and partially compensated by more horsepower (425 vs. 300) and a modern multi-link independent rear suspension. Hopefully, someone will quickly tool up lightweight aluminum or fiberglass hood and rear deck panels. Mopar perhaps? Getting the Challenger to shed 200 pounds will go a long way towards correcting the weight issue.

Push the dash-mounted “Start” button and those 425 horses start champing at the bit and you’re on your way. Once on the road, acceleration is instantaneous

with 60 mph coming up in exactly five seconds, which is quick by any standard. But it’s when you get the Challenger up to extra-legal speeds that things really settle in. Above 120 mph the Challenger felt glued to the ground in spite of its blunt aerodynamics, an area that received special attention in the transition from concept to production car reality.

It was up near the limit that we were pleasantly surprised; at 160 mph we detected a bit of lightness up front but attribute that to a substantial head

wind at our undisclosed test location in Nevada, not far from the route of the mythical Kowalski. Our inability to get above 160 might be the result of the fact that we were more than 6,000 feet above sea level in the Nevada high desert. A second run, later in the day at lower elevation with no appreciable head wind, resulted in the speedo touching 165. Given the right conditions, I have no doubt that it would crack the 170 mph barrier.

Back to real-world performance, our

the exterior styling. BACK SEAT: We didn’t spend much time in the back seat, but there are belts for three. It’s just four

inches narrower than the Charger’s aft seat. m OLD & NEW CHALLENGER: Old and new together. The new Challenger is so

much bigger than the old, that we couldn’t even photograph it in front of the old car and still see both.

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Here you can compare the rear styling of the classic and the neo-classic.

SRT8 covered 1,320 feet in 13.2 seconds. That, plus the aforementioned five-second 0-60 time fall in between the 300-horsepower Mustang GT and the 500-horsepower Shelby GT500, closer to the GT500 as can be expected. What we can say is that the combination of horsepower as well as excellent handling and braking, contribute to the fact that Challenger drives smaller than its size and weight would seem to indicate on paper. Thus, the reason we drive cars on the road and not on paper, as some other “journalists” seem to do.

Handling is something of a mixed bag, again attributed to the substantial bulk – again, more than 4,200 pounds – of the complete package. Subjectively, the Challenger felt as if it was sprung softer, and talking with Dodge, this is

the case. But thanks to the multi-link rear suspension, the Challenger does a much better job staying planted than its most logical competitor, the live axle-equipped Shelby GT500.

One area where we were pleasantly surprised was in its modest fuel consumption given the overal l performance envelope, especially in this era of $4.00/gallon petrol. On the 3,000-mile round-trip to Denver and back, we averaged an incredible 21.4 mpg, which compares favorably to its 13/18 EPA rating. (It should be noted that with the exception of three very limited, very high speed runs, we stuck close to the posted limits; 65 mph seems to be the sweet spot. Conversely on our last tank of fuel, before turning the car back in, and driving mostly around town, mileage

slipped below the 15 mpg threshold, typical of other SRTs equipped with the 6.1-liter Hemi.)

Approximately 6,400 Challengers will be produced for the abbreviated 2008 model year. As expected, in 2009, Dodge will flesh out the lineup with a base SE model V6 and an R/T model powered by the 5.7-liter V8, producing about 350-horsepower. A six-speed manual gearbox is coming for 2009, to be paired with both V8s. All of the 2008 models are paired with a 5-speed automatic with manual override, c a l i b ra t e d f o r very quick shifts. Would we like to see steering wheel

ROAD TRip NOTESOn our two-day drive to Denver, we drove first from Los

Angeles to Las Vegas, stopping along the way in Baker, California, home of the world’s tallest thermometer. Our first night’s layover was in Beaver, Utah, just about halfway between Los Angeles and Denver.

The following morning, to get some back roads on our itinerary, we got off I-70 and on to US 89, driving through rural Utah and the town of Richfield where we found Classic Dodge. Thinking that we’d let them see the car and be on our way, we were surprised when Sales Manager Shawn Pollock showed us the dealership’s own muscle car collection, a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona and a companion 1969 Plymouth Road Runner, which they fired up and moved outside and parked next to our Challenger.

When we arrived in Denver, we were met not only by Holly Graves with the companion 1970 Challenger that would make the trip back to Los Angeles, but by Stacey and Robert Ediger as well. We met Stacey and Robert a month earlier at Mopars at the Strip in Las Vegas when we were struck by their Panther Pink 340 1970 Plymouth Duster. After a sunset photo shoot with all three cars at Bandimere Speedway, we all had a great dinner of BBQ where the topic of conversation was … you guessed it, classic and new high-powered Mopars!

ABOVE:Old and new Challengers sandwich a Duster. BELOW: Even next to a classic Road Runner, the new Challenger is big.

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mounted paddle shifters? Certainly.The bottom line question remains, is

the new Challenger SRT8 worth the wait, either two years from its 2006 revival or 34 years from its 1974 demise? The answer is a qualified yes. On the plus side, few cars, certainly none of them costing “just” $40,000 can match its sense of exterior style and its overall performance capabilities.

Conversely, in SRT8 guise, it’s a package that can benefit from some additional refinement, especially on the inside where the upcoming Camaro is sure to raise the bar. But if Dodge is serious about its interiors, and the V6 and 5.7-liter V8s meet Dodge’s modest sales expectations – rumored to be about 60,000 units annually – then the Challenger should benefit

from upgrades already planned for its platform stable mates, the Charger and Chrysler 300C.

The wild card is centered around $125/barrel oil. Maybe it would make sense for Dodge to offer a hybrid version? If Lexus can offer a luxury hybrid, why can’t Dodge offer a muscle car hybrid? Dodge, are you listening? ■

ABOVE LEFT: By far the best cruising, however, was on open stretches between L.A. and Denver. ABOVE RiGHT: Nothing says “road trip” like fries and ketchup in the console and the navigation system leading the way.

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