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Walk Around

The styling of the Dodge Magnum is so distinctive that a picture will say far more than words can. It's a long, low, beefy station wagon on a wide track, with a big bold grille and a chopped top. It would be an understatement to say the Magnum has presence.

However, it's not called a station wagon, at least not officially. The EPA classifies it as a sport utility. Dodge calls it a sport tourer. We call it a station wagon. But that doesn't accurately describe it. Some call it a sport wagon, and that's really what it is, a cross between muscle car and station wagon, a hot rod hauler for grown-ups who haven't grown up, or haven't needed to.

For 2008, the grille has been lowered and stretched horizontally to reduce the truck influence. The grille is clearly from the Dodge Ram truck family, but it's smaller, softer and classier. The headlamp units are a nice integrated wedge shape. We like them better than those on the Chrysler 300, a Magnum sibling, which try harder to be retro. The air dam/bumper cover wraps up under the headlamps and grille, and looks impressively beefy and functional. The SRT8 gets a mesh grille insert surrounded by a blockier fascia with a more aggressive air dam and enlarged, brake-cooling ducts.

From the side, the Magnum looks like it could be rolled onto the floor of a custom rod show. The wheel cutouts are profound, especially imposing with the 18-inch, 10-spoke wheels on the R/T and borderline brutish with the SRT8's 20-inchers and ultra-low profile rubber. Thick, slablike sides, tinted glass, and a roofline that slopes back to pinch the rear window all contribute to the custom-like chopped look. The one-piece liftgate is hinged about two feet up into the roof, providing a vast and liberating opening to the cargo area. It requires little ducking to reach things in there, and will be easy on lower backs of all ages.

The SRT8's roof-mounted wake diffuser is deeper, and its rear bumper mirrors the front's blockiness, with cutouts for the two, oversized, chromed exhaust tips.

Interior

2008 Dodge Magnum

If you have any doubts about the Dodge Magnum carrying as much as an SUV, fold the rear seat down flat, lift the gate, climb inside and crawl around a bit.

The cargo capacity is listed as 27.2 cubic feet with the rear seats up and 71.6 cubic feet with them down, while the EPA total interior volume indicates 133.1 cubic feet. But those numbers don't sway buyers as much as their own eyes, so have a look. We did, and the cargo area looks wider, flatter, longer and easier to access than that of most SUVs. It's just not as tall, but how often do you stack loads to the ceiling? It's usually the length and width and flat floor that matter, and the Magnum excels by those criteria. As an added bonus, Dodge offers an optional cargo organizer that keeps grocery bags from toppling over and incorporates a nook designed for holding a one-gallon milk jug. If you intend to use your Magnum for a lot of cargo hauling, you may not want to pop for the upgraded sound system because is parks a monster subwoofer in the cargo area right behind the rear seat. It's not a compromise we'd be willing to make.

The back seat is very roomy, with only 10 percent less room than in the front seat, according to the SAE volume index. In people terms, the rear seat's measurements come within an inch of those of the front seat except in legroom, where the rear seat gives up just over an inch and a half to the front. The 60/40 split rear bench seats three people, but a wide, center armrest with cup holders drops down to make it more comfortable for two. There's plenty of head clearance despite the roofline, which does pose a minor visibility problem for the driver. Even so, the chopped-top proportions left us feeling a little claustrophobic in the back seats.

From the driver's seat, the roofline stretches out fairly far, making stoplights hard to see if you get too close.

The driver should have no problem finding a comfortable seating position. The steering wheel offers both tilt and telescope adjustments and power-adjustable pedals are available. Adjustable pedals can help drivers of small stature (petite women and Formula 1 drivers, for example) position themselves farther away from the airbag-equipped steering wheel, lessening the chance of airbag-related injuries.

Fabric covers the seats in the SE and SXT. Leather is optional in the SXT and it comes standard in the R/T and the SRT8. We found the regular seats generally supportive. The SRT8's deep-dish sport seats are fairly effective at keeping backsides in place during aggressive cornering, but more side bolstering would help keep smaller drivers from sliding side to side.

The four-spoke steering wheel is sharp, with cruise and sound control buttons. We really like the gauges; they are handsome and all business, with white backgrounds, black numbers and chrome trim rings. Dodge has remedied one of our objections to interior design for 2008. The cruise control stalk has moved from 11 o'clock to 4 o'clock, eliminating the annoying tendency to turn on the cruise control when you mean to signal a lane change.

The center stack is clean and tidy in black, with switches that are easy to click and knobs where knobs should be for the climate control and radio. The navigation system's screen displaces the stereo faceplate, with controls for both functions arrayed around the perimeter.

The newly available MyGIG radio is available in two iterations: the MyGIG Entertainment System and the MyGIG Multi-Media Infotainment System. Both have a 6.5-inch touchscreen and 20 gigabytes of hard drive space for songs and pictures, but the Multi-Media option includes a navigation system with real-time traffic and voice activation.

The center console is redesigned for 2008, with two cupholders in front of it instead of integrated into it. It is sized to hold most of the items you'd typically be carrying. The console is designed so the available rear DVD/TV en

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