There is nothing worse than someone or something over promising and under delivering. Our purple Plum Crazy Pearl widebody 2019 Dodge Challenger Scat Pack 392 made big promises, that it was going to deliver lots of old-school in your face muscle car performance. I sat down behind the wheel, pressed in the clutch peddle (yes, our car was equipped with a 6-speed Tremec manual transmission!), pushed the start/stop button, and smiled from ear-to-ear as the big 6.4 litre V8 engine rumbled to life. I kicked the throttle a few times, slid the extremely solid feeling manual transmission gear lever into first gear, gently fed the power to the rear wheels and off we went. So far, our Challenger was definitely delivering on its Plum Crazy performance promise.

Rumbling under the hood of our Scat Pack 392 is a naturally aspirated 6.4 litre SRT Hemi V8 pumping out 485 horsepower and 475 lb-ft of torque, which, in any world, is a lot of power. If you want to kick it up a notch, you could opt for the Challenger SRT Hellcat with its 6.2 litre supercharged Hemi V8 delivering 717 hp and 656 lb-ft of torque. But if you want to go all out and get the top of the line Challenger, that would be the SRT Hellcat Redeye which generates 797 hp and 707 lb-ft of torque from its 6.2 litre supercharged Hemi SRT V8. The SRT Hellcat Redeye is the fastest and most powerful muscle car ever produced, according to Dodge.

2019 Dodge Challenger Lineup
Dodge has done a great job of offering perspective Challenger buyers the ability to mix and match engines, drivetrains and transmissions to meet almost every buyer’s desires and budget. No less than five different engines are offered (none of which is a turbocharged four-banger) along with either an 8-speed automatic or a 6 speed manual. Unique to this segment of American muscle cars, are the SXT and GT Challengers which can be configured with all-wheel drive!

To put the cost of all of this power into perspective, the price of three rear-wheel drive SXTs (which would cost about $101,000) is less that the price of one fully optioned SRT Hellcat Redeye (at roughly $115,000).

Manual Versus Automatic
Lamborghini haven’t built manual transmission equipped cars since 2014. Ferrari stopped putting manual transmissions in their road cars in 2007. Thankfully Dodge is offering manual transmissions in some of these Challengers. We have all heard the adage that driving a manual equipped car provides for a more engaging driving experience. We really believe that is the case with this Challenger. Managing the deployment of all of that power and torque to the pavement through the coordinated effort of all of your hands and feet is so much fun! Very rewarding when you get it all right, a bit cringe inducing when you get it wrong.

We really love the fact that the shifter leans so far forward, and to the left. It feels reminiscent of the positioning of the shifter in the legendary AC Cobras. This would be quite a different driving experience in an automatic equipped Challenger. Yes, lap times around a race track would likely be quicker using an auto, and fuel economy would typically be better, but driving this car with the manual transmission makes each outing feel special with a throwback aura.

On a serious but related note, an attempted carjacking in Toronto was thwarted because the teenaged carjackers did not know how to drive a manual transmission. Thankfully the driver was OK, the car was not stolen and the young perpetrators were arrested.

Performance
The Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye, with its 797 hp, can launch its passengers from 0-100 km/h in just 3.4 seconds. Its supercharged 6.2 litre Hemi V8 will push the car to a top speed of 326 km/h or just over 203 miles per hour. The slightly less crazy SRT Hellcat, with its 707 hp, can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in just 3.6 seconds. Those are supercar acceleration times. Our 392 Scat Pack sprints from rest to 100 km/h in the low 4 seconds. The car feels quick, but with the thundering sound from the V8, and the large 305/35 x 20 inch rear tires struggling for grip, the whole acceleration experience seems more impressive that the times indicate. In this day and age of typically smaller, muffled turbocharged engines, many of which generate artificial sound pumped through the car’s speakers, this Challenger provides its occupants with a genuine muscle car experience.

Interestingly enough, the 5.7 litre Hemi with 375 hp and 410 lb-ft of torque, is Canada’s best-selling V8. It can accelerate the R/T from 0-100 km/h in the 5 second range. The V6 Pentastar equipped 305 hp and 268 lb-ft of torque SXT and GT models will hit 100 km/h in about 6 seconds.

Fuel Economy
If you are looking to save the planet and hug a tree, please avert your gaze. There currently isn’t a formula for creating a lot of raw performance and great sound from a big V8 engine while sipping fuel at the same time. To say these cars are thirsty would be a bit of an understatement. We averaged about 19.6 L/100 km over our initial 300 kilometer journey. The Scat Pack 392 is rated at 16.7 L/100 km city and 10.4 L/100 km highway. The best fuel economy is generated by the 3.6 litre Pentastar V6 which is rated at 12.4 L/100 km city and 7.8 L/100 km highway. In order to extract 707 hp from the supercharged V8, 18.1 L/100 km city and 11.4 L/100 km will flow via the 6-speed manual transmission. At one point we were coasting down a very long, steep hill at highway speed. We put the car in neutral and our instant fuel economy indicated that we were still consuming fuel at a rate of 3 litres per 100 kilometers.

Out Take
We loved the sound and performance provided by the 6.4 litre naturally aspirated V8. We loved the driver engagement derived from the 6-speed manual transmission. We really loved the Plum Crazy Pearl purple paint. We also loved those beautiful 20 inch Devil’s Rim forged aluminum rims with 305/35ZR20 Pirelli P Zero tires on all four wheels (no front/rear wheel and tire size staggering here). We think they are among the best looking rims on the road.

We always ask ourselves if we are going to miss the car we are testing when it’s gone. We miss this car already and can’t wait to get behind the wheel of our next Dodge Challenger. Every drive in this performance monster felt special. With the push of the start/stop button and the firing up of that V8 engine, to the engagement of first gear and sending all of that power and torque to the huge rear wheels and tires. This car delivered such a fun, visceral driving experience every time.

We would really like to try an all-wheel drive Challenger SXT or GT in the winter. Fitted with a set of snow tires, we assume it would be a blast to drive. Yes, it would only be powered by a 6-cylinder 305 hp engine, but we would love to see the look on the faces of fellow drivers as they saw a big Torred or Go Mango Challenger throwing snow up in the air from all four of its corners.

It is great that Dodge are offering so many variations of the Challenger. We hope they don’t stop anytime soon.