The Challenger SRT Super Stock: Muscular charm

The modern day Dodge Challenger has extended been recognised as the most genuine interpretation of a fashionable muscle auto. Ford’s Mustang ostensibly had the segment to by itself when Dodge introduced the retro-motivated machine back again in 2008 (the Chevrolet Camaro had bowed out in 2002 and wouldn’t return right until 2010), and by that time Ford was commencing to change the Mustang’s focus away from its muscle mass car roots toward that of a more svelte, high-revving sporting activities coupe.

Dodge chose to consider a various method when reviving the Challenger nameplate, shortening and widening their present LX whole-sizing sedan architecture to give the car the proper actual physical proportions as very well as a appreciably bigger footprint. The method contributed to the Challenger’s supplemental poundage versus its rivals, which negatively impacted its effectiveness prospective, but it also endowed it with extra usable storage and interior room as perfectly as higher overall presence—factors that served the Challenger turn into the major seller in its section for the to start with time in history final year. 

It wasn’t an overnight sensation, while. Before long right after its debut the Challenger confronted stiff levels of competition from both equally Ford and Chevrolet as they dished out at any time-more-capable iterations of the Mustang and Camaro. But in excess of time, Dodge engineers refined the Challenger formulation, and by 2018, they experienced a reputable globe-beater with the Challenger SRT Demon. 

Billed as a drag car or truck for the street, the 840-horsepower Demon was the quickest production vehicle ever crafted, capable of hitting 60 miles for each hour in 2.3 seconds on the way to a Nationwide Hot Rod Affiliation-certified quarter mile time of 9.65 seconds. And if you received the start just correct, the Demon would even pop a wheelie. 

But creation of the Demon was minimal to just 3,300 cars and trucks for the United States and Canada for a single model 12 months, and it did not acquire prolonged for Dodge to fill the get publications. Although the Demon’s motor and other powertrain components lived on in somewhat-detuned sort in the additional road-welcoming 797-hp Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye, a lot of would-be Demon customers have been continue to left wanting a more purposeful street-authorized drag auto to phone their own. 

But now, just after a thing of a grace period of time for Demon owners (alongside with COVID-similar output delays), Dodge has unleashed the Challenger SRT Super Stock. Not bound by production limitations, the Tremendous Stock basically serves as a center floor involving the Jack-of-all-trades Hellcat Redeye and the bonkers, restricted-version Demon, and it comes packing an array of effectiveness components that is aimed at acquiring this Challenger down the drag strip a lot quicker than the car or truck in the other lane. But Dodge also insists that the Tremendous Stock is not a “Diet Demon.” We made a decision to spend a 7 days with the 807-horsepower brute to suss out exactly what the new deal entails. 

Satisfy the Tremendous Stock

Taking its moniker from a drag-racing course developed for highly modified production cars and trucks, the Super Inventory bundle delivers a variety of upgrades that go earlier mentioned and beyond the normal Challenger SRT Hellcat. It commences with the large fender flares that appear as component of the Widebody deal, a procedure that stretches the car’s overall width by a few and a fifty percent inches in order to accommodate the 315mm-extensive Nitto NT05R drag radials that are outfitted at all 4 corners. 

These tires are wrapped all over the same 18×11-inch wheels that the Demon rolled close to on, somewhat than the 20-inch wheels that are generally common devices on Hellcat types. Although the scaled-down wheel diameter permits for extra tire sidewall in the same sum of area, giving a mechanical advantage in the course of drag racing launches, the big six-piston Brembo calipers and 15.7-inch rotors that comprise the Challenger SRT Hellcat’s standard entrance brake technique wouldn’t healthy driving the smaller wheels. In order to make it all get the job done, Dodge engineers experienced to switch the lesser Brembo technique that was made use of on the Demon, which consists of 14.2-inch discs and 4-piston calipers.

The Super Inventory also rides on a established of uniquely tuned, electronically-controlled Bilstein dampers that aid the suspension make better use of the sticky drag tires, but it’s not outfitted with the Demon’s other one of a kind suspension elements, like its drag-tuned springs and light-weight pounds sway bars. Despite the fact that the Demon was civil out on the avenue, its suspension tuning prioritized body weight transfer to rear wheels higher than all else for a lot more steady drag launches, and it resulted in less physique command all through other maneuvers like cornering and braking. 

The Super Stock, meanwhile, will get a much more standard suspension tune that’s nearer in line with the typical Hellcat Redeye, and it provides the car a extra buttoned-down come to feel all round. 

But as with all higher-general performance Challengers, what lurks beneath the hood is the true star of the exhibit. Right here it is a modified edition of the Hellcat Redeye’s supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8. The motor usually would make 797 horsepower and 707 pound-toes of torque, but the Super Stock gets a distinctive software program calibration that raises the redline from 6,300 rpm to 6,400 rpm and bumps the peak output to a healthy 807 horsepower. Also together for the trip is the SRT Power Chiller that debuted on the Demon, a procedure that diverts refrigerant from the air conditioning program to interesting air-intake temperatures for superior on-track general performance. All of that grunt is routed to the rear wheels by way of an eight-speed automatic transmission that features various shift scheduling and in general actions centered on the travel mode picked. 

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The Tremendous Inventory also will come packing a lot of go-quickly tech to help put all of that energy to very good use. While it eschews the Demon’s finicky Trans Brake characteristic (which enables the engine to make torque even though remaining stationary for extra forceful launches by locking the output shaft), it does come with a variety of other methods that are aimed squarely at having the car to competently place the muscle to the pavement. Alongside with a typical start management program that holds the engine revs at a specified degree till you facet-phase the brake pedal, the Super Stock also has Start Assist, a method that’s intended to detect and eliminate oscillations in the rear suspension as the auto is accelerating. 

Also on hand is Torque Reserve, which permits the supercharged engine to build strengthen tension although the motor vehicle is stationary, and a Race Cooldown method which is made to minimize the results of supercharger heat soak by keeping the engine supporters and reduced-temperature circuit coolant pump operating following the engine has been shut down. Also aiding in the pursuit of swift quarter mile periods is the drag-centered Monitor push manner which, amongst other changes, tweaks the shocks’ compression and rebound characteristics to offer far better traction when launching the vehicle from a standstill.  

Drive the massive crimson button

Our loaded tester auto ($97,711 with location cost) was outfitted with quite a few optional offers that convey suede-like Alcantara and serious carbon fiber into the inside, but the cabin is normally typically standard Challenger fare. The excellent news is that the Tremendous Stock is just as comfortable for prolonged stints driving the wheel as any SRT Challenger we’ve appear throughout due to the fact 2015, and there’s nevertheless acres of head and leg home, even for taller passengers. And if this particular case in point were being optioned with a again seat, it would possibly be just as usable as the again seats in other Challenger versions that we have analyzed, much too. (Like the Demon, the rear seat of the Super Stock can be deleted for 1 greenback to shave off some bodyweight for improved efficiency. If so optioned, a cargo internet is mounted in its spot.)

Although the Challenger’s infotainment appears to be like a little bit dated by present-day expectations, it has seen a amount of hardware and software package updates considering the fact that the 8.4-inch Uconnect 4 technique debuted in 2015. As a outcome it still offers an intuitive menu format and quick reaction to consumer inputs, and the SRT Dashboard functions well as a centralized pathway into all of the car’s various general performance parameters, generate modes, and telemetry details. But it’s however a technology at the rear of the newest Uconnect devices in vehicles like the Dodge Durango and Ram 1500, and it’s a bummer that the Challenger nonetheless lacks modern-day capabilities like wi-fi Apple CarPlay. 

A great deal of troubles appear to vanish when you drive the big red ignition button, although. A cold start brings the supercharged Hemi V8 to life with a quintessential muscle car or truck roar, but the moment all the things arrives up to running temperature, the lively exhaust process settles down to rumble which is a little bit much more community-helpful. 

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If you can keep your foot out of it, driving the Super Stock all-around city in the default Car travel manner can be a incredibly mellow working experience. The suspension is not pretty as compliant as the Demon’s tremendous-comfortable spring fees were being, but the ride high quality is arguably better than a regular Hellcat Redeye thanks to the more sidewall made available by individuals major drag radials. In the meantime the eight-velocity automatic is effective quietly in the background to guarantee it is in the most efficient equipment when the car or truck is in its default push method. 

Prod it with some throttle, even though, and this muscle motor vehicle reveals its legitimate nature. A deliberate stab of the loud pedal provides sonic savagery from the V8 and its twin-screw blower, and regardless of the ultra-broad drag rubber, the Super Inventory will mild up the tires at freeway speeds prior to the electronics intervene to obtain all the things back up. 

On a drag strip surface area with the appropriate technique, the Tremendous Stock is able of hitting 60 mph from a standstill in 3.25 seconds on the way to a 10.5-2nd quarter mile time, and it will not enable up right until it hits its electronically-limited best velocity of 168 mph. (A regular Challenger Hellcat Redeye will blow previous 200 mph just before it operates out of steam, but the design of the drag radial tires boundaries terminal velocity to 168 mph.) 

Replicating all those acceleration quantities isn’t a uncomplicated level-and-shoot affair, nevertheless. Even if launch management is established conservatively for the ailments, the drag radial will continue to go up in smoke if the highway surface or other situational circumstances aren’t fairly to the Super Stock’s liking, so extracting its total opportunity tends to get a bit of trial and mistake. But if you get it appropriate, this major coupe is able of rivaling some of the quickest performance cars on the marketplace today. It’s also surprisingly superior in the corners thanks to the abundance of grip on tap, but the downgraded brakes retain spirited operates by means of the canyons fairly brief. 

As with most present day Challengers, the Tremendous Stock is genuinely in its ingredient when you’re out cruising or blasting down the highway. Whilst the package brings a more robust emphasis on drag strip functionality, the Tremendous Stock is continue to additional of an day-to-day scorching rod than a objective-crafted drag strip terror. And even however the platform’s age has been showing for some time now, it continue to provides muscular allure by the bucketful.