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DRIVEN: Muscle For The Family Man
Dodge Charger SRT8 puts classic Hemi torque into a four-door sedan with up-to-date handling and brakes.
Dodge Charger SRT8 is a modern, more-practical spin on old-school muscle. (Photo: Dodge)
For those of us old enough to have lived through the 1960s and clearheaded enough to actually remember them, muscle cars will always have a special place.
With no disrespect to today’s efficient turbo fours and high-revving V6s, there’s nothing quite like a classic American V8 engine. It still brings thrills to stab the go pedal, feel gobs of torque in the seat and listen to the basso profundo V8 rumble as you go through the gears.
Ah, memories.
But before I wax too rhapsodic about the joys of the ’60s, it’s all too true that most of the muscle cars from the halcyon days of the Rolling Stones and the Stooges were real pigs to drive – fast, yes, but too often with sloppy handing and weak brakes. Go hit a good road course like Road Atlanta or Buttonwillow Raceway Park with, say, a big-block 1970 Chevelle SS or Plymouth Road Runner and you’ll be screaming for mercy and scared witless within a lap or two. Not to mention in dire need of an underwear change.
And besides, if you’re of the age that you can remember muscle cars, you’re probably also old enough to have kids, a real job and a strong desire to not pay your chiropractor any more money than you have to. Thus, the three iconic American muscle cars still on the market — Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger — may not fit your current lifestyle.
But there is an alternative.
And it’s one that will allow you to have a semi-sensible daily driver when you need one while remaining in a state of perpetual arrested adolescence when you don’t.
It’s called the 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8 and it’s pretty damned close to the best of both worlds, at least in terms of common sense and big fun.
Let’s get the important stuff out of the way first: Yes, this thing does have a Hemi. Specifically, the SRT8 comes standard with a 6.4-liter, 470-horsepower motor with enough ‘nads to propel it from a standing start to 60 miles per hour in less than 5 seconds and the quarter-mile in the high 12-second range. Keep your foot in it and the Charger SRT8 will go all the way to a top end of 175 mph. And it nails all the tactile stuff perfectly: It sounds great, has a great rumble and pushes you back hard in the seat when you nail the throttle.
Unfortunately, all that power and performance comes at a steep price. EPA estimated fuel mileage is just 14 mpg city/23 highway and 17 combined, not very good in this day and age.
The only transmission available is a five-speed automatic that comes with paddle shifters mounted on the steering column.
Under the hood, the Charger SRT8 has more than enough street cred to satisfy the lustful cravings of a vintage muscle-car aficionado. Wisely, though, Dodge has considered – and compensated for – most of the realities of 2012.
Thus, the Charger has four doors instead of two. Not as cool, perhaps, as two but infinitely more practical. Real adults can sit in the back seat, though as a guy who is 6-foot-4, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to ride cross-country in the rear seat. Headroom is a little tight, given the steeply swept roofline.
With no disrespect to today’s efficient turbo fours and high-revving V6s, there’s nothing quite like a classic American V8 engine. It still brings thrills to stab the go pedal, feel gobs of torque in the seat and listen to the basso profundo V8 rumble as you go through the gears.
Ah, memories.
But before I wax too rhapsodic about the joys of the ’60s, it’s all too true that most of the muscle cars from the halcyon days of the Rolling Stones and the Stooges were real pigs to drive – fast, yes, but too often with sloppy handing and weak brakes. Go hit a good road course like Road Atlanta or Buttonwillow Raceway Park with, say, a big-block 1970 Chevelle SS or Plymouth Road Runner and you’ll be screaming for mercy and scared witless within a lap or two. Not to mention in dire need of an underwear change.
And besides, if you’re of the age that you can remember muscle cars, you’re probably also old enough to have kids, a real job and a strong desire to not pay your chiropractor any more money than you have to. Thus, the three iconic American muscle cars still on the market — Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger — may not fit your current lifestyle.
But there is an alternative.
And it’s one that will allow you to have a semi-sensible daily driver when you need one while remaining in a state of perpetual arrested adolescence when you don’t.
It’s called the 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8 and it’s pretty damned close to the best of both worlds, at least in terms of common sense and big fun.
Let’s get the important stuff out of the way first: Yes, this thing does have a Hemi. Specifically, the SRT8 comes standard with a 6.4-liter, 470-horsepower motor with enough ‘nads to propel it from a standing start to 60 miles per hour in less than 5 seconds and the quarter-mile in the high 12-second range. Keep your foot in it and the Charger SRT8 will go all the way to a top end of 175 mph. And it nails all the tactile stuff perfectly: It sounds great, has a great rumble and pushes you back hard in the seat when you nail the throttle.
Unfortunately, all that power and performance comes at a steep price. EPA estimated fuel mileage is just 14 mpg city/23 highway and 17 combined, not very good in this day and age.
The only transmission available is a five-speed automatic that comes with paddle shifters mounted on the steering column.
Under the hood, the Charger SRT8 has more than enough street cred to satisfy the lustful cravings of a vintage muscle-car aficionado. Wisely, though, Dodge has considered – and compensated for – most of the realities of 2012.
Thus, the Charger has four doors instead of two. Not as cool, perhaps, as two but infinitely more practical. Real adults can sit in the back seat, though as a guy who is 6-foot-4, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to ride cross-country in the rear seat. Headroom is a little tight, given the steeply swept roofline.
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