With its sleek, straight lines and a powerful look, the 2014 Dodge Challenger is unmistakably a muscle car.
The Challenger SRT offers high-tech performance features that endear it to consumers as the brand’s ultimate modern American rear-wheel-drive muscle coupe. This 470 hp machine has a balanced performance with outstanding straight-line acceleration, worldclass ride and handling, high-performance braking and the most up-to-date technologies that deliver more driver excitement and control. And even with all that power, it still gets up to 23 mpg on the highway.
The 392-cubic inch, 6.4-liter HEMI V-8 engine rockets Challenger from 0-60 in the high four-second range; runs the quarter mile in the mid 12-second range and has a top speed of 182 mph. An advanced active intake manifold, along with high-lift cam with phasing, provides maximum low-end torque and high-end power. Performancetuned engine mounts improve idle stability and ride control at all speeds.
Standard Fuel Saver Technology (four-cylinder mode) in automatic transmission equipped models allows the engine to operate economically on four cylinders or use the power of all eight cylinders when needed. The EPA fuel economy mpg city and highway ratings for the 2014 Challenger SRT are 14/23 mpg for manual or automatic transmission models.
The Challenger SRT comes with a standard Tremec TR-6060 six-speed manual transmission and a dual-disc high-performance clutch, a gearbox that was first offered on the 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10. The optional five-speed automatic transmission features standard steering-wheel mounted paddle shifters and the center console mounted Auto Stick, allowing for a choice of shifting on both the road and the racetrack. Both methods give the driver the ability to manually select specific gears on the transmission.
An available adaptive damping suspension (ADS) system offers two modes and is tuned specifically for the Challenger SRT to provide an everyday performance ride or a much firmer racetrack capable damping for more challenging driving situations. Challenger SRTs with automatic transmissions and ADS are able to achieve three different vehicle modes: Auto, Sport and Track.
In “Auto” mode, a wide range of on-road and driver inputs – such as vehicle speed, steering angle, steering speed, brake torque, throttle position and longitudinal/lateral/vertical accelerations – automatically tune the suspension for specific conditions.
In “Sport” mode, the damping system rebound and compression is locked to a higher damping rate. Drivers can easily choose between settings with a press of a button on the center stack to quickly change the shock damping characteristics from “Auto,” for everyday commuting, to “Sport,” for more spirited driving situations.
In “Track” mode, the higher damping rates from the Sport mode combine with a performance shifting and gear holding feature that allows the driver full shift control when using the steering wheel mounted paddle controls or AutoStick.
The base price on the 2014 Dodge Challenger SRT is $38,995.
Grant Miller is the publisher of Community Newspapers. He may be contacted by calling 305-662-2277 or by addressing email to Grant@CommunityNewspapers.com.
