop driving.
All that horsepower, all that torque, great tight handling,
solid comfortable ride, very enjoyable instrument panel
and steering wheel and seats.
The five-speed automatic transmission, designed by Mercedes,
upshifted sharply and smoothly, but even in the AutoStick
mode it sometimes upshifted before we wanted it to. The
specs say that the engine is electronically limited to 5800
rpm, but our Magnum shifted at 5500. The engine felt easily
underworked at that speed. Numbers and charts notwithstanding,
this is an engine that feels like it
wants to rev. Although by the same token, the 340 horsepower
peaks at just 5000 rpm, so revving past 5500 would seem
to be unnecessary. It was just so much fun. We should add
that we were testing a pre-production Magnum, and it's possible
that showroom models may be programmed to shift at 5800,
not 5500.
Even with all that power and torque, the acceleration
isn't neck-snapping; the Magnum has a very tall final drive
ratio of 2.82, which is great for gas mileage and quiet
running, but tempers acceleration. There were times it felt
like it had 340 horsepower, and times it didn't. There were
more times that it didn't feel like it had 390 pound-feet
of torque, which might be because the torque peaks at a
relatively high level, 4000 rpm. With torque peaking at
4000 and horsepower peaking at 5000, there's a relatively
small area of maximum happy performance for such a big engine.
We're not complaining, merely lamenting what could be. And
no doubt will, with aftermarket tuners.
They'll also find grippier tires for the Magnum. It
comes with Continental Touring all-season tires, P225/60R18,
which were the likely cause of the Electronic 
Stability
Program's occasional intrusion into our hard but not overboard
or even borderline driving. As the tires lost their limited
bite, the ESP cut the throttle on us. With grippier tires
it's unlikely that intrusion would occur. This car warrants
sport or high-performance tires, though they may not last
as long or work as well in the winter.
We also felt the front wheels bouncing at times,
which was the only blemish on an otherwise great ride, tested
in a variety of road conditions. Again, we suspect tires.
The brakes are another story: they are fully up to the
task (for example, towing up to 3800 pounds is eminently
doable). The front vented rotors measure a huge 13.6 inches
and the rear vented rotors are 12.6; additionally, the fronts
use dual piston calipers. Couple that mechanical strength
with ABS with brake assist, which balances the braking between
front and rear, and no worries, you're gonna get 
stopped
when you need to. On the curvy mountain roads we repeatedly
hammered the brakes into downhill curves, and the pedal
never once showed any sign of stress or distress.
We drove the Magnum RT for half a day, and its dressier
sister the
Chrysler 300C for the other half. They're built on the same platform and
have much of the same equipment, including rack-and-pinion
constant-rate steering systems. Both handle extremely well;
tight is the best word to describe them. It may have been
in our head, but we think the Magnum felt more nimble. One
difference might be weight distribution; even though they're
heavier, wagons (er, sport tourers) inherently have better
balance than sedans. The 300C's is 54/46, while the Dodge
Magnum RT's is 52/48.
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Finally, a word about the MDS, or Multi-displacement
system, which cuts out half of the eight cylinders during
those times when not much horsepower is needed. At a steady
60 miles per hour on a flat highway, or less, you're only
using four cylinders and you're getting about 30 miles per
gallon. With a response time of 0.04 seconds, we couldn't
feel when it went from a V4 back to a V8, when we hit the
throttle to speed back up again.
