Leader of the Pack: The 2020 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack Plus

The 2020 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack Plus.

More than 50 years ago, Dodge made one hell of a racket in the performance car world with what it called the "Scat Pack".

For those of you who have only heard the term on nature walks, "scat" has other meanings, including a form of jazz singing, and the slang usage that applies here, to go quickly.

Conversation Starter: The 2019 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack Widebody

2019 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack Widebody.

I was in the parking lot of a motel in my wife's hometown of Ukiah.  It was the Sunday morning after a big family gathering and Mrs. TireKicker was in the room putting the finishing touches on her hair and makeup while I was loading the trunk of the 2019 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack Widebody.  Suddenly, there was a voice.

"Ow's yer car?"---in a thick Irish brogue.

I looked to see a man, I suppose in his 50s, slender build, a bit shorter than I, walking toward me.

"Fine.  Fast.", I said.  It was early-ish and I hadn't had coffee yet.

He pointed to the five silver letters on the black panel between the taillights that read "DODGE".

"'Harry Chapin wrote a song about a Dodge, y'know.  "Learned about love in the back of a Dodge", he sang" (the song "Taxi", from 1972,  the late Chapin's first hit and perhaps his best-known after "Cat's in the Cradle", contains that lyric).

Further conversation revealed that my newfound friend was named John, that he was on his first visit to the States, just off the plane the day before after landing in San Francisco.  Given the brand's non-existent profile in Ireland, he may have thought a Dodge was a Dodge and that Harry and Sue in the song had learned about love in the back of something close to what he was examining, with great fascination, in this parking lot.

I gave him my business card, which has TireKicker's web address on it.  John, lad, if you're reading, the Dodge Harry was singing about probably looked something like this (click the link).

Still, the 2019 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack Widebody manages to provoke cases of mistaken identity even among U.S. natives and especially car buffs.

Good Bad But Not Evil: The 2018 Dodge Durango R/T AWD

The 2018 Dodge Durango R/T.

Being a child of the 60s and 70s, who was old enough to have posters on the wall during what we thought was the Golden Age of Muscle Cars, only to have the party end thanks to emissions regulations, insurance surcharges and Arab oil embargoes just as I got my license, I just have to love Dodge.  With the exception of the sad-sack Journey and the pre-historic Grand Caravan (which we liked---in 2010),  Dodge is just one big toy store, full of things that any red-blooded American boy or girl could use to have fun, cause mayhem and lose one's driver license.

Lunacy Within Reason: The 2017 Dodge Durango R/T

The 2017 Dodge Durango R/T.

Let us, for a moment, say that you, like I, read our Publisher and Executive Editor's review of the 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT last month and thought "That's a fun vehicle", but blanched a bit at the 485 horsepower, the EPA fuel economy estimate of 13 city/19 highway and the as-tested price of $78,355.  Suppose you like the idea, but would like to dial some of that down a notch or two, still resulting in a faster and sportier than average SUV without quite the same penalty at the payment book and the pump?

Let me introduce you to the 2017 Dodge Durango R/T.

30 Minutes With: The 2017 Dodge Challenger T/A 392

The 2017 Dodge Challenger T/A 392.

Publisher's note:  Normally, the cars you read about here at TireKicker are loaned to us by the press fleets of the various manufacturers for several days.  Seven is typical.  Occasionally, we'll get a longer period of time, and sometimes it'll only be three or four days.  Our "30 Minutes With" series are cars that we spent half an hour behind the wheel of during the just-concluded Western Automotive Journalists Media Days in Monterey, California.

Day one of Media Days is a driving program, with journalists taking cars from the staging area at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca via Laureles Grade.  Once there, you swap cars with another journalist for the drive back, and then swap cars again once back at the Quail. Apart from an hour's lunch, this is your day from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Each run is about half an hour, and driving 10 to 12 cars back-to-back-to-back gives you interesting points of reference about the next one.

My ninth car of the day was one of the most fearsome...the 2017 Dodge Challenger T/A 392.

30 Minutes With: The 2017 Dodge Charger Daytona 392

The 2017 Dodge Charger Daytona 392.

Publisher's note:  Normally, the cars you read about here at TireKicker are loaned to us by the press fleets of the various manufacturers for several days.  Seven is typical.  Occasionally, we'll get a longer period of time, and sometimes it'll only be three or four days.  Our "30 Minutes With" series are cars that we spent half an hour behind the wheel of during the just-concluded Western Automotive Journalists Media Days in Monterey, California.

Day one of Media Days is a driving program, with journalists taking cars from the staging area at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca via Laureles Grade.  Once there, you swap cars with another journalist for the drive back, and then swap cars again once back at the Quail. Apart from an hour's lunch, this is your day from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Each run is about half an hour, and driving 10 to 12 cars back-to-back-to-back gives you interesting points of reference about the next one.

My fifth car of the day was a big change from the first four (Jaguar XE 35t AWD,  Mercedes-Benz GLA 250 4MATIC,  BMW 540i, Lexus IS 200t), in that it replaced refinement with raw, brute power: The 2017 Dodge Charger Daytona 392.

The Golden Age Is Now: 2016 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack

The 2016 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack.

When I was getting my learner's permit, one of the most fearsome and desirable beasts roaming the planet was the 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T with a 426 Hemi.  425 horsepower as measured in those days (they measured gross, not net then...works out to about 350 by today's standards) and a 0-60 time of six seconds. It would do the quarter in 14 seconds at 104 miles per hour.

When the 1972 models were introduced a month later,  the party was over, Thanks to a double-whammy of emissions regulations and insurance surcharges, the Hemi was dead and the most muscle a Challenger could muster was 240 horsepower from a 340-cubic inch V8.

Instantly, anything prior to that moment was regarded as "The Golden Age of Muscle Cars".

We were right, for a while.  Turns out we just had a 45-year intermission. In fact, the 60s and 70s were just a warm-up by comparison.

Sheep In Wolf's Clothing: The 2016 Dodge Journey Crossroad Plus AWD

The 2016 Dodge Journey Crossroad Plus AWD.

The Dodge Journey is one of those vehicles that is unloved by automotive journalists but has found a niche because it is practical and affordable---a seven-seat compromise between a minivan and a crossover SUV for a base price of $20,995.  So what to make of the Journey Crossroad Plus AWD?

What Price Power? The 2015 Dodge Charger R/T

The 2015 Dodge Charger R/T.

Two and a half months ago, I reviewed the 2015 Dodge Charger SXT,  and found it to be a remarkable value.  Where else might you find a full-size rear-wheel-drive American sedan with a 292 horsepower V6 capable of 31 miles per gallon on the highway for roughly $30,000?

But what if that's not enough?

How Do You Spell "Bwahahahaha"?: The 2015 Dodge Challenger R/T

The 2015 Dodge Challenger R/T.

One second before starting the engine of the 2015 Dodge Challenger R/T, I thought what I'd always thought about the Challenger: Namely that it was a big, dumb, brutish appliance for men in their 60s who missed out on having a muscle car back in the day. An over-the-counter supplement that could be bundled with Centrum Silver, Viagra, Minoxidil, Super Beta Prostate and Osteo Bi-Flex.

Then I started the engine.

Improving With Age: The 2015 Dodge Challenger SXT Plus

The 2015 Dodge Challenger SXT Plus.

Incredibly, it's been five years since our last week in a Dodge Challenger. Walking up to the '15, I was stunned by how great it looks.  Like an old friend you haven't seen in a while.  And, like many of those old friends of the human variety, the Challenger looks that good after all this time (an eternity in the automotive world) because she's had some work done.

Updating A Throwback: The 2015 Dodge Charger SXT

The 2015 Dodge Charger.

This is the kind of car that some will tell you is not supposed to exist anymore, that there is supposedly no more market for. Politically incorrect, unapologetically American.  The anti-Prius.

And yet, it not only lives, it thrives. And now it has been refreshed and renewed.

2011 Dodge Charger SRT-8

Never underestimate the power of something that looks this mean.

It's kinda easy to do, given that the Dodge Charger has been with us for 5 years now and a new one's on the way. We've seen it too many times in airport car rental lots and giggled as Mark Harmon and the gang on NCIS make the 6-cylinder ones they drive try to look menacing.

But five minutes in a Charger SRT-8 is enough to wipe that smirk right off my face...and replace it with a great big ear-to-ear grin.

                             

Tromp on the pedal of an SRT-8 and the rear of the car is what everyone else on the road is going to see.

Yes, it has a Hemi. 6.1 liters worth, putting out 425 horsepower with 420 pounds of torque. The 5-speed "AutoStick" automatic transmission is up to the task, though a real six-speed manual would be ideal.  Whatever...the point is brute strength and the Charger SRT-8 delivers big time.

According to the window sticker that came with our tester, it's the official passenger car of NASCAR, which makes perfect sense. This is what NASCAR used to be. Take a big standard car, stuff the hairiest engine possible under the hood and hang on.

Sophisticated?

Refined?

Elegant?

No...but a big barrel of fun for a reasonable price. Base is $38,180. Yeah, that is awfully close to $40K. Find me this much performance for less than this money and maybe I'll change my mind.

Of course, you can load these up and that's just what the Dodge PR people did. This one had the SRT Option Groups II and III, roughly $2,800 worth of options including an upgraded radio, 13 high performance speakers, a 322-watt amplifier, a 200-watt subwoofer, surround sound, Uconnect, iPod control, a security alarm and a nav system.

Throw in the power sunroof ($950), HID headlamps ($695), performance tire and wheel upgrade ($250), rear seat video system (in a sedan?) ($1,480) and the inevitable gas guzzler tax (13 city/19 highway) of $1,700 and your bottom line after $750 destination charge is $46,850.

If your heart and your bank balance say yes, there's a lot of fun to be had here.

Dodge Challenger SE Review

So you want a Dodge Challenger, but can't swing either the price or insurance or gas for the Hemi-powered R/T or SRT-8?

$750 buys you the cosmetics that will make your six-cylinder SE look pretty darn good.

It's called the Rallye Group. 18" aluminum wheels, a bright fuel filler door, dual stripes, a carbon-fiber looking bezel on the instrument panel and a body-colored rear spoiler.

                             

Our tester was just as you see above...bright silver metallic with black stripes. It actually got more admiring looks than the last red Challenger that came through...possibly because those are seen so often.

Best part of the deal is the SE's base price of $22,735. Second best is the gas mileage: 17 city/25 highway.

Dodge Grand Caravan SXT Review

Ignorance is bliss.

During my week in the Dodge Grand Caravan SXT, I was won over...the user-friendliness, utility and ease of driving erased misgivings I had about the materials inside being a cut or so below that of a Honda Odyssey.

It was delivered without a window sticker, so I checked the Dodge website. Base price $27,825. Reasonable, bordering on a bargain.

I knew it was loaded...but I didn't realize how loaded until I asked for a copy of the sticker. This minivan had more than $13,000 in options...jacking the bottom line all the way up to $41,385. No longer reasonable nor a bargain.

So what could I live without if I were playing with my own money?

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee: Build In May, Sell In July

The product drought is coming to an end for Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealers. The 2011 Grand Cherokee begins production in May and should begin arriving in showrooms by July.

Full story from Automotive News.

Hitman Challenger UPDATE: The Real Deal Revealed (updated 5:50 PM)

The mystery (well, at least part of it) of "Hitman" and the $29,100 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 auction is over.

Brad Davis at Glenn E. Thomas Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep confirms that the dealership did honor the $29,100 auction as Hitman said...but for a different car of arguably higher value. 

Jonny Lieberman at Autoblog got it right...Hitman (real first name Alex) went home in a new 2010 Challenger SRT-8 instead of the 2009 with 500 miles on the odometer.  Davis tells me the '09 was sold to another client last week while the auction was in dispute.

Hitman was offered his pick of three 2010 Challenger SRT-8s and chose a black one. The '09 was blue.

Hitman also gets $2,000 worth of Mopar accessories of his choosing.

All this leaves his cheering section at the ChallengerTalk Forums wondering why "Hitman"s been so uncommunicative since taking delivery of the car on Saturday. If anything, he won bigger. A poster who says he talked to "Hitman" says he's under legal constraints about what he can discuss...but if so, why was Brad Davis so willing to divulge details?

Dunno. Tirekicker only pawn in game of life.



If you want more, there's still a fair amount of head-scratching going on at the ChallengerTalk forums, where the auction thread, started by "Hitman" on March 13, just had its 400,000th page view today. Pick it up from where we broke the story this afternoon here.

Challenger SRT-8 Auction Watch: The Hitman Cometh, Leaveth Questions

Yesterday, we told you about the strange online silence of  "Hitman", the purported winner of a $29,100 eBay auction for a 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT-8.

Well, last night at 9:47PM PDT, "Hitman" surfaced on the forum, acknowledging, but not answering any of the questions:

A lot of questions and rumors definitely coming to light after this whole experience from different sources that are making claims. Many requests to post pictures and give an explanation of how it went down in the end.


Plan of posting pics and all that good stuff after I work on getting a couple of coats of wax and the right shine. It's only been a few days of driving it around and trying to do the proper break period as it has been suggested.


Been on the board every night reading everyone's posts in this thread and jumping around the ChallengerTalk.com board, learning more about the SRT8 and looking at what the proud owners have done to personalize theirs. This board has a lot to offer and maybe I will learn a few things along the way as well.

The ChallengerTalk forum members who rallied around "Hitman" when it appeared Glenn E. Thomas Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep of Signal Hill, California was going to refuse to give him the car (at first claiming a glitch erased their $42,000+ reserve...which eBay said didn't and couldn't happen) also cheered at "Hitman"'s posting early Sunday morning that "the dealership honored the $29.1K auction", along with this photo:

But now, as we reported, a lot of them are beginning to doubt the whole story...whether "Hitman" got the car in the auction....whether he got it for $29,100....whether he got a different car (fueled by a Jonny Lieberman piece on Autoblog which reported that the delership "did better than the right thing, selling Alex a 2010 Challenger SRT8 rather than the 250-mile car he won in the auction"---Jonny got the mileage wrong, it had 500)....whether he got any car, or whether "Hitman" is in fact the person who won that auction (eBay generates anonymous bidder IDs). 

And there are questions raised by the eBay bidding record for the auction, which shows the winning bid was $9,000 higher than the leading bid at the time...several hours before the end of the auction.

Does "Hitman's" post last night make ChallengerTalk members happy now? Not a chance. Just one response:

Sorry, I am really on the edge of calling BS here. (And I know I am an outsider, but still...)

You can take the time to post this dribble, but can not take the time to tell us what went down and what exactly you ended up buying? Also, a brand new car does not need to be waxed to shine.
Forget the pics, just tell the story.


Follow along, beginning with "Hitman's" post last night, here.

By the way, we checked...the SRT-8 in the auction is not in the dealership's online inventory as of this morning.

Steve McQueen's 80th Birthday

If he were alive, he'd be 80 today. So let's celebrate by watching the ultimate Steve McQueen car moment: the chase scene from Bullitt.




For more on McQueen, the movie and the last-gen Ford Mustang Bullitt, go here.

Where's 'Hitman" And His Car? (Updated 12:36 PM MST)

The ChallengerTalk Forums have been on a rollercoaster ride the past week: Outrage over a member named "Hitman" being denied the keys to a 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 after a $29,100 winning bid on eBay was disputed by Southern California dealer Glenn E. Thomas Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep....support for "Hitman" when it was announced that he and the dealer were going to sit down face to face last Friday after eBay announced there was no technical glitch, as the dealer had claimed.....and celebration when, just after 7:00 AM PST Sunday morning, "Hitman" posted the news that the dealership "honored the $29.1K auction", along with a photo that showed a key with a Glenn E. Thomas fob atop a Challenger brochure and a handwritten note reading "YES!"

One more post, three hours later...saying he was going to take it easy, read the owner's manual...and since then...silence. At least from "Hitman".  No more posts, no more photos.

From members of the forums? Well, a growing number of posters are questioning whether things are as they seem.  They don't really know "Hitman" (he'd only made two posts on the forum prior to starting the thread about his having won the auction on March 13).

An examination of the bidding record for the auction raises some questions, too. 15 bids were made for the SRT-8, by only 5 bidders.

March 12, a single bidder made 10 bids, ranging from $22,000 to $29,000, with no competing bids in between, in a four and a half hour period. These appear to be automatic bids.

And then comes "Hitman" (or so we're told, since eBay keeps actual bidder IDs confidential by assigning an anonymous bidder name)...who makes his one and only bid of $29,100.

But unless there's a glitch with eBay time stamps, that's weird, too...because the $29,100 bid is shown as having been made at 08:54:13 PST...and the 10-bid streak described above didn't start until 11:00:25 PST...more than two hours later. Which means "Hitman" chose $29,100 as his bid when the standing high bid was $20,100.

A last-moment hail-mary to shut out the competition? Maybe. Except "Hitman"'s winning bid was more than five hours before the auction closed. And eBay says automatic bidders' maximum bids are kept confidential from other bidders.

Open up "Hitman"'s bidding history and you'll find he's no power bidder. He's been involved in exactly four eBay auctions...and the Challenger SRT-8 is the only one where he had the winning bid.

Hey, it could be that "Hitman" is just out enjoying the SRT-8...but his friends in the Challenger community are beginning to wonder if they've been had.