Challenger SRT-8 at the Track

T

turbojimmy

Supporting Member
Joined
May 26, 2001
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
 
DRIVERS can make all the difference in the world :cool: I see 10 sec Buicks runnin in the 12/13s.. It's NOT the cars fault :p
 
Grumpy said:
DRIVERS can make all the difference in the world :cool: I see 10 sec Buicks runnin in the 12/13s.. It's NOT the cars fault :p
Click to expand...

True. There wasn't much traction, and it was on those large-diameter street tires (what are they 18s? 20s?). I thought the MPH would be a lot higher though.

Jim
 
They sure are purty though. Have seen three different ones on the road around here in the past week. Looks wise they have it all over the new Camaro and Mustang. Let Grumpy have at it on one of those Challengers and it will be a lot quicker.:D
 
hahahaha... lots of quick NEW cars out there.. I am at the track 2/3 days a week .. I don't miss much .. :p another GOOD example is the new Shelbys and Vette's .. lots are "slow" BUT a "few" are flyin!! oh ya those damm Mercedes .. mid 11s in a damm station wagon that you wouldn't give a second look to.. only "bad" thing about all these cars is the price BUT look at the $$$ dealers wanted for "muscle cars" when they were new :eek:
 
turbojimmy said:
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
Click to expand...

Tell Brother to put his ass in one and drive it before he changes his mind that fast.....:wink:
 
JOHNDEEREGN said:
Tell Brother to put his ass in one and drive it before he changes his mind that fast.....:wink:
Click to expand...

Yeah, he should. He's waiting on a local dealer to call him on a black R/T 6-speed that they have on the way. They're much easier to get in and out of, and see out of, than the F-bodies. They really are good looking cars, too. Far better than any of the 'retro' cars on the market.

Jim

Ooops - posted under my brother's account.
 
At least, in the "looks" department, the Challenger is much, much nicer that the ugly new Camaro! :D

Claude. :)
 
The type of gas the Challenger is running will make a difference too. My uncle had a '97 C5 Corvette automatic 2.73 gear. He ran 87 octane and it ran 14.0's- 13.80s. I bought the car off him, the only thing I did was run 94 Sunoco in it all the time. I got it down to 13.20s. Octane makes a difference. Driver does too, especially with a manual.
 
Challengers are heavy aren't they? Around 4000 lbs I believe....doesn't help much in the acceleration department. Nice looking ride though.
 
79TurboCutlass said:
The type of gas the Challenger is running will make a difference too. My uncle had a '97 C5 Corvette automatic 2.73 gear. He ran 87 octane and it ran 14.0's- 13.80s. I bought the car off him, the only thing I did was run 94 Sunoco in it all the time. I got it down to 13.20s. Octane makes a difference. Driver does too, especially with a manual.
Click to expand...
With 87 octane, I'm surprised that it ran at all. Wasn't it rated for 91 octane minimum?
 
Not suprised myself. Im sure the driver played a role for sure but it sounds like a pig anyway.
 
My buddy had an SRT8 Cherokee. I ran 13.7. So the Challenger should be faster than that. The fastest SRT8 Jeep I saw ran a 13.5. Just saying what I saw with my own eyes. There may be faster/slower ones out there. But there must have been traction issues or something with the Challenger. Go back and try it again. :biggrin:
 
I'ld go with the new G8 GXP or a regular G8 for nice comfy daily driver that has potential. The got a real back seat for passengers and good creature comforts.
 
JOHNDEEREGN said:
Drove the Challenger, rode in the Camaro... Camaro will eat it alive:wink:
Click to expand...
True, I agree with you...:wink: I was just talking about the appearance of the car, not it's performance...:rolleyes: ...and I also agree that it's a matter of personal taste...:). I think the Camaro is U-G-L-Y, period. :tongue:

Claude. :)
 
Sweet6 said:
My buddy had an SRT8 Cherokee. I ran 13.7. So the Challenger should be faster than that. The fastest SRT8 Jeep I saw ran a 13.5. Just saying what I saw with my own eyes. There may be faster/slower ones out there. But there must have been traction issues or something with the Challenger. Go back and try it again. :biggrin:
Click to expand...
The Cherokee's are idiot-proof at the track as long as they leave an area to drive around the water box. All you have to do is point & shoot. The AWD takes care of the rest.

My Jeep only has a Borla cat-back & a MOPAR CAI. My personal best was a 13.2 @ 104 with a 60-foot of 1.8X. The Jeep was loaded with a metric fu(k ton of Dynamat, a sub box for two Kicker solo 10s & amp, plus random crap in the back as well as a damn-near-full tank of gas. Hell, my first run down the track was a 13.5 and that was with a buddy of mine riding shotgun. :D

A buddy of mine has one running high 12's with nothing but a CAI & exhaust. Most of them run this way. And they respond to heavier mods like heads/cam, forced induction, etc. really well.

Here's a 10-second Jeep (Turbo 426 Stroker)
YouTube - WORLD'S QUICKEST Jeep SRT8: 10.75 1/4 Mile Pass

YouTube - World's Fastest Jeep SRT8 - 10.88 @ 130 mph


Yea, the Chally is a pig. But I am going to say there was some serious driver error going on with those runs. That car should be running MUCH better than low 14's.
 
I agree. The Camaro is ugly. The Challenger up close is just a great looking car all around. A local dealer here keeps saying they're waiting on a Black R/T with the Tremec M6 and I'm first on the list for a phone call. The R/T has 370HP compared to 425 from the SRT but the R/T is $10K less which is a little more in my price range. It's worth taking for a test drive to say the least.

As far as perfomance, if it can get out of it's own way I don't really care. If I feel like laying the smack down, I can always keep the Buick around.
 
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