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2009 Dodge Challenger SE, R/T, and SRT8 - Auto Shows

And now, the rest of the gang: Dodge unveils the Challengers you’ll actually be able to buy.

BY STEVE SILER
March 2008

Dodge has carefully orchestrated an unusual buildup for the triumphal return of its storied Challenger muscle car. First, it showed a fetching concept—not abnormal—but when time came to show a production variant, the high-performance 425-hp SRT8 was shown first, long before the rest of the line. You know, the ones that most of us will actually ever get the chance to own—less potent and less expensive V-8 and V-6 models to compete with the refreshed Ford Mustang and upcoming Chevrolet Camaro.

This would be like BMW launching the M5 before the 5-series, or Audi showing us the RS 4 before the A4. Usually, automakers make us wait months—years even—to see the hopped-up versions. The Challenger intro is the marketing equivalent of going all in on the first hand at a table in Vegas.

Well, in this case, the campaign has worked. By first launching the 2008 Challenger SRT8, a near-clone of the wildly popular concept, before the more bourgeois versions, which presumably would be a step or two down from the concept, Dodge has mitigated some of that let-down feeling each time we see a concept car make it to the streets. But now—drum roll, please—it’s time to see the rest of the muscle-bound 2009 Challenger gang set to join their leader on the streets this fall.

Authentic Looks

At the 2008 New York auto show, Dodge served up the SE and R/T models of the Challenger, and happily, they appear just as close to the SRT8 as the SRT8 is to the concept. Indeed, the most vivid differences between the plebeian Challengers and the SRT8 involve the wheels (17-inch wheels are standard on the SE; 18s on the R/T, with optional 20s) and the lack of hood stripes. The R/T also has a color-keyed rear spoiler, whereas the SRT’s is black.

Perhaps the most interesting thing we can say about the design after this phase of the reveal, however, is that for all the praise the SRT8 has received for adhering to the design philosophy of the original Challenger, it’s the spoilerless Challenger SE model, with its skinny 215/65 tires, that actually looks closest to the original.

Hemi V-8 Gets More Ponies and a Manual Tranny

Unlike some R/T models in Dodge’s lineup, the Challenger version earns its storied suffix with a real engine and real performance cred. Like the Chrysler 300C, the Challenger R/T will be powered by Chrysler’s Hemi V-8, but for 2009 (as shown first in the Ram pickup) all 5.7-liter Hemis get a significant bump in power as well as (for the first time with any of Chrysler’s revived Hemis) a six-speed manual-transmission option (which will also be available on the 2009 SRT8, by the way) in place of the five-speed automatic seen in most other applications.

When installed under the hood of the Challenger R/T, the 5.7 is up 30 horsepower and eight pound-feet of torque, to 370 and 398, respectively. But real bragging rights come when the engine is paired with the pistol-grip stick, whence it produces 375 horsepower and 404 pound-feet of tire-melting torque. Chrysler says Challenger R/Ts—which weigh 130 pounds less than the 4150-pound SRT8, will hit 60 mph in “under six seconds,” which seems rather conservative given that we’ve hit 60 in nearly five flat in Mustang GTs with 75 fewer horsepower and 84 fewer pound-feet, although the Mustang has a roughly 400-pound weight advantage over the Challenger.

Challenger SE models should have little to apologize for, either, equipped with Chrysler’s smooth 3.5-liter, 24-valve V-6 making 250 horsepower and 250 pound-feet of torque. Unfortunately, the only transmission available is Chrysler’s four-speed automatic. A couple more gears would certainly help the V-6 models offer a real advantage here and would make the Challe