SCAT PACK 392 WIDEBODY IS UP AGAINST ALL MUSCLE
Dodge’s new model is finest handling Challenger so far, writes David Booth.
So, you want the finest handling Dodge Challenger ever. Well, then you definitely need the new Scat Pack 392 Widebody.
Along with the de rigueur muscle car’s 6.4 litres of 485-horsepower Hemi goodness, the Widebody option adds stiffer springs, Srt-tuned adjustable damping suspension and six-piston Brembo front brakes, not to mention 305/35ZR20 Pirelli Pzero tires. In other words, pretty much everything a tuner would throw at a sometimes wayward chassis to keep it between the trees. And it works pretty much as expected.
Although the Widebody is two-tenths of a second quicker through the quarter mile than the standard Scat Pack 392, it’s in that other, less obvious realm — road racing — that it really ups the ante. According to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, in fact, the Widebody is some two seconds — or 12 car lengths — quicker per lap around some unnamed race course.
I believe it. While hardly Porsche-like — it’s still a big blunderbuss of a “sports car” — this Challenger actually goes more or less where you steer it, more or less stays on track once you get there, and stops more or less rapidly once you’re past where you meant to be. It’s truly competent, and it wouldn’t be out of place on a curvy road. That might not sound like much of a compliment, but drive an early Challenger and you’ll appreciate how far Dodge has come.
Throw in typical Challenger attributes — the most faithful replication of the original’s profile of any of the current muscle cars probably being primary — and a few atypical ones, and you have an unlikely back-roads bandit.
That said, I am not sure how much of a market there is for a superior steering Challenger. Owners of muscle cars in general — and the Challenger in particular — don’t tend to rank roadholding as a priority in their buying decision.
Those shopping Challenger tend to get excited about two things in life: Power — in which case they’re shopping some form of Hellcat — or the look of power, in which case a Dodge salesperson will usher them over to the SXT with its more rational V6 engine and all-wheel-drive powertrain. I’m guessing the Widebody variant of the Scat Pack 392 will, despite its relative goodness, end up near the bottom of the order guide.
If you’re a Chevy guy, well, then you’re shopping Camaro, aren’t you? Which is a bit of a problem for mainstream muscle car buyers.
Oh, the V-6 variant is a real gem, the finest handling of all entry-level pony cars, and by far the sweetest-sounding V-6 in the segment. After that, however, the Camaro lineup doesn’t shine. The Z/28 is no more.
The SS version has always been kind of milquetoast, and every time GM ups the ante with the mega-horsepower ZL1, Dodge just slaps a bigger supercharger pulley onto the Hellcat.
If you have a blue oval tattooed on your right butt cheek, well, I guess you’re driving a Mustang. If so, and you like driving, please ignore the base Ecoboost model. If you’re a dental hygienist who just wants the look and doesn’t care that it sounds like a fart in the wind, no worries. But if you have any love for internal combustion at its sportiest, move on.
That said, if you want the finest handling muscle car available, the Shelby GT350R version of the ’Stang now holds that mantle. Secure steering, prodigious grip and well-bedded brakes all make the Shelby something of a terror around a track. A sweet-sounding, flat-plane crank V8 engine, enough power, and a truly well put together styling package give it even more authentic bona fides. It’s the best Mustang available.
If you want muscle — big muscle — then the strongest steroids to be had will be found at a Dodge dealership. That would be the Challenger Hellcat and its lunatic fringe sibling, the Hellcat Redeye.
It’s hard to know what to write about a Hellcat. It is, by even the most generous (and by generous, I mean truly demented) standards both overpowered and under-tired. In any circumstances, not picture perfect (absolutely no dust on the road, the temperature a traction-ideal 24 C, and no one for at least two lanes on either side of you), getting enough grip to launch this land-based missile can be an exercise in frustration.
And that’s just the base, 717hp Hellcat. The 797-hp Redeye is just the cherry on top of the psychotic sundae, isn’t it? I’m not quite sure where you go to drive a car that goes 326 km/h — for that is what FCA rates the top speed of the Hellcat Redeye Widebody — but it handles as if 120 km/h is its logical limit.
Of course, that’s exactly what a healthy — in body only, not so much in spirit — subset of the muscle car demographic wants. If molten rubber be your fetish, the Challenger is the only game in town.