Video: The Dodge Challenger SRT8: A blast from the past

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Different vehicles have different missions. Minivans are for family hauling, pickups get chores done and luxury cars are of course to prove to the world that you have more money than anyone else (especially if you own a fleet). The Dodge Challenger SRT8? It could be a dandy tire-shredder or a fine G-force simulator for the Air Force. Perhaps its best use though is as a time machine. This modern day muscle car will instantly transport you to the early 70s when gas was cheap and America was unaware of the disco menace that would descend upon it.  

Allow me to reminisce. As a grade school kid I would fill up notebooks with sketches of Mustangs, Camaros, Oldsmobile 442s and yes - Challengers - when I should have been paying attention to my grammar lessons. Starting in 1970 Dodge sold a total of 188,600 Challengers in a five-year stretch. Horsepower peaked early on at 425. The gas shortages put an end to the muscle car wars and the Challenger name was slapped on a Mitsubishi product that squeaked out as little as 77 horsepower. Oh how the mighty had fallen. The 2008 Challenger has nearly six times that power.

To the folks who bought this car but haven't taken delivery, let me assure you that your money has been well spent. Challenger looks great, sounds great, goes fast, corners hard and stops securely. It’s proof you can buy rock star grade popularity too. 

One glance at today's Challenger instantly yanks me back to Mrs. McCabe's classroom at Rockridge Elementary. In the minds eye it's identical to the early 70s version, though in reality a little chunkier. Still, it's a terrific design. Perfect really. Lead designer Jeff Gale and his crew did an outstanding job of molding a new body over a shortened LX chassis, the same one 300 and Charger ride on. Challenger gets the same reaction as a Led Zeppelin reunion. Crowds and cameras gather whenever the Challenger stops. Thirty-five years later, you have to respect just how timeless the original Challenger's lines were.

TOM VOELK

Certain to attract performance junkies and repel Prius owners, Challenger is both a car and a time machine.

All 2008 Challengers are SRT8s. That means the engine is a 6.1 Hemi V8 that pumps out 425 horse power and 420 pound feet of torque. The transmission is a 5-speed automatic with Auto Stick manual shift feature. The rear wheels deliver this performance to the pavement if there was any doubt. Dodge claims a 0-60 time of just under 5 seconds, I’ll buy that. You can shred a set of tires in an afternoon if you'd like. Click on the streaming video for a display of this power but remember, always drive responsibly. '09 cars will have the option of a 6-speed manual and limited-slip differential. 

Often times powerful cars are jumpy and high strung. Challenger is pleasantly docile in normal everyday driving. While the ride quality is firm as expected, this Dodge is refined and supple enough to take on a long road trip and not feel beaten up. The old Challenger was not all that happy to be thrown into a corner at speed, the '08 version says bring it on. Bend into the twisties and the chassis remains flat with the steering wheel providing nice feedback and just the right amount of heft. Well done.

To really appreciate any SRT product a driver needs a race track. Well, what do you know, Dodge has brought us out to Willow Springs. This track has some tricky corners and elevation built into to it. After an instructional lap a whole herd of auto writers are let loose in a pack of Challengers. I'm toward the end of the list (with a name starting with V I'm used to it) so I watch driver after driver exit the cars with grins on their faces. During my first set, I can see why. The first lap is cautious, during the second I feel the stability control feather in just a hair. During a downhill sweeper that features a nasty bit of uneven asphalt, the Challenger takes it in stride. On the long straight stretch the Challenger reached 120 miles an hour, everything feels buttoned down which is good because I’m certainly not Mario Andretti. These are all things that would frighten me in the old car. There's an advantage to having high-tech running gear in an old school wrapper.

The Brembo brakes all around (14.2" in front, 13.8 in the rear) have heroic stopping power - good because this Dodge tips the scales at 4,170 lbs. They'll stop a Challenger down from 60 in 110 feet. A cool feature, Challenger uses the ABS pump to get the brake pads back into position when they are pushed away (cornering at very high speeds causes wheel bearings to flex which tilts the rotors outboard). So whenever a driver pushes over 0.6 g's, this system kicks in so brake pedal travel is always immediate. You have to love advanced technology.

Speaking of tech, Challenger's keyless ignition, nav system, Bluetooth phone connection and airbags all around were practically science fiction in the 70s. Eight-track tapes won't fit in the hard drive equipped My Gig sound system with its USB port and aux input for iPods. There's also a system that displays immediate performance numbers like lateral Gs, and 0-60 times in the gauge cluster. With limited time in the car I couldn't test it. 

The cabin uses good materials but ultimately is not as successful as the exterior design. There's a lot of black plastic here and it makes the interior a somber place. Chrysler products are getting better though. Drivers are held tight during hard cornering in well bolstered seats. Black in white gauges are easily readable at high speed and it's easy to get comfortable behind the thick leather wrapped wheel with tilt/telescope adjustment.

On the way to the back seat, passengers will notice small LED foot lamps on the back of the front seats. Nice touch. There are belts for three in the rear though it seems a good idea to keep it to two. As an average sized guy I have just enough headroom. Foot room is adequate and cupholders in the swing down armrest are handy.

Since I'm on the road in California there's no bath tissue test but the trunk seems about average in size. I'll call it a 6-packer. The trunk opening is on the small size. Seat backs do their best to help out by folding forward to expand cargo. The audio subwoofer takes up a small chunk of real estate back here but fortunately there are space saving hinges.  

Gripes? Surprisingly this modern muscle car doesn't get auto climate control and again the interior is on the plain sign. Oh, and there's a $2,100 gas guzzler tax so 17 mile per gallon EPA average won't surprise anyone. Realistically, expect 14 mpg and even less if you're Speed Racer.

Reasonable people living in 2008 have to wonder who on God's green earth (that's warming if you haven't heard) is going to buy a car like this with gas closing in on $4 a gallon. Well, all 6,400 2008 Challenger SRT8s are sold. 4,300 vaporized on the first day they were available for order. Challenger #1 sold for $400,000 at a Barrett-Jackson charity auction in January by Craig Jackson (ironically, an owner of the auction house made rich by the sale of classic muscle cars). Challenger #42 was painted up in B5 blue (also known as Petty blue) and again sold at a charity auction for $228,143.43. Everyone else paid the retail price of around $40,000 plus whatever dealers were charging for "market adjustment." Hey, we're a capitalist society. In the fall you can snag a Challenger SE with a 250 horse 3.5-liter V-6 and four-speed automatic transmission starting in the low 20s. V8 R/Ts and SRT8s will be available as well.

In short the Challenger is a rip roaring good time. It's serious competition to the Mustang, Pontiac G8 sedan and vaporware Camaro. Certain to attract performance junkies and repel Prius owners, Challenger is both a car and a time machine. Love it or hate it, the loud and proud Challenger SRT8 is a blast from the past.