Safety features on all models include advanced multistage dual front airbags and the LATCH child seat anchor system. Side-curtain airbags designed to improve head protection for front- and rear-seat occupants are optional ($390). ABS with Brake Assist, traction control, and Chrysler's Electronic Stability Program are optional ($1025).

Walkaround

The styling of the 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. Some call it a sport wagon. That's what it is in our book: a sporty wagon, 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, but eminently civilized, of course.

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. A big visual effect is created by the tinted glass and roofline sloping back and pinching the rear window. This serves an innovative purpose. 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 less ducking to reach things in there, and will be easier 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, oversize, chrome exhaust tips.

Interior Features

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

We also climbed in the back seat and crawled around a bit. There was room to do so, only 10 percent less than in the front seat, according to the SAE volume index. In people terms, the rear seat's measurements come within an inch of the front's except in legroom, where the rear seat gives up just over an inch and a half to the front. The 60/40 split rear seat seats three people, but a wide, center armrest with cupholders drops down to make it more comfortable for two. There's plenty of head clearance despite the roofline, which poses no rear visibility problem for the driver. Even so, the chopped-top proportions left us feeling a touch claustrophobic in the back seats.

The driver should have no problem finding a comfortable position. The steering wheel offers both tilt and telescope adjustments and the pedals are power adjustable. Adjustable pedals can help people of small stature (petite women, 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 comes standard in the R/T and the SRT8 and is optional in the SXT. We found the regular seats generally supportive. The SRT8's deep-dish sport seats were especially effective in keeping our backside in place during aggressive motoring. However, all of the seats were somewhat short in thigh support.

The four-spoke steering wheel is sharp, with buttons for cruise and sound control. We really like the Magnum's gauges, handsome and all business, white background with black numbers and stainless trim rings. We dislike the Mercedes-Benz column stalks with the turn indicator lever drooping down around 7 o'clock and the wimpy cruise control stick perched up at 11 o'clock. (We dislike these controls just as much on Mercedes cars.) It's too easy to turn on the cruise control when you meant to signal a lane change.

The center stack is clean and tidy in black, with switches that were 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.