Dodge Charger SRT8

Charger SRT8 at a glance

A four-door Hemi in 2006

Dodge announced the price of the Charger SRT8 in August 2005, with showroom arrival in November 2005 for the 2006 model year. The car took the 6.1-litre Hemi developed by Chrysler's SRT group and added Brembo brakes, Bilstein dampers, thicker anti-roll bars, 20-inch forged wheels with Goodyear F1 Supercar tyres and a speedometer reading to 180 mph. The launch colours were Bright Silver, Brilliant Black and Inferno Red.

Dodge promised a 0-60 mph time in the low fives and an elapsed time below 14 seconds for the quarter mile. Only the five-speed automatic was offered; the Charger never got the manual gearbox that the later Challenger SRT8 offered. The base price of US$35,995 included destination, and MotorWeek noted a further US$2,100 gas-guzzler tax.

The Charger counts as a muscle car here only as a stated exception: the definition is otherwise limited to two-door cars, but the four-door Charger from 2006 is included because of its engine, its rear-wheel drive and its name.

Super Bee editions

The Super Bee name came back as a dressed-up SRT8 shortly after launch. It used the same 317 kW (425 hp) engine and was sold in small numbers, one colour at a time.

The 2007 car was shown at the New York International Auto Show in 2006. For 2012 the formula changed: the SRT8 Super Bee became a cheaper version of the new 392 car, priced at US$41,495 against US$45,795 for the full SRT8, with fewer interior features and 20 x 9 in cast wheels in place of forged ones.

The 2012 SRT8 and the 392 Hemi

There was no Charger SRT8 for 2011. The LD generation arrived that year with a new nose, a reworked dashboard and "racetrack" tail lamps, and the SRT8 followed in a press release of 14 July 2011 as a 2012 model. Its 6.4-litre Hemi gave 11 per cent more power and 12 per cent more torque than the 6.1.

The engine was only part of the change. Adaptive damping became standard, as did Fuel Saver mode, which shuts down four cylinders at light load; Dodge claimed a 21 per cent gain in highway economy, to as much as 23 mpg (10.2 L/100 km). The brakes used 361 mm (14.2 in) front and 351 mm (13.8 in) rear discs with red four-piston Brembo calipers. Dodge quoted 0-60 mph in the high four-second range, 175 mph (282 km/h) and 60-0 mph in 37 m (120 ft).

Wikipedia describes the 2012-2014 Charger SRT8 as mechanically identical to the Chrysler 300 SRT8.

Road tests and fuel use

MotorWeek found the first car "nimble for its size" but lacking steering feel. Edmunds wrote that it seemed "unnatural that a car this long and heavy has such quick steering and so little body roll" about the 2012 car, which pulled 0.86 g on the skidpad.

The fuel figures show what the 392 and its cylinder deactivation achieved. The 2008 Charger with the 6.1 is rated by the EPA at 13 mpg city, 15 mpg combined and 18 mpg highway (18.1, 15.7 and 13.1 L/100 km). The 2013 SRT8 reaches 14, 17 and 23 mpg (16.8, 13.8 and 10.2 L/100 km), a 12 per cent cut in combined consumption despite 33 kW more.

Safety, problems and which Charger SRT8 to choose

NHTSA awarded the new LX Charger five stars for frontal crash protection in May 2005. Wikipedia lists a 2012 recall that covered more than 127,350 Chrysler 300s and Chargers, so a VIN check for open campaigns belongs in any purchase.

Known issues on used cars:

• The five-speed automatic can slip, shift hard or hesitate; Fast Car notes hard downshifts mainly on cars past about 160,000 km (100,000 miles), and a control module software update fixes many cases.
• Autotrader.ca reports driveshaft, axle and rear subframe damage, mostly on first-generation SRT8s that were tuned or raced.
• Weak batteries and poor earth connections cause electrical faults on all Chargers of these years.

For most buyers the 2012-2014 car is the better choice: more torque, adaptive dampers, better economy and newer cabin electronics. The 2006-2010 SRT8 is cheaper and lighter, and the 2007-2009 Super Bee editions are the rare ones with known production numbers.

The supercharged successor is the Charger SRT Hellcat, and the whole Charger line from 1966 to the electric car is told in the story of every Charger generation. The SRT8 shared its platform with the Chrysler 300C, and the other four-door car admitted to the muscle car list is the Chevrolet Impala SS. The original two-door Bee is covered in the Dodge Super Bee hub.