2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392
Power to spare
Last year’s SRT-8 packed a 6.1 liter HEMI V-8 and produced 425 horsepower, hardly making it a slouch. The new engine ups the ante to 470 horsepower and 470 lb-ft. of torque. More of a good thing.
That second number is important because the Chrysler engineers wanted to dramatically increase the way Challenger drivers perceive the “shove in the back” delivered through the six-speed Tremec manual or five-speed Mercedes-Benz-designed automatic transmission. The additional displacement and new tuning is apparent from throttle tip-in; this engine is stronger across the rev band and feels genuinely heroic at times.
The old SRT8 was occasionally less than magic on a racetrack, mostly due to an unwillingness to negotiate low-speed corners. This year’s car features new shock absorbers, revised suspension bushings and grip-friendly negative camber on all four corners. The improvement is apparent from our first turn at Sonoma’s Infineon Raceway, where the Challenger hangs on gamely through the slow stuff and holds additional corner speed in the fast back section.
Grip is up to 0.93 g’s on the skidpad, Dodge says, but numbers only go so far to explain the wholly revised driving experience.
It’s a real pleasure to steer and although it will never trouble a modern Corvette on-track, a 370Z might not be completely safe.
Inaugural Package shines
Get your order in quickly, because 1,492 2011 Challenger SRT8s will be available as the “Inaugural Package,” featuring racing stripes and rather outrageous interior. Our sources say that all of the available cars have been spoken for, either through customer pre-orders or dealer inventory requests, so be prepared to pay solid money to get behind the wheel of one.
The package is strictly cosmetic, however; all the go-fast stuff can be found beneath the skin of every 2011 SRT-8 model.
We have plenty of laps around Infineon under our belt, and although our time in the Challenger was limited, we feel confident in predicting that it will stay close to a Ford Shelby GT500 in most situations and probably put a little gap on the Chevrolet Camaro SS. You can’t beat the laws of physics, but with this latest round of suspension tuning the Dodge boys have managed to make it a pleasure to steer this rather large and bulky coupe around a racetrack.
Entering Infineon’s Turn One at over 100 mph will make a believer out of all but the staunchest domestic denigrator.
