{"id":29595,"date":"2019-10-17T15:00:57","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T19:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=29595"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:23:57","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:23:57","slug":"first-drive-charger-widebody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/showcase\/2019\/10\/first-drive-charger-widebody.html","title":{"rendered":"First Drive Charger Widebody"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dodge has never been about “less is more”, and the Charger has doubled down on “more is more” at every turn since it was introduced. It\u2019s got two more doors than a regular muscle car. It has a longer wheelbase than its 2-door brother in arms, the Challenger. It has available both the most powerful naturally aspirated V8 and supercharged V8 in its segment. The latter is, of course, the SRT\u00ae<\/sup> Hellcat. It runs a 10-second \u00bc-mile. Goes 200 mph. Slays tires with the twitch of a right foot. The noise from the blower and the roar of the exhaust cuts through time and space with the absurdity of an African lion and silverback gorilla doing battle dance karaoke to Deftones’ Adrenaline<\/i>. More is more is more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So where does the SRT Hellcat go from there? It\nneeds more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More details. The front fascia has a new look\nwith a \u201cmail slot\u201d at the bottom of the grille to push more cold air to the\nradiator. The rear spoiler has been recrafted for aero. The badges are now two\npieces, and vary in color depending on what is wearing them. Most are satin\nchrome on black. The Brass Monkey package comes with black-on-bronze badging,\nso sharp! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More body and all that entails. A \u201cwidebody\u201d,\nif you will. Even if you won\u2019t, it doesn\u2019t matter, that\u2019s what it\u2019s called. The\nCharger SRT Hellcat Widebody adds 3.3\u201d of width over its previous narrowbody\nconfiguration. Why is this a big deal? Because it looks more awesomer-er. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annnnnnd because it\u2019s significant from a performance standpoint. But how?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More tire. All of that additional room in the\nwheel well fits wider tires with a larger contact patch and a stickier\ncompound. In fact, the 305\/35ZR20 3 season Pirelli P Zeros get enough grip on a\nprepped surface to spin the world and push the car to a 10.96. The narrowbody\nSRT Hellcat runs a similar time … with track-focused drag radials. This number on\ntires fit for anything south of a blizzard is incredible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More wheels! As the widebody variants of both\nthe Charger and the Challenger become more popular, wheel choices are\nincreasing. Keep in mind that with the wide design, the backspacing on wheels\nchange as well, meaning that the 20s you run on your narrowbody\nCharger\/Challenger won\u2019t fit correctly. The \u201cWarp Speed\u201d rims debuting on the\n2020s caught my eyes immediately. They have a \u201csculptural\u201d vibe that I can\u2019t\nget enough of. While working on the concept for them, Mark Trostle admitted\nthat he didn\u2019t think there was any way the rad design would work, structurally.\nThey have a ton of depth to them, enough to give it a \u201cdeep dish\u201d quality. The\nengineers were able to build out the design with strength to spare. The look is\ncomplemented with a \u201clow gloss Granite\u201d finish; these will quickly become the\nmost popular choice on widebodies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More suspension. The Widebody Competition\nSuspension, to be exact. SRT engineers\ntuned 3 mode Bilstein ADS (Active Damping Suspension) shocks, stiffened up the\ncoil springs, and added bigger sway bars to the front and rear to make sure the\nwider stance was fully utilized. Electric Power Steering was made standard,\ntoo, because wider tires means it takes more effort to turn them (especially at\nlow speeds). Now to stop a large, high-performance, family sedan, you\u2019ll\nneed…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More brakes, in the form of the aptly named SRT\/Brembo Ultra-High-Performance Brake Package. The front brakes are Brembo 6-piston aluminum monoblock calipers over 15.4\u201d two-piece rotors. Size is one thing; heat is another. Inside the vented and slotted steel rotors is the aluminum \u201chat\u201d, which bolts to the rotor and slips over the hub. The aluminum center section acts as a heat sink to keep temps lower in both the wheel bearings and the outer rotors. This centerpiece also helps keep unsprung, rotating mass down; in other words, it\u2019s effectively lighter than the actual weight savings between it and a common one-piece steel rotor.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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All this adds up to … more fun! Sonoma,\nCalifornia, and the surrounding area is a lovely place to put a car through its\npaces. Winding, undulating roads that are drawn through wine country and along\nSan Pablo and Tomales Bay like a Matisse painting is sugar sweet driving candy\neven before you enter 707 hp into the equation. A traditionalist might say it\u2019s\nthe perfect course for a small sports car. I\u2019m guessing that\u2019s what the\njournalist riding shotgun with me was thinking as we began our drive. Later, I\u2019d\nfind out this was his first time in an SRT Hellcat. I think it was his first time in\nanything with more than 300 hp. He wasn\u2019t about more. Yet.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first time I gave the Brass Monkey on F8\nGreen SRT Hellcat some juice, his eyes got wide, jaw dropped to the floor, and he\nlet go of the map and instinctively scrambled to grab for anything to brace\nhimself for the absolutely certain impending doom. I braked quickly and\nsmoothly while entering a very tight corner, and he excitedly proclaimed his\ndesire for me to not \u201ctip\u201d the car over. The Charger effortlessly stayed flat\nthrough that turn, and the many turns to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It didn\u2019t take a shrink to read his body\nlanguage, or the screeching, so I backed off a bit. The unfamiliar leisurely\npace gave me an opportunity to admire the materials used in the cockpit. My\nfavorite? Real carbon fiber trim pieces! There\u2019s a tactile sensation it emits\nthat the faux stuff just can\u2019t match. It\u2019s part of the new Carbon and Suede\npackage, which also includes an eco-friendly microfibre out of Italy, called\nDinamica, covering parts like the headliner, visors and front pillars. Pretty\ncool stuff. An Alcantara wrapped flat bottom steering wheel and Laguna leather\nseating made the cabin smell like many leather-bound books. Delightful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the halfway point of our drive, we switched seats. As my co-pilot found a rare straight piece of road, he goosed the throttle just a bit. \u201cWhoa! Oh, my… that\u2019s… my…\u201d He struggle to speak in complete phrases, let alone sentences. But once settled in, he was rejuvenated by this newfound god-like strength at his beck and call. \u201cI can see where you\u2019re coming from now! So much power! And it\u2019s so smooth!\u201d I\u2019m paraphrasing, but you get the point. I played with the new version of Performance Pages and went through the suspension settings. Track mode is TIGHT, as well it should be. Auto (aka Street) mode is luxurious, and Sport mode strikes the right balance to have a little fun on the backroads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the track the \u201920 Charger SRT Hellcat is glorious fun. Now, I\u2019m not gonna pretend like I\u2019m a racetrack superstar, but I have driven both narrowbody and Widebody Hellcats on road courses before, and the WB Charger feels different. You could say it\u2019s more civilized, but that\u2019s like saying a great white shark is more civilized than a grizzly bear. The longer wheelbase plays nicely with the wider track, and rolling on the optional summer performance P-Zeros it dove into and sped out of corners confidently. That being said, I\u2019ll repeat the advice I gave Darla when driving my Dodge Challenger SRT Demon: Make sure the wheels are pointed straight before you mash the pedal. At any speed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n