Challenger SRT-8 at the Track

[CST 03]

He can always try an 03, 04 Cobra. With a few mods he can be in the low 11's...I'm not a big fan of the new Challengers they are to big and to heavy. Just my .02

P.S I love GN's and used to own one so don't hate me for driving brand X (see sig)

 

[darkred87T]

The dealer told me the Challenger can get in the 20's MPG. It's a 4100 lb. car with a big V8. I find that hard to beleive. In any case, it would have to be my daily driver and I put a lot of miles on my cars. I thought about an SVT Cobra too but again, I'm a little worried about gas mileage. I guess it's not gonna be easy to have fun and get good MPG at the same time.

However, I did test drive a Saturn Sky the other day with the Ecotech 4. Nice ride. It remiinded me of a Corvette a little. The car had plenty of power but I really didn't get a good kick until I got it into the high 5000-low 6000 RPM range. If I was going to buy new it would be a toss up between one of these and a Challenger.

 

[karst#9]

I rode in a new challenger with the automatic, it was dissapointing. The salesman that drove it thought it was really fast It didnt have sh!t out of the hole. Got back and looked at the window sticker and it had 3.06 gears in it

 

[Quint]

What a disappointment. My brother (Darkred87T) is in the market for a new car and I've gone with him to look at several Challengers. He was on the fence about whether the SRT-8 is worth the $10k premium over an R/T. After seeing and SRT-8 run at the track Friday night, he is now in the market for a used LS1 F-body for his daily driver.

The mighty SRT-8 was consistently running low-14s at 102 MPH. It was a manual, piloted by the wife and then by the owner. Great looking car, but too slow for the money.

As far as how my brother and I ran, both of our TRs ran faster than they ever had, but the track prep SUCKED so ETs were off. I ran an 11.7 @ 119 MPH, he was running mid-12s @ 114, all runs spinning hard out of the hole, letting up to let it grab, and going again. My brother is only running 17 PSI and I'm running about 22. He's going to catch me in a hurry once he turns up the boost. Unacceptable! :tongue:

Anyway, disappointed with the SRT-8 Challenger under real-world conditions. I'm going to bring my 'new' '02 TA droptop next time to see what it does. They say the convertibles are a bit slower due to the extra frame bracing.

Jim

If it was a stick, sounds to me like the people driving where not shifting in its power range, hence the very low MPH. The Auto's run 110+, so there is no reason the sticks wouldnt run a hair faster, 4000 #'s or not. I would take a Challenger any day of the week over an LS1, which every kid on the block has. If your out to have the fastest, you need to stick with the TR and drive the Challenger for what it is..."One Hell of a beautiful Hotrod" that there is non like on the road.

 

[darkred87T]

My theory is I can pick up a low mileage LS1 for around $10K. A new Challenger is about $35k. Of course there's big differenece in car there but it's a matter of weighing the options.

I ran agianst that SRT and bad driver or not, it wasn't getting down the track. Granted, it came out of the hole pretty strong once it got traction but after the 1/8 it got further and further away in my mirrors. I had a brand new WS6 that I took to the track for the first time with only about 1500 miles on it and couldn't break out of the 14's. The next time out with about 10,000 miles on it I was running 13.3@107 with it all day. Maybe there's some kind of "break in" period for new cars but for $45K I would want a car that can run at least mid 12's like the Camaro. Too bad the Camaro looks like crap.

 

["Turbo-T"]

I rode in a new challenger with the automatic, it was dissapointing. The salesman that drove it thought it was really fast It didnt have sh!t out of the hole. Got back and looked at the window sticker and it had 3.06 gears in it

If it's got some real grunt a 3.06 shouldn't be bad. Depending on how the trans is geared. The 307 powered Cutlasses and Regals came with I believe a 2.14 gear. Now you talk about a dog.

 

[tommyguns]

You said it was a manual. I may be wrong but I believe the SRT8 only comes with an auto. The R/T has the manual.
Also, I hear the SRT's arent real nice with computer tuning.

 

[turbojimmy]

You said it was a manual. I may be wrong but I believe the SRT8 only comes with an auto. The R/T has the manual.
Also, I hear the SRT's arent real nice with computer tuning.

It was definitely an SRT8 manual. Not sure what years they offered them, but they do offer them in 2009.

Jim

 

[ttypewhite]

Any of the Hemi's are 4000 plus pounds never mind the SRT8's. I had put my Dad's Hemi 300C on the scales at Bowling Green and it lit up the scales at 4080 pounds with a half tank of gas in it (nobody inside). Weight kills, I am surprised they didn't make options with this car with weight breaks from the factory. At 3100-3300 pounds this sucker would haul some serious a$$.

 

[boostedgm]

t-type white that is a very nice looking t,anyway i raced almost all the new hemi whatever cars dodge and cry-slur put out in all model forms. i beat all of them with no mercy in my z28. there all hype,but look good.

 

[Quint]

I would just take the regular R/T 370 horse version and drive her just like this. Sure you can open it up and make it much faster then a 14 sec ride, but its still going to get beat but something else much more Aero or less weight restricted, thats meant to be fast. These cars are heavy weight cruisers, but they can drag ok as well for bonus reasons. Hennessy built one and still only managed 11 sec slips? Again, these cars a just Cool cruisers, meant to be driven every day in comfort.