Drove by brother's SRT 8 Challenger for the first time today

[onewhippedpuppy]

It's a 2-door vs. 4-door thing. Kids are still in kiddie seats, and my back isn't up to the task of climbing in there and buckling them in every time.



On the other hand, in a year or so they'll be buckling themselves.

As soon as they get into boosters it's game on. Mine always liked riding of the back of my 911s. I just bought a Recaro booster to use with my 3 year old in the Mini.

[Tobra]

Kids dig fast cars, just sayin'. The trunk is pretty dinky though.

That Challenger is definitely a wide ride. I drove up in a Miata and hopped in the Challenger.

It has something like a 3.9 rear end and about 3 miatas worth of torque, so it gets off the line pretty hard. I would like to try it out with some slicks to see what it would do in the 1/4. I bet it would run 12's with street tires. 20's are so silly though, I wonder if the brakes would fit under 18" wheels

[nigel911]

Loved my SRT-8 GC, great car, bought from new and sold with 50k on it - not one problem (other than 420+ bhp in snow). Best thing about the car was it's ability to freak people out, off the line it was so quick, especially with the AWD on the Jeep.

[VINMAN]

Two friends have SRT Jeeps. Very impressed by them. One has a a few mods on it. That thing is sick!

I'm just really happy our auto makers got back in the HP game.

[asphaltgambler]

Interesting note - as little thread hijacking - The Chevy SS Trailblazer has basically the same size engine, somewhat lighter and still manages to be a full second slower in the quarter mile. One of my customers had an SS and another the SRT8 GC. There really was no comparison in the way it looked, ran and interior appointments. The GC was clearly designed from the beginning as a total performance vehicle. The Trailblazer looks and runs like a add-on package.

[onewhippedpuppy]

At the end of the day the Trailblazer is still a Trailblazer with generic GM styling and a crap interior. The Saab 9-7X Aero is exactly the same but with a better interior.

[porsche4life]

Matt got it on the head. I've got a base trailblazer and it's a TURD. I can't imagine more power and some different creepy plastic bits will help...

One of my customers has a SRT GC, and it is very nice inside, and certainly has some go!

[nigel911]

Tobra - 18's wont fit, the caliper clearance on the 20's (on the GC SRT) was literally millimeters, those are some big ass calipers. I finally found a set of rims that could clear them and take smaller / half decent winter tires, but the on / off nature of the power was still a big issue.

[Tobra]

Sort of what I figured. With giant brakes come giant wheels. I think the Jeep has 15 inch front rotors and 6 pot front calipers, how crazy is that?

[asphaltgambler]

The SRT8 GC has Brembo's are the way 'round with big disks. Rack-n-pinion steering. It handles and stops more like a sports car than a big @ss performance SUV - feeling very nimble really considering its close to 5000lbs.

[campbellcj]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

They can tow very light loads. I believe it is @2500lb limit. Jeep actually sells a receiver kit that relocates the center exhaust slightly and make room for the iron hitch

Actually they are tow-rated for 7200 lbs. I'm skeptical they would do well with a large trailer though. Probably OK for an open dual-axle car trailer (like mine) or small boat.