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Story by Dubspeed Driven Staff Writer, Zerin Dube
Photos by Matt Chow and Zerin Dube, studio photo courtesy of the manufacturer

When we reviewed the 2006 Dodge Charger R/T earlier this year, we were pretty impressed. The Charger R/T is a wonderful package of power and performance, all rolled into one practical full-sized passenger sedan. The Charger R/T definitely hauls more than just passengers thanks to the fantastic 5.7-liter, 340 horsepower HEMI engine. But we at Dubspeed Driven are all about high-performance around here, and didn’t leave the Charger experience drooling as much as we’d hoped. Yes, the Charger R/T is one of the best all-around performance sedans for the money, but we wanted more.

Thankfully for us, the engineers at Chrysler’s Street and Racing Technology (SRT) division felt the same way. They wanted to give the American muscle car enthusiast exactly what they wanted: more power, better handling, better braking, an ultra-aggressive exterior, and an interior that that was inspired by the racetrack. The result of all this hard work is the new Dodge Charger SRT8 sedan, and what a fantastic result it is.

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If you read our review of the Charger R/T, you already know that the lesser HEMI engine was enough to propel the Charger R/T to 60mph in a swift 6.0 seconds. Considering the Charger R/T has a hefty curb weight of 4100lbs, 6.0 seconds isn’t too shabby at all.

To improve on these numbers in the Charger SRT8, SRT engineers bored out the diameter of the cylinders in the 5.7L HEMI by 3.5 millimeters each, thus increasing total displacement to 6.1 liters. But the engineers weren’t done yet. SRT engineers also increased the compression ratio from 9.6:1 in the standard HEMI to 10.3:1, resulting in better efficiency and more power. The 6.1-liter HEMI also benefits from new higher-flow cylinder heads with larger-diameter valves and reshaped ports. The specially designed intake plenum was designed with larger-diameter and shorter runners for better high speed performance. Exhaust headers are also tuned with performance in mind, with individual runners encased in a stainless steel shell. A 2.75-inch exhaust system carries spent gases to the rear of the car. To increase horsepower even further, performance camshafts were developed to allow the cylinders to breathe a little easier, and achieve a higher engine speed of 6,000 rpm versus 5,000 rpm in the normal 5.7-liter HEMI.

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As further evidence that SRT engineers were serious about building a powerhouse of an engine, the 6.1-liter HEMI uses a reinforced engine block, a forged steel crankshaft, and high-strength connecting rods. Even the oil pan has been modified to help return oil to the sump at high engine speeds.

The result of all this hard labor is 425 horsepower and 430 lb.-ft. of tire smoking torque, giving the Charger SRT8 a 0-60 time of just 5.1 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 13.2 seconds @ 109 mph. Power delivery out of the 6.1-liter HEMI engine is as smooth as it comes, building linearly all the way through to redline. Throttle response is excellent, and the drive-by-wire system does a fantastic job of opening the engine up the instant you mash the throttle.

Speaking of mashing the throttle, I found myself doing this quite often just to hear that wonderful 6.1-liter HEMI’s exhaust note. At wide open throttle, the exhaust emits a very powerful and deep roar that is loud, yet eerily soothing at the same time. At highway speeds, I was surprised that the exhaust didn’t drone as badly as I expected it to.

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To help the Charger SRT8 get as much power down to the rear wheels as possible, engineers equipped the SRT8 with the same five-speed automatic transmission found in the standard Charger R/T. This gearbox is quite fast to kick down gears under wide-open throttle, and does so smoother than most other automatic transmissions I’ve driven. This gearbox also features the AutoStick mode that allows the driver to “manually” select whatever gear they choose. Though not a true manual transmission with an automatic mode such as Volkswagen’s DSG, AutoStick is a much better manually shifted automatic than most others on the market, as it actually will hold whichever gear you are in, even if you are bouncing off the rev-limiter. Downshifts are achieved with lightning quickness when compared to other manumatics, and even dropping down multiple gears happens quite quickly. I wish that the engineers had employed an up/down shift mechanism rather than the left/right pattern found in the SRT8, as I often found myself bumping the car into a different gear accidentally while driving.

One feature the 6.1-liter HEMI engine lacks over the standard 5.7-liter HEMI is MDS, or Multi Displacement System. This cylinder deactivation system feature shuts down four of the cylinders in order to increase fuel economy. Though we questioned how effective this system is in everyday driving situations, the 5.7-liter HEMI most certainly did get better fuel economy in a mixed loop than the SRT8 version. As a result, the EPA rates the Charger SRT8 at 14 miles per gallon city, and 20 miles per gallon highway. Every car enthusiast’s favorite government agency, the EPA, deems the Charger SRT8 to be a gas guzzler, and slaps a $2100 “tax” onto the sticker price of every Charger SRT8 sold. They call it the gas guzzler tax, but I call it the “We at the EPA want to ruin your fun” penalty, since it doesn’t apply to SUVs. We averaged 18 miles per gallon in mixed driving with the standard Charger R/T, but only managed 16 miles per gallon out of the Charger SRT8. I figure this difference in mileage is but a small price to pay for the level of performance gain the Charger SRT8 gives you over the standard R/T.

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With 425 horsepower on tap, I expected nothing less from the Charger SRT8 than to be a monster in a straight line. The true challenge was to put the Charger SRT8 on a road course to see how it managed to keep the power and bulk under control. I am happy to report that SRT engineers did their homework and gave as much thought to designing the suspension as they did the powertrain.

The Charger SRT8’s suspension benefits from higher spring rates all the way around, as well as Bilstein shock absorbers that are tuned specifically for the SRT8. Suspension bushings have been upgraded, and larger-diameter sway bars are used to lessen the amount of body roll under cornering.

On our test track, the Charger SRT8 still displayed moderate body roll, which is to be expected from a car weighing in at just over two tons. In hard corners, the Charger exhibited a tendency to understeer just a bit, yet just a few controlled blips of the throttle easily changes the attitude to slight oversteer. Overall, the car is extremely predictable during hard cornering maneuvers, but I never lost the sensation of the Charger’s high mass.

For those instances where the Charger SRT8 becomes a tad too much to handle in a corner, Dodge’s ESP traction control system cuts throttle and brings the car back in line. Though not as intrusive as some traction control systems, I felt that the ESP was still a bit too intrusive for my tastes. The ESP throttle cut is extremely abrupt, and can upset the balance of the car through corners. I found that by turning ESP off, it was easier to correct momentary lapses of judgment by quickly modulating the throttle and inputting more steering in the corner to slide the rear end around and bring the car back in line.

Overall, road holding characteristics of the Charger SRT8 are excellent, and Dodge claims a respectable 0.88 g of lateral grip in a corner. Helping keep the rear wheels planted on the ground is the SRT-exclusive rear wing that Dodge says increases downforce by 39 percent, without increasing the coefficient of drag. At what speed the downforce increase is realized is not quoted, however.

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The Charger SRT8 isn’t without its flaws around a race track, though. Despite having huge ventilated discs and four-piston Brembo calipers at all four corners, the Charger SRT8’s brakes start to show their weakness after just a few laps around the track. Initially, they do a fantastic job of bringing this beast of a vehicle down to speed, but seem to heat up very quickly leading to extreme brake fade. I’m not 100% sold that this wasn’t due to improper bed-in of the brake pads when the test car was new, but it is definitely something to be aware of during a hot track day.

Pedal feel is also very good, initially. After a few heated laps around the track though, the brake pedal turned to mush. I think these problems could be corrected with a better pad compound that is more suitable to high temperatures, slotted rotors, and perhaps stainless steel brake lines. This definitely isn’t a problem that can’t be overcome by opening up a performance catalog.

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The Charger SRT8 could also stand for improvements in the shoe department. Though the 20-inch, five spoke forged aluminum wheels really look beautiful on the Charger, the rubber they are wrapped in is complete rubbish. Our test car was fitted with 245/45ZR/20 Goodyear Eagle RS all-seasons on the front, and 255/45ZR/20 Goodyear Eagle RS all-season rubber on the back. Though these tires are great on the road, they just do not have enough sidewall stiffness to keep from rolling over in hard corners. They also do not give much feedback to the driver as they approach the limits. I found myself having plenty of grip one moment, and the next I was drifting the back end around with almost no traction. Again, this could be fixed with a simple trip to your local tire retailer. And hey, at least it gives you an excuse to do burnouts and not feel bad about having to replace the tires, right?

If you’ve ever driven a car with a sport-tuned suspension, you might have discovered that the quality of the ride suffered compared to a car with a standard street-tuned suspension. Not so with the Charger SRT8. Though the ride is noticeably firmer than the Charger R/T, the Charger SRT8 does not sacrifice comfort in the process of improving handling.

The Charger SRT8 is a car you can drive hard at the racetrack, and still be perfectly comfortable driving cross-country, thanks to the extremely supportive leather bucket seats. Large side bolsters help keep the driver in place during hard cornering, and allow the shoulders plenty of room to move around. These seats are built for the larger bodied red-blooded Americans, but smaller bodied persons will be equally comfortable. To further accommodate persons of all shapes and sizes, the Charger SRT8 features an adjustable pedal cluster, and a power tilt/telescoping steering wheel.

But whereas in the Charger SRT8, the seats are the thing — the rest of the interior is most definitely not — starting with the faux-aluminum of the center console, which screams of cheap plastic. But the painful cries don’t end there. Rather, they extend out to the driver via the bumper-car like center steering wheel padding. And seriously, who needs a muscle car with a wheel so big it’d look chunky on a Freightliner?

In addition, why on earth would you adorn the interior with a shifter bezel that looks like it could have come straight out of a late ‘70’s Chrysler Cordoba? The only thing missing in this picture is the Cordoba’s rich, Corinthian leather! This is a modern muscle car, and as such needs something much more fitting than faux-chrome and horrible fake aluminum.

These gripes certainly don’t ruin the entire driving experience though, as there was plenty of thought put into the places that matter. The 180mph speedometer and tachometer are clear to read and feature SRT exclusive white faces. Below the speedo and tachometer is the LED multi-function display that can be configured to display oil temperature, transmission temperature, oil pressure, and tire pressure readouts. While this information might not be as important while driving down the highway, this is information that is critical while turning laps at the racetrack.

The navigation system is a bit cumbersome to use the first few times, but becomes easier once you spend some time with the owners manual. I did find that the maps on our tester were extremely outdated or incomplete, and couldn’t find several main thoroughfares in Houston. What good is a navigation system if it doesn’t have the places you want to go in its database?

HVAC controls are large, and functions are clearly marked, but the tactile feel of the knobs is pretty low-rent. The seating position is high, and gives the driver a commanding view of the road ahead, though side visibility is poor due to the Charger’s huge C-pillars and small rear windows.

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So then, is the Charger SRT8 the performance sedan bargain of the century? Well, if you stop to think about it, there isn’t much difference between Dodge’s SRT division and Mercedes-Benz’s AMG division. Both take ordinary passenger cars and add monster powerplants, upgraded suspensions, better brakes, and plenty of attitude. The big difference though is the price. The price of admission for the new AMG sedan is upwards of $85,000, and can easily reach $100,000 with a few options. The Charger SRT8 gives you almost as much power as the newer AMG models, but starts at an extremely reasonable $35,500. Sure it doesn’t handle quite as well as an AMG E55, nor is the interior as posh, but it does offer nearly three-quarters the performance of the E55 at less than half the price. With a price as-tested of $42,270, the Charger SRT8 leaves other performance sedans in the dust when it comes to value.

That said, the Charger SRT8 is definitely a car I could live with each and every day. I always felt comfortable driving it around town, enjoyed the head-turning looks, and constantly wore an evil grin on my face when the gas pedal was on the floor. No, the Charger SRT8 won’t win you any environmentalist friends with its gas guzzling 6.1-liter HEMI, nor will it win you any awards for subtlety with its huge hood scoop and rear wing…but look on the bright side. With 425 horsepower on tap and looks that could kill, you probably will become very good friends with your local law enforcement agency.