Engine Details
After 25 years, the Dodge Challenger returns in its 3rd generation starting with the SRT8. The Challenger has been sold in so many specific models that you need a cheat sheet to keep them all straight—R/T Shaker, Rallye Redline, Scat Pack, Hellcat, Redeye and a one-year-only Demon equipped with a supercharged Hemi capable of making 840 mind-blowing horsepower, to name just a few. (1)
Chasis and Suspension
“We solved this equation back in the ’60s,” says Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis, who sold a big-block ’71 Challenger R/T he’d lovingly restored himself to finance the purchase of a Demon. “Take a mainstream car, put more horsepower in it, put more tire underneath it, put in more brakes to stop it, and bingo! People went, ‘Yep, that’s it. That’s just what I want. Make it louder. Make it bolder. Make it faster. I want THAT.’ As a result, we’re selling more Challengers now than we sold when the car was invented.” (1)
Interior
The reason was that new production car had to be built on the existing LX platform, which was the foundation of the much larger 300 and Magnum. Essentially, the chassis of the Challenger is a Charger with two fewer doors and the wheelbase whittled down by four inches. With the hard points fixed, the design team ended up with a car that was considerably longer and wider than the original Challenger—and a whopping 1400 pounds heavier. (1)(1) https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/the-story-of-the-modern-challenger-from-2008-to-the-present-day/
Exterior
By the time DaimlerChryler decided to roll out the Challenger for the 2008 full model run, it was too late. So they came up with the SRT8 version, the only model made that first year. Because of this, they all came equipped with the hefty 6.1-liter Hemi and non with a V-6.
