Dodge has given a group of journalists the chance to test drive the high-performance SRT8 edition of its new Challenger muscle car, and they came away almost universally impressed with the beastly power of the thing, but find a few gripes elsewhere.
Scott Burgess of the Detroit News reports, "Only after hitting 115 mph on the downhill straightaway of Willow Springs Raceway can I can report back that the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8, which hits dealerships this May, is better than the original. The first Challenger would have never handled the blind uphill corners as easily as this chiseled machine." The 6.1-liter Hemi V8 in the SRT8 (borrowed from the Charger SRT8) puts out 425 horsepower, and Burgess reports, "After a single lap on the track, it'll leave you grinning. Two laps and you're laughing."
Car and Driver agrees, saying the Hemi gives the Challenger "street cred, hitting 60 mph in 4.8 seconds, charging through the quarter-mile in 13.3 at 108 mph, and running to a drag-limited top speed of 168 mph." However, they report, "Missing from the equation was a great sense of steering feel." They also questioned the reliability of the brakes, noting that even in a car Dodge uses to try to impress reporters, the brakes were already "worn out under constant abuse."
Motor Trend loved the power as well, boasting, "The good old days are now." They didn't just run one 0-60 test. Instead, they note, "The SRT8 will lay down repeatable 4.7s run after run." But they, too, found the steering "almost too well-mannered," without enough feel for a performance car. In addition, they found the lack of a manual transmission "a glaring omission."
Popular Mechanics, however, did something automotive reporters almost never do when they get behind the wheel of a V8-powered muscle car: they took it easy. They report, "what surprised us the most about the Challenger SRT8 was its civility. Power is abundant, but never to the point that we couldn't rein her in. Our two-hour highway drive home from Willow Springs was quiet and smooth -- characteristics more akin to a grand touring car than a muscle car."
What were they thinking?
Read about the Challenger and all of its competition with U.S. News' car rankings and reviews.
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