[Cuda340]

The following is an excerpt from an article written by G. Chambers Williams III:

Dodge Challenger SRT8 is Gawker Magnet

One of the most fun aspects of my job is getting to drive exciting new cars that most people haven't even seen yet. When I get one of those, and take it out for testing, it's common to have people flock around me wherever I happen to stop with the vehicle. But in 25 years of doing auto reviews, I'd never seen the extreme reaction to a new vehicle as I did this past week while driving the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8.

Just stopped at traffic lights, the car drew crowds. At one point, at a red light in front of an auto-parts store, what appeared to be the entire store staff came out to the curb to see the Challenger, and most of them had cameras in hand.

It was an instant hit just driving down the road, and especially at any parking lot — supermarket, department store, mall, restaurant, you name it.

Attention or not, the car was a hoot to drive, even though there were no roads that allowed me to give it a true test of its abilities, and I didn't have the opportunity to take it onto a track during my week behind the wheel.

This car has plenty of raw power and will get up and go when it's asked to.

But it's also more than just power. Handling was surprisingly crisp and predictable, which is a departure from the original Challengers. Those cars were purely about muscle, and worked best in straight-line acceleration and driving; cornering finesse was never their strong suit.

That's part of what makes this new Challenger so compelling. It has the looks and raw power of the old Challenger, but the benefits of modern chassis engineering, great brakes and state-of-the-art safety features.

But that retro look is what turns heads, and even people who later buy the V-6 version will be able to enjoy that kind of reaction from others.

It can cover a quarter-mile in 13.3 seconds and can go from 60 to zero in about 100 feet, thanks to its Brembo custom brakes.

Its modern technology includes advanced electronic stability and traction control, side-curtain air bags and a tire-pressure monitoring system.

The 522-watt audio system comes with 13 speakers, including a 200-watt subwoofer, and it has a 30-gigabyte hard drive to store thousands of songs internally.

Other features include Sirius satellite radio, push-button start and an optional navigation system, which was included on my tester.