Gary Chafin has gotten the nod more than once.

Someone will pull up next to Chafin's new Dodge Charger and nod at him, challenging him to a race.

Chafin, though, gives the driver a red flag: He leans forward a bit, showing the Virginia State Police patch on the arm of his uniform.

"They really can't see who is driving it. When they do, it's too late," said Chafin, a senior trooper who drives an unmarked silver Charger.

Virginia State Police, the Roanoke County Police Department and the Roanoke Police Department recently put Chargers on the roads. The agencies are testing the redesigned version of the 1960s and '70s muscle car to see if it is a viable police vehicle.

Some mechanical issues have yet to stand the test of time, but the reviews so far have been good: Law enforcement officers love their Chargers.

Chafin said the Charger is the best car he's driven in his 23 years as a law enforcement officer.

"For what this car was designed to do, it gets an A every time," Chafin said.

State police have bought 32 Chargers for $21,000 each, said state police spokesman Sgt. Bob Carpentieri.

The price of a Charger is about the same as a Ford Crown Victoria, although various departments have paid different prices for the Chargers because some agencies put out bids for the cars and one agency's cars may be equipped differently than another's.

The Salem division of the state police has three Chargers, two unmarked and one marked, Carpentieri said. The division expects to get another marked car soon.

Chafin traded in his Chevrolet Impala for the Charger in February. He completed daylong driver's training before he was handed the keys.

The Charger's 340-horsepower V-8 HEMI engine can take the car from zero to 60 in 6.5 seconds, according to Michigan State Police track tests. The Crown Victoria, with 250 horsepower, is about two seconds slower.

The boost in speed is a powerful tool for a trooper or officer who has to catch up with fast-moving vehicles.

"If you go after somebody, you get to them quickly and you pull them over fast," said Chafin, who patrols Interstates 81 and 581 and U.S. 460, 220 and 221.

The Charger's speed also allows him to go after vehicles he normally wouldn't have a chance at stopping, such as cars speeding past him in the opposite direction.

He believes the speed of the Charger will help decrease the number of pursuits because he's able to catch up with cars and motorcycles much faster.

Roanoke city police put their marked Charger on the road about the same time state police did.

Five lieutenants are testing the car to see how it performs as a police vehicle, and the limited access has caused a bit of car envy in the department.

"We've had to protect the keys," joked Lt. Mac Babb, who frequently drives the Charger in Northwest Roanoke.

The car has helped officers initiate conversations with people they otherwise might not have talked with, Babb said.

"When people have seen the Charger pull up ... they seem to take notice of it, and in a lot of cases have either said something or have walked up and engaged the officer in conversation about the car," Babb said.

Like the state police, Babb has surprised with speeders who didn't realize the Charger was a police car.

He said from the front or back of the car it is hard to see the identifying, black-and-white graphics.

"You'll see them hit the brakes really hard once they realize it," Babb said.

Roanoke County has five of its six Chargers on the roads now, said Sgt. W.D. Byrd of the Roanoke County police.

The department is a bit leery of Dodge police cars because the Dodge Intrepids that the department bought a few years ago had brake issues, Byrd said.

Roanoke County patrol officers will test the Chargers for a year to look for potential problems before the department buys more, Byrd said.

So far, though, the police have had good things to say about the cars' speed, control and mean looks.

"We've been pretty impressed with them," Byrd said.

"The last time I was in a car that took off like that was driving a 1969 Oldsmobile 442."