Speed TV Review:
2008 DODGE CHALLENGER SRT: Smokin’ Hot
Written by: Howard Walker
RACER Magazine
http://www.racer.com Date: 04/30/2008 - 01:13 PM
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Yeah, you’d want one. Maybe even sell a vital organ for experimental medicine for one. Certainly cash-in your kids’ college fund to put one in your garage.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. When Dodge announced there’d be an initial, limited run of 6,400 Challenger SRT8s for the ’08 model year, they sold out before you could say “Eat My Mustang.”
And why wouldn’t you lust after this piece of throbbing, tire-fricasseeing, Hemi-powered American muscle? Especially when it comes with a 6.1-liter pushrod V8 up front delivering 425 horses and a whole hunka burnin’ torque.
The concept Challenger you saw a couple of years back is essentially what you’ll get when the first cars get delivered to eager Mopar addicts next month.
See this new Challenger in the metal and it’s 1970
Vanishing Point all over again. Open the door and you can almost hear Kowalski’s dulcet tones talking to his DJ buddy Super Soul – before he inserts the car into the blunt end of a Caterpillar bulldozer.
There are some lovely design cues going on here. That kicked-up, Coke-bottle waistline, the hooded headlights, the tucked-under lower front end. The Dodge suits even OK’d the original grille design instead of the present trademark Dodge cross-hairs that was on the concept.
The exterior design of the production version is the work of Jeff Gale, son of legendary Chrysler design guru, Tom Gale. Jeff has all of his dad’s muscle car passion, having a 1970 Road Runner in his garage.
He’s an enormous fan of the ’70 Challenger so incorporated as many of its design cues into the new car as he could. Like those big, post-mounted door mirrors, which were created from moulds taken from an original Challenger.
And while you can’t help but salivate at those 20-inch forged Alcoa rims at each corner, look closely and you’ll see they mimic the look and style of the original Magnum 500s.
My favorite bit? That would be the big, chromed fuel flap with the word “FUEL” writ large in the center. It’s a piece of automotive sculpture. And amazingly in these days of Chrysler penny-pinching, the whole piece is made of solid metal instead of cheapo chromed plastic.
Beneath that sexy body, this new Challenger rides on a shortened Dodge Charger SRT8 platform – four inches were taken out of the wheelbase – with all the Charger greasy bits underneath.
That was key for two reasons; firstly to keep costs at rock bottom – the full-house SRT8 stickers at an affordable $37,995. Second, Dodge had to have the Challenger pounding the streets well before Chevy unleashes its Camaro next year and Ford refreshes its Mustang.
While the Charger makes a terrific organ donor, the downside is size; the Challenger takes up a lot of space. Park it next to a Mustang and it dwarfs the Ford ponycar – it’s almost 10 inches longer and two inches wider.
But no one can complain about the heat this new Challenger SRT8 comes packing. The mega 6.1-liter pushrod Hemi V8 was made for this car, with 425 horsepower and a whopping 420 lb-ft of twist. It’s still the highest naturally aspirated specific-output V8 ever offered by Chrysler – its 69.8 horsepower per liter rating exceeds even that of the legendary 1966 “Street Hemi” lump.
Not all is perfect however. These first 6,400 cars only come with a five-speed slushbox –a six-speed manual, modified from the Viper transmission, won’t be offered till the ’09 models land in late summer.
That said, the five-speed auto is a fine ’box; it comes with Autostick manual control, and the SRT engineers have thrown in an aggressive first gear ratio to fire the car off the line and enhance those smoky burnouts we love so much.
Climb aboard and prepare to smile. With a limited budget, Chrysler’s designers have done a splendid job with the cabin. Yes, most of the stuff comes from the Charger parts bin, but the dash has a cool retro look with its deep-set, chrome-ringed “four bomb” gauges.
And although the front seats look way too big for the cabin with their over-bolstered backs, they’re armchair comfy and come with trouser-gripping suede inserts to keep you in place.
Yes, I’d love to have seen more chromey accents to heighten the ’70s look – sorry, fake carbon fiber doesn’t do it for me. And while the designers think black leather, black dash plastic and a black headliner add to the muscle car atmosphere, a December day in Murmansk is cheerier than this.
The real beauty of the cabin however, is that it can accommodate four – five at a pinch – real-size adults, with plenty of headroom and kneeroom. Even in the back. And the trunk is cavernous enough to make Tony Soprano happy.
Sadly for our drive, we’re not following in the tracks of Kowalski and running flat-out across the wide-open desert in a bid to get from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours. But Los Angeles isn’t a bad substitute, especially as we’re about to manhandle this brand-new Challenger along the legendary Angeles Crest Highway.
The “Crest” is a hundred miles of snaking, serpentine blacktop that zig-zags its way across Southern California’s towering San Gabriel mountains, all the way to the Mojave Desert.
It’s one of the best driving roads on the planet, and a firm favorite of local car guys like Leno and
Arnuld. Tight bend after tight bend. Pool table-smooth asphalt. More twists than a bowl of linguine. But with short, sharp straights for quick-fire overtaking. And the kind of views across mountain ranges and dense forests that will steal your breath. Yet it’s only 20 miles out of Hollywood.
Twist the key – thankfully there’s none of that push-button-start nonsense – and the big Hemi 8 rumbles to life like a grizzly coming out of hibernation.
But before we hit the Crest, indulge me for a sec, and let’s make sure this puppy can really burn rubber.
Hit the button on the dash to disable the traction control, hold your left foot on the brake while the right foot stands on the throttle. Then, as the revs rise and the torque converter loads up, simply step off the brake. And smile.
That’s when the 255/45-section Goodyear Eagle RS-A rears light up like fireworks on the Fourth of July and engulf the car with so much smoke it blocks out the sun. Juvenile and childish, yep. A whole lot of fun? You bet.
Now leave the traction control on, click the stopwatch, and sit back as the big Dodge lunges to 60 from rest in just 4.9 seconds and hits the 100 mark in 11.5. Keep your right foot planted and forward motion won’t quit till the speedo is showing an aero-restricted 170mph.
And the noise from the exhaust as the tach needle sweeps towards the 6400rpm red line is muscle car nirvana. The sound is deep, throaty, hard-edged and downright sexy. Pavarotti in his prime couldn’t hit these kind of notes.
Through the Crest’s soaring twists and turns, the Challenger certainly feels big and bulky – it tips the scales at a lardy 4140 pounds.
That said it never feels unwieldy. Only on low-speed corners does excess weight come into play and the front wheels run wide. But on fast sweepers, the Dodge grips like Velcro on velvet and corners with minimal body roll.
While the steering is a little numb in your hands, it’s certainly precise and accurate, and has the kind of heft you expect of a big American muscle car. And with big 14.2-inch vented rotors up front (13.8 inches at the rear) clamped by red-painted Brembo four piston calipers, stomping on the brake pedal produces epic results. Dodge engineers claim 60-to-0mph braking in just 110 feet and we believe them. These are just
awesome brakes.
Before I know it, the Crest is done. A hundred miles have passed in the blink of an eye. The road straightens. Civilization reappears. Game over. The Challenger has certainly earned its colors as a hard-charging, fun-to-drive, genuine American muscle car. The bar has been raised high – way high – for Chevy and its upcoming Camaro.
Hate to say it, but yep, you’d want one. Maybe it’s worth putting a call in to that Philippino organ donor shop. Who needs a spleen anyway?