Dodge Challenger SRT8 stick-shift on the road

We’ve had a 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 for a few days, and while we’ll be writing it up more thoroughly soon, a few high points quickly come to mind.

First, everyone stops and stares at this car – partly because it’s bright red with a big stripe down the hood. People want to know what it is. The general public still hasn’t discovered the Challenger, despite all the magazine covers, newspaper photos, and excitement. What’s funny is the range of spectators… young and old, men and women, import and domestic drivers. We’ve had numerous problems with other drivers hitting their brakes suddenly when they see us coming, wanting to get a better look, and drivers hanging out in the (huge) blind spots to keep us in vision. And, of course, we’ve gotten lots of thumbs ups.

The clutch is heavy, but not as heavy as in the old days; it’s not that far off 2.4 turbo clutches, with a small but predictable area of engagement. The shifter goes in easily, but takes a lot of getting used to, partly due to the six speeds (which makes 1st, 3rd, 5th, and Reverse, all of which are on the same plane, a little crowded). It’s also a bear of a car, with the 425 horsepower Hemi V8, a heavy feel familiar to other LX car drivers, and instant response if you’re in the right gear, which isn’t necessarily the case. To get surprisingly good highway mileage (at 65 mph, you can easily exceed 25 mpg), Dodge put in a serious overdrive sixth gear, which is a good thing, though you have to drop down a gear to get any serious acceleration at normal highway speeds. If you’re zooming along at 95, we assume it works out just fine.

The first gear is fairly low, so there’s a good spread, though most of that spread seems to be in the upper gears; first, second, and third shoot by quickly and often it makes more sense to skip a gear or two when acceleration hard. You can maximize your thrust by going through each and every gear, but for those times when you want to launch hard but then don’t need every last pony, skipping is a lot smoother and easier.

The engine is surprisingly loud and growly, so that even as you’re loafing at 1,500 rpm at 75 mph in sixth gear, you hear the engine at all times. To get into first smoothly requires a decent push on the gas pedal which vrooms the engine rather noticeably. This is not a subtle exhaust tuning. It’s sweet music when you can let it all out, which isn’t often and doesn’t last very long, not with 425 horses hooked up directly to the rear wheels. You can, however, drive very gently and smoothly if needed.

We have a lot more on this unique car (including numerous photos) in our full test report, which is close to its final form (and will be complete by the end of the week). If you want to comment on the article, feel free to do it here (oh, and please Digg this post or share the bookmark using the light gray icons below and to the left).