The contemporary Dodge Challenger has long been regarded as the most truthful interpretation of a fashionable muscle mass motor vehicle. Ford’s Mustang ostensibly experienced the segment to by itself when Dodge launched the retro-encouraged machine again in 2008 (the Chevrolet Camaro experienced bowed out in 2002 and would not return till 2010), and by that time Ford was beginning to change the Mustang’s focus away from its muscle mass auto roots toward that of a far more svelte, high-revving athletics coupe.
Dodge selected to just take a distinctive solution when reviving the Challenger nameplate, shortening and widening their current LX entire-dimension sedan architecture to give the car or truck the suitable physical proportions as effectively as a noticeably bigger footprint. The method contributed to the Challenger’s more poundage versus its rivals, which negatively impacted its overall performance opportunity, but it also endowed it with additional usable storage and interior space as nicely as bigger general presence—factors that served the Challenger develop into the major vendor in its phase for the initially time in record very last yr.
It was not an right away feeling, though. Before long following its debut the Challenger confronted stiff opposition from both Ford and Chevrolet as they dished out ever-much more-capable iterations of the Mustang and Camaro. But over time, Dodge engineers refined the Challenger system, and by 2018, they had a legit earth-beater with the Challenger SRT Demon.
Billed as a drag automobile for the avenue, the 840-horsepower Demon was the fastest creation vehicle ever designed, able of hitting 60 miles for each hour in 2.3 seconds on the way to a Nationwide Warm Rod Association-certified quarter mile time of 9.65 seconds. And if you acquired the start just suitable, the Demon would even pop a wheelie.
But output of the Demon was constrained to just 3,300 cars for the United States and Canada for a one product yr, and it didn’t get prolonged for Dodge to fill the get textbooks. Though the Demon’s engine and other powertrain factors lived on in slightly-detuned type in the much more road-pleasant 797-hp Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye, numerous would-be Demon prospects were even now left wanting a additional purposeful avenue-authorized drag car to call their possess.
But now, just after a thing of a grace period for Demon house owners (alongside with COVID-connected output delays), Dodge has unleashed the Challenger SRT Super Stock. Not bound by output boundaries, the Tremendous Stock essentially serves as a middle floor between the Jack-of-all-trades Hellcat Redeye and the bonkers, minimal-edition Demon, and it arrives packing an array of efficiency components that’s aimed at acquiring this Challenger down the drag strip faster than the car or truck in the other lane. But Dodge also insists that the Super Inventory is not a “Diet Demon.” We determined to invest a 7 days with the 807-horsepower brute to suss out exactly what the new package deal entails.
Satisfy the Super Stock
Getting its moniker from a drag-racing class developed for hugely modified production vehicles, the Tremendous Stock bundle delivers a wide variety of updates that go above and outside of the conventional Challenger SRT Hellcat. It starts off with the massive fender flares that come as element of the Widebody deal, a treatment method that stretches the car’s over-all width by 3 and a 50 percent inches in order to accommodate the 315mm-large Nitto NT05R drag radials that are outfitted at all four corners.
Individuals tires are wrapped all around the similar 18×11-inch wheels that the Demon rolled about on, fairly than the 20-inch wheels that are usually standard tools on Hellcat models. Though the lesser wheel diameter allows for much more tire sidewall in the exact same quantity of house, providing a mechanical benefit in the course of drag racing launches, the big 6-piston Brembo calipers and 15.7-inch rotors that comprise the Challenger SRT Hellcat’s conventional front brake system wouldn’t suit guiding the smaller sized wheels. In get to make it all perform, Dodge engineers experienced to change the smaller Brembo system that was utilised on the Demon, which is composed of 14.2-inch discs and four-piston calipers.
The Super Inventory also rides on a set of uniquely tuned, electronically-managed Bilstein dampers that assistance the suspension make improved use of the sticky drag tires, but it is not geared up with the Demon’s other special suspension components, like its drag-tuned springs and light fat sway bars. Whilst the Demon was civil out on the avenue, its suspension tuning prioritized excess weight transfer to rear wheels previously mentioned all else for much more reliable drag launches, and it resulted in significantly less entire body regulate all through other maneuvers like cornering and braking.
The Super Stock, in the meantime, will get a much more standard suspension tune that is nearer in line with the standard Hellcat Redeye, and it gives the car a additional buttoned-down come to feel total.
But as with all high-effectiveness Challengers, what lurks under the hood is the true star of the clearly show. Here it is a modified edition of the Hellcat Redeye’s supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8. The engine commonly makes 797 horsepower and 707 pound-ft of torque, but the Tremendous Inventory receives a exclusive software calibration that raises the redline from 6,300 rpm to 6,400 rpm and bumps the peak output to a healthful 807 horsepower. Also along for the journey is the SRT Electrical power Chiller that debuted on the Demon, a technique that diverts refrigerant from the air conditioning technique to cool air-intake temperatures for greater on-keep track of performance. All of that grunt is routed to the rear wheels by way of an eight-speed automatic transmission that delivers various change scheduling and over-all habits primarily based on the travel mode chosen.
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The Super Stock also comes packing loads of go-rapid tech to assist place all of that electricity to good use. While it eschews the Demon’s finicky Trans Brake aspect (which enables the engine to make torque when remaining stationary for additional forceful launches by locking the output shaft), it does appear with a range of other tricks that are aimed squarely at receiving the car or truck to successfully set the muscle mass to the pavement. Together with a conventional start command system that retains the motor revs at a specified amount until you facet-stage the brake pedal, the Super Stock also has Start Aid, a procedure which is designed to detect and get rid of oscillations in the rear suspension as the vehicle is accelerating.
Also on hand is Torque Reserve, which enables the supercharged motor to make boost tension though the auto is stationary, and a Race Cooldown method which is intended to decrease the results of supercharger warmth soak by keeping the engine enthusiasts and minimal-temperature circuit coolant pump working right after the engine has been shut down. Also aiding in the pursuit of quick quarter mile occasions is the drag-concentrated Track push method which, amongst other adjustments, tweaks the shocks’ compression and rebound attributes to supply far better traction when launching the vehicle from a standstill.
Press the large pink button
Our loaded tester vehicle ($97,711 with location fee) was outfitted with several optional deals that convey suede-like Alcantara and serious carbon fiber into the inside, but the cabin is or else generally standard Challenger fare. The good information is that the Tremendous Stock is just as snug for very long stints driving the wheel as any SRT Challenger we’ve arrive throughout considering the fact that 2015, and there is continue to acres of head and leg room, even for taller passengers. And if this specific case in point ended up optioned with a back again seat, it would almost certainly be just as usable as the again seats in other Challenger types that we’ve analyzed, much too. (Like the Demon, the rear seat of the Tremendous Inventory can be deleted for a person greenback to shave off some excess weight for superior efficiency. If so optioned, a cargo web is put in in its position.)
Despite the fact that the Challenger’s infotainment appears to be like a little bit dated by modern day standards, it has witnessed a amount of components and software program updates since the 8.4-inch Uconnect 4 process debuted in 2015. As a final result it still offers an intuitive menu format and rapidly response to person inputs, and the SRT Dashboard works nicely as a centralized pathway into all of the car’s various effectiveness parameters, push modes, and telemetry details. But it is however a era guiding the most current Uconnect programs in autos like the Dodge Durango and Ram 1500, and it’s a bummer that the Challenger continue to lacks modern-day features like wireless Apple CarPlay.
A good deal of issues seem to be to vanish when you force the major red ignition button, while. A cold get started brings the supercharged Hemi V8 to daily life with a quintessential muscle mass car roar, but as soon as all the things comes up to running temperature, the active exhaust process settles down to rumble which is a little bit additional community-pleasant.
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If you can keep your foot out of it, driving the Super Inventory all-around city in the default Auto travel method can be a shockingly mellow experience. The suspension is not pretty as compliant as the Demon’s tremendous-soft spring costs ended up, but the experience high quality is arguably far better than a normal Hellcat Redeye thanks to the further sidewall presented by people massive drag radials. Meanwhile the eight-velocity automatic is effective quietly in the history to be certain it’s in the most productive gear when the auto is in its default generate mode.
Prod it with some throttle, even though, and this muscle vehicle reveals its correct nature. A deliberate stab of the loud pedal delivers sonic savagery from the V8 and its twin-screw blower, and even with the ultra-vast drag rubber, the Super Stock will gentle up the tires at freeway speeds before the electronics intervene to obtain everything again up.
On a drag strip area with the appropriate system, the Super Stock is capable of hitting 60 mph from a standstill in 3.25 seconds on the way to a 10.5-next quarter mile time, and it won’t allow up until eventually it hits its electronically-confined top speed of 168 mph. (A standard Challenger Hellcat Redeye will blow earlier 200 mph just before it runs out of steam, but the style of the drag radial tires limitations terminal velocity to 168 mph.)
Replicating those people acceleration figures isn’t a basic issue-and-shoot affair, even though. Even if launch command is set conservatively for the circumstances, the drag radial will nonetheless go up in smoke if the highway area or other situational circumstances aren’t pretty to the Super Stock’s liking, so extracting its comprehensive probable tends to consider a bit of trial and mistake. But if you get it proper, this big coupe is able of rivaling some of the quickest efficiency automobiles on the marketplace currently. It is also shockingly fantastic in the corners thanks to the abundance of grip on faucet, but the downgraded brakes retain spirited operates through the canyons quite brief.
As with most modern Challengers, the Tremendous Inventory is actually in its ingredient when you are out cruising or blasting down the highway. When the deal brings a stronger target on drag strip overall performance, the Super Inventory is nevertheless far more of an everyday hot rod than a intent-developed drag strip terror. And even though the platform’s age has been demonstrating for some time now, it still provides muscular attraction by the bucketful.