First year with a Challenger

[miker]

Had the chance to try out the handling on some tracks in the last 12 months but haven't been on a drag strip yet.

Maybe it is time to think about Santa Pod?

[Pete]

Cracking looking car - you will LOVE giving it a battering on the 1/4 mile!!!!

[miker]

Thanks Pete, appreciate the comment.

I'll be needing plenty of advice and guidance from MMA's drag strip specialists before trying anything on the hallowed ground in Northants.

[Pete]

No worries, I am sure there will be lots of members to take you through the Process and the Staging / Launch / Return road drill.

Pick your date from the Santa Pod Calendar and post up here and I bet someone will offer their assistance

[miker]

RWYB - Prescott Speed Hill Climb style!

"Staging" (learning the terminology already , thanks to Pete ) a Hemi, followed by a Blower Bentley.

[Mossy68]

Just seen this.
Great stuff Mike. It's what it is made for.
I would personally like to hear a lot more on your personal view of the car. Handeling , power delivery etc
Certainly love to see it run the 1/4 at the Nats

[autofetish]

Nice very nice

[Pete]

Great pictures - I think I can see a "Connected" magazine article in the making

It would be good to get it lined up with JerryAmmo's Challenger at the Nats for a Shoot out...

[miker]

It would be good to get it lined up with JerryAmmo's Challenger at the Nats for a Shoot out...

Would love to, and hoping that Jerry can transfer some of his straight-line specialist skills to me in advance. Unfortunately, it can't be this year as I am already booked in for the Retro Run at the Silverstone Classic which is on the same dates as the MOPAR EuroNats. Gives me more time to learn about the manual tranny version of this "stage and launch" malarkey.

[db]

Great pics!

[miker]

Great stuff Mike. It's what it is made for.
I would personally like to hear a lot more on your personal view of the car. Handeling , power delivery etc

Gary,

Thanks for asking. After a year with my Challenger SRT8 and having had the chance to explore the handling on a number of closed road circuits I can report both very stable and confidence-inspiring handling. It's an interesting chassis setup with Mercedes derived front and rear multi-link suspension, developed during the Daimler-Chrysler period, coupled to a conventional limited slip differential. The ESP system is not intrusive though it would take a braver man than I to turn it fully off, in a track situation.

The 6-speed manual Tremec transmission in my car is a joy to use especially on winding A-roads, while in town you can rely on the massive in-gear torque available from the 6.1 litre HEMI without having to work up and down the gearbox. The ride benefits from the long wheelbase and is nicely compliant on coils and Bilstein gas shocks, though there is no getting away from the near two tonne weight and the laws of physics which will always prevail.

Overall I'd say that the performance and handling is right up there with other large, powerful, heavy-weight European V8 GTs from the likes of Jaguar, Aston Martin, BMW and Bentley but offering amazing value for money to those comfortable with LHD.

[Mossy68]

Great stuff Mike. It's what it is made for.
I would personally like to hear a lot more on your personal view of the car. Handeling , power delivery etc

Gary,

Thanks for asking. After a year with my Challenger SRT8 and having had the chance to explore the handling on a number of closed road circuits I can report both very stable and confidence-inspiring handling. It's an interesting chassis setup with Mercedes derived front and rear multi-link suspension, developed during the Daimler-Chrysler period, coupled to a conventional limited slip differential. The ESP system is not intrusive though it would take a braver man than I to turn it fully off, in a track situation.

The 6-speed manual Tremec transmission in my car is a joy to use especially on winding A-roads, while in town you can rely on the massive in-gear torque available from the 6.1 litre HEMI without having to work up and down the gearbox. The ride benefits from the long wheelbase and is nicely compliant on coils and Bilstein gas shocks, though there is no getting away from the near two tonne weight and the laws of physics which will always prevail.

Overall I'd say that the performance and handling is right up there with other large, powerful, heavy-weight European V8 GTs from the likes of Jaguar, Aston Martin, BMW and Bentley but offering amazing value for money to those comfortable with LHD.

Fantastic !!!!! Thanks Mike.
I love to hear peoples own views on these cars. We are all individuals of course , but still a report like this can give others something to work with if they ever have the oportunity to drive , or even thinking of buying one.
I look forward to future updates.

[miker]

Gary,

I should have mentioned that there is also the odd occasion when you are really glad if the ESP does kick in!

[Gas for GOSH]

Mike – definitely do it at Santa Pod. In the 2008 6.1 SRT8 I had last year I tried a couple of options. A) leave it in drive with ESP on and just hit the pedal hard B) turn off ESP and use Autostick to change up. Time slip shows second option quicker at 60ft and 330ft, first option edged it at the end 13.6 secs at 104mph. Street tyres, no tweaks. Just to give you an idea.

The Pod is a good place to turn off the ESP – grippy surface, only run when its dry, no bends! The Autostick should not threaten your gearbox….when I tried the car I didn’t change up at red line just to see if you could go a little beyond red line but Autostick changed up any way. So it won’t make massive difference, just makes you feel you’ve got a bit more input…but it was interesting to see no ESP and Autostick worked better at the start.

Keep having fun with it - Simon

[miker]

Simon,

Thanks for the tips, much appreciated. Mine's a 6-speed manual, so some nice smooth left foot work needed too.