Just for comparison, in this week's SRT Engineers' Chat Session, the topic of top speed came up. This is what they said about the 2009 SRT 6-speed:
"The SRT8 at 130 mph generates about 60 lbs of downforce at the rear and about 150 lbs of lift at the front. That is MUCH better than most manufacturers in the industry who make much more lift. The R/T is less aggressive on both ends. The SRT airdam is better than the R/T one. You want aero understeer in the car to compensate for the natural instability as speed increases. This is why racecars have more wing in the back than splitter in the front. More down always feels better, but we have to balance aero downforce with drag.
The fastest I have gotten the '09 Challenger SRT8 up to is 181 mph (rev limiter in 5th, manual trans) with a tailwind on our test oval. Our full scale wind tunnel goes up to 140 mph. There is not much reynolds effect on the Challenger, so the aero numbers stay proportional with speed."
Last edited by Cuda340; 12-05-2009 at 03:16 AM.