Challenger Road Tests/Reviews

[iceman]

Originally Posted by Kelsey73

Welcome iceman! Glad to have another Shelby guy on here. I was all set to go and get the GT500 sitting on the lot here at 57K, but when we drove I wasn't overly impressed. I saw the SGT next to it and the looks alone sold me. The suspension on the GT500 needs to be redone, way to squirely for that much power. I got my SGT at 36K and love it, will be adding a S/C soon.

true - we called it a 4x4 with the lifted stock look. I put on Eiback springs and D-Spec adjustable shocks and that is solved but the hard core guys that can't accept it's not perfect say it's muscle car and supposed to be raked blah blah blah. I can't believe they put it out the doot like that. I guess that's why I don't get to design cars -nothing left for the after market would be bad I suppose HA

[Kelsey73]

Cool car! I really wanted a GT500, but just couldn't swing 60K then mods. I knew if I got one it'd need some suspension work. The SGT was a good way for me to get both a Shelby and Challenger.

[Cuda340]

Motor Week TV reviewed the 2008 SRT Challenger. []

The entire text of the review is on Motor Week's web site at:

MotorWeek: Road Test

The track performance was:

0-60 mph.= 5.0 seconds
1/4 mi.= 13.5 @ 108 mph

If you want to buy a DVD of the program, call- 1-800-873-6154

[425hpChargerSRT8]

thanks for the link cuda, thats a great write up. 1/4 mile at 13.5 seems pretty conservative though.

[Cuda340]

Originally Posted by 425hpChargerSRT8

thanks for the link cuda, thats a great write up. 1/4 mile at 13.5 seems pretty conservative though.

108 mph trap speed is pretty good- that means the engine is making good hp.

Also, a 0-60 mph run of 5.0 sec. is on target.

[Cuda340]

Edmunds has posted a cool video- Mustang Bullit vs. SRT Challenger. See:

YouTube - Challenger: Faster than a Speeding Bullitt?

[RoostKing]

Very Cool!!!

[425hpChargerSRT8]

Originally Posted by Cuda340

108 mph trap speed is pretty good- that means the engine is making good hp.

Also, a 0-60 mph run of 5.0 sec. is on target.

I understand what you're saying but with a little practice, the charger guys were hitting 12.9 @ 108 mph and about 4.8-4.9 on the 0-60. That's why I was saying 13.5 is pretty conservative. Those guys just never got a good launch is all.

[Cuda340]

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?

[Cuda340]

The following Challenger articles appeared in the Detroit Free Press:

The new Challenger looks enough like the 1970 car that inspired it to fool a guy who built the original. Under the skin, though, it's better in ways the engineers who cruised Woodward Avenue a generation ago never dreamed of. The Challenger, a performance coupe that comes only in max-performance 425-horsepower SRT8 trim for the 2008 model year, will grow into a full model line this fall, as less-expensive 2009 models with smaller engines and higher fuel economy arrive.
Prices for the '08 SRT8, which features a 6.1-liter version of Chrysler LLC's iconic Hemi V8 engine, massive race-ready Brembo brakes among other upgrades, start at $39,420, including a $2,100 federal gas-guzzler tax but excluding destination charges. The only options Dodge offers on the SRT8 are a navigation system and sunroof and a $50 charge for summer tires.
I drove a Challenger SRT8 with the summer tires.

The Challenger SRT8 has a top speed of 170 m.p.h. and accelerates to 60 in 4.9 seconds.
Those figures put the Challenger SRT8 squarely in the supercar class with elite models like the BMW M3 coupe, but its price is thousands of dollars less.
For a fast car, though, it sure takes a long time to get anywhere in the SRT8. The big coupe draws a crowd in every parking lot and can stop traffic as other drivers maneuver for a better look and ask questions: Is it fast? Does it have air bags and other modern safety features? Can I buy one? Do you like it? Yes, yes, yes. A thousand times yes.

The Challenger rides on a shortened version of the platform that underpins the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger. That means it comes with antilock brakes, electronic stability control and curtain air bags and powerful four-piston ventilated Brembo disc brakes. The technologies Chrysler used to create the LX platform that underpins the Challenger didn't exist when the 1970 Challenger rolled off the assembly line under Jimmie Wilson's eye. A fully independent suspension and sport-tuned 20-inch all-season performance tires provide the new Challenger with road holding and grip infinitely superior to Detroit's first generation of muscle cars. Those cars were fast and furious in a straight line, but they did not approach the handling possible with modern tires, suspension and computer-aided engineering.
The suspension holds the Challenger secure through dramatic turns and on hyperspeed straightaways, but the Challenger's ride is also very comfortable, absorbing the bumps of rough pavement without the teeth-jarring impact that came with first-generation muscle cars. Comfort and road holding are both superior to the Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500, which uses the same muscle-car formula but is limited by its solid rear axle.

Powered by an upgraded version of the Hemi V8, the Challenger's head-snapping acceleration is channeled smoothly through Chrysler's six-speed automatic transmission. That gearbox responds well in tap shift mode, but the lack of a true manual is one of the Challenger's few shortcomings. The 2009 SRT8 will offer a six-speed manual when it goes on sale this fall.

Anyone who buys a car like the Challenger SRT8 and complains about fuel economy should stop whining. That said, the SRT is thirsty. It requires premium gasoline and has EPA fuel economy ratings of 13 m.p.g. city and 18 m.p.g. highway.

The front seat is roomy and comfortable, with plenty of storage bins and pockets. Rear legroom is less generous, but rear headroom is good and the 16.2-cubic-foot trunk has a regular shape that makes it easy to use all its space.

The interior lacks a couple of features you should take for granted in a car this price, however. There's no memory function for the seats and mirrors, the tilt and telescoping steering wheel is manual rather than power, and the keyless pushbutton start does not have a feature to automatically lock and unlock the car when you walk away and as you approach it. Many new vehicles with keyless ignition share this shortcoming. The sporty looking leather seats could also use a more scooped-out bottom cushion to secure occupants during aggressive maneuvers, and the serving-platter-sized steering wheel is too big and badly out of place in a high-performance car with such fast and responsive steering.

The exterior styling is nearly perfect, from the throwback shape to detail touches like the chrome flip-open fuel door. The old-style exterior door handles could stand to be larger and deeper, though. They're difficult to grip and feel like a feature that will break long fingernails as quickly as the SRT8 hits 60 m.p.h.

Dodge will build 8,000 2008 Challenger SRT8s. Every one is already sold.
The small production run for the '08 Challenger SRT8 means that the only review vehicles available are pre-production models. It's either review them or don't review the Challenger until the '09s arrive a few months from now.

For that reason, I'll mention a couple of glitches in the pre-production Challenger I tested, but they didn't affect the car's rating: the climate control fan whistled when set to high, and the front fascia that wraps around the grille does not line up perfectly with the front fenders and hood. If those matter to you, check for yourself before you leave the dealership. If you don't like the Challenger SRT8, there'll be a line of people behind you who will be happy to take it.


Contact MARK PHELAN at phelan@freepress.com or 313-222-6731.

The 2008 Dodge Challenger may look like the concept car that excited visitors to the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit 2 1/2 years ago, but the designers changed every surface to create the production model.

The most obvious difference is the grille, where Dodge's signature crosshair grille was discarded to give the production car a cleaner and more elegant face.
"It looks more like the original 1970 Challenger, and opening up space in the grille helps with engine cooling and air flow," Challenger lead exterior designer Jeff Gale said.

The concept team cheated a bit, producing a body that wouldn't fit on Chrysler's LX platform, which underpins the Challenger and the bigger Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger sedans.
The production designers narrowed the car's body by 4 inches through the doors, which helps account for the production Challenger's better-proportioned look. The narrower cross-section also led to doors and sides that are more upright than the concept's. The car's front overhang is also 2 inches longer, and the front bumper fascia projects forward of the hood farther than on the concept.
"We had to do it to fit the LX platform," Gale said, "but there were some aesthetic benefits, too."
The designers also added a black molding around the bottom of the car, which fools the eyes into thinking the Challenger is less tall than it actually is. "It makes the car feel slimmer and less bulky," Gale said. The overall effect is one of the rare production cars that looks considerably better than the concept that inspired it. It took just six months to design the production model, Gale said. The project got the green light in February 2006, and the design was done by July.

By Mark Phelan

Rating: ****
(out of four stars)
Reasons to buy: Power, looks, handling.
Shortcomings: No manual transmission until '09; no memory feature; awkward door handles.
**** Best in its class
*** Above average
** Competent
* Below average