2006 SEMA Show




Dodge Challenger Super Stock


What is it?
Dodge Challenger Super Stock

What's special about it?
One of only two Dodge Challenger concept bodies built, the Dodge Challenger Super Stock is designed to commemorate the legacy of the 392 Hemi. With the introduction of the Super Stock concept, Chrysler also announced the release of the 392 Hemi crate motor, available with either fuel-injected or carbureted induction.

The 6.4-liter fuel-injected Hemi in the Super Stock concept utilizes 10.5:1 compression, twin-plug cylinder heads, forged pistons, a forged crankshaft and forged connecting rods to generate 525 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque. The engine is available completely assembled, with a plug-and-play wiring harness.

Skunkworks engineers, the in-house group of enthusiasts responsible for many Chrysler concept cars and performance parts, made significant changes to the LX platform on which both the original Challenger concept and the production car are based to create the Super Stock. Most significant is the absence of the platform's independent rear suspension. A live axle, complete with — get this — leaf springs, is utilized to reduce wheel hop and improve straight-line performance. A set of Mark Williams axles improves the rear end's durability. American Racing wheels and Goodyear slicks put power to the ground.

Ralph Gillies, DaimlerChrysler's vice president of design, told us the car would likely be capable of high 9- or low 10-second quarter-mile times. Based on the way it shook the rafters in the Las Vegas Convention Center's South Hall when a DCX official brought the Hemi to life, we believe him.

What's Edmunds' take?
Even though the paint scheme on the Super Stock concept emulates the colors used by the Sox and Martin race team on its Super Stock Plymouth Barracudas back in 1970 (Dick Landy raced Dodge Challengers), we can't deny this car embodies the spirit of the original Super Stock drag-racing class. At the very least it's proof that the minds at Mopar eat, drink and sleep gasoline and burnouts. And that's something we can respect. — Josh Jacquot

 

something isnt right in the numbers here..

the challenger concept weighs 4160lbs. i would assume that this one is lighter, but how much lighter could it really be? it has 540bhp...assuming a drivetrain loss of 18%, that would put about 442 to the wheels. with that amount of whp, the car would need to weigh about 2250lbs to break into the high 9s. granted, i am using a "track calculator" which doesnt account for all factors such as gearing and altitude, but the bottom line is that 540bhp isnt going to put a 4100lb car any where near the 9s. these writers who "believe him", probably havent ever been to a track, or turned a wrench on a drag car to know what is actually needed to run in the 9s. curt george's challenger ran low 9s, and he had something like 1100hp...

 

Here is my question. Why does the carberated version put out more hp than the fuel injected version? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the fuel injection system is a EFI, instead of a SFI system as the 6.1L version has. Wouldn't the hp and tq be better if they used a SFI or a Multiport system.

 

simply mindblowing.

thanks for adding some proper perspective.

 

i honestly have no idea...there has to be something changed more than just the type of aspiration. my guess is that the carbed model uses a "better" intake manifold. SO many people who build the modern dodge V8s (such as in the trucks) are quick to buy the mopar M1 intake manifold, but it is single plane, and single plane manifolds provide more advantage at high rpm. i ran a single plane manifold on the mirada for a very short time, and it killed the bottom end. we purchased an intake for amandas truck, but they only seem to make them with MPFI in single plane, and i didnt want to take anything off of the bottom end, and in the 5.9 magnum, the engine is virtually worthless above 6 grand, so the single plane intakes help it breathe better on the top end, but im sure that it hurts the bottom. which is why i sold her intake. however, they do make an M1 in dual plane, but you have to convert the truck to a carb system.

i do know this, though. i have spent alot of time at the drag strip, and aside from new cars, i see VERY few cars with fuel injection. i have always assumed that it is because the FI systems require alot more work with the need for sensors and a control computer, but evidently the carbs have some sort of performance advantage, but they are far more tempetmental. i would think that with throttle body injection (which is little more than a computerized carb) wouldnt differ that much with the exception of the eletronics. i know someone who has a 9 second chevelle SS, and when he went to the "cool new fuel injection system" the nightmares began...lots of tuning issues, etc.

 

I no expert in this department since I have never taken an engine apart so I'm going off of what I've read and heard. A friend of mine who restores cars has always told me that modifying an engine with carbs is much easier than computerised fuel injection. With carbs, you just have to know simple machanics, whereas fuel injection you have to have the right equipment as well as knowledge on how to modify it.

 

exactly.
if the mirada runs 'not quite right', i can fix it with very simple tools and some knowledge passed down from my dad...however, if the stratus runs not quite right, i get a CEL, and i have to find a scan tool...then read the code, the try to figure out which component is bad. sometimes it easy, sometimes its very vague.

 

From what I have been told many newer cars are harder to figure out what is wrong because the problem can be so many different things. You can spend a fortune just trying to get an engine to run correctly and still never get it fixed until one day the battery gets disconnected long enough that it somehow fixes the problem which was nothing other than a small glitch in the first place.

 

That happens because the memory get wiped clean. Now if the problem was a real problem, it will show up again. If it was just a glitch, it will probably never show up again.

 

but ultimately, that shows why i dont like injected, computer controlled engines...