Okay, nothing like that really happened. It was just the kind of feeling I got every time I fired up that blisteringly fast, 425-horsepower NASCAR wannabe the people at Chrysler call the 2007 Dodge Charger SRT8.
I mean the cops have to assume you’re up to no good if you are rumbling along like Harley Davidson in the one car they can’t miss, its color long known to the authorities as “arrest-me red.” And you have to assume they’re not liking it, right?
You think you’re dealing with paranoia here, do you? I think it was more a result of what actually happened the second time I was behind the wheel. I pulled up to my driveway in the big brute and spotted a patrol car half hidden on the property next to mine. In the seven years I have lived in my home I have never seen another radar check from that exact location.
nyway, I took the policeman’s presence as an omen and decided that discretion would be the better part of valor in the police-infested North Jersey communities through which I frequently travel.
And, in exercising caution, I learned a few things about the Dodge that might not have come to my attention if I had piloted Big Red with the kind of reckless abandon that tends to end up badly.
I learned that it is not just a car for those Talladega Nights. It is a real full-size sedan with real room for five people and a real trunk that will hold their luggage.
I learned that 425 horses and 428 pound-feet of torque can be tamed for family duty and, when handled with care, will return more than 20 miles per gallon of regular unleaded fuel in highway travel and no less than 15 on those trips to the store, the pre-school or the soccer field. There’s nothing great about those numbers, I admit, but they look good next to the figures that can be obtained from those big, thirsty SUVs.
I learned that the performance-tuned independent suspension offers reasonable comfort unless the road is severely pock-marked.
Finally, I learned that the passenger cabin can be a pleasant place to spend time. The engine’s muted presence under light acceleration allows easy conversation among the passengers. In addition, a generous amount of convenience features are standard, including air conditioning, cruise control, leather seats with suede inserts, six-speaker sound system with CD player and satellite radio hookup.
Of course, if you want to upgrade to first class, you can add such items as dual-zone climate control, navigation system and an upgraded audio package.
Okay, those last few paragraphs were for the wife (or hubbie). Now let’s get on with what you really want to know.
I confess at the outset that I did not verify most of this personally. I had some occasional neck-snapping excitement behind the wheel, but I never once waved the red Dodge in front of an angry cop. These figures come straight from the archives of Road and Track magazine.
| Chassis | |
| Brakes F/R: | ABS, vented disc/vented disc |
| Tires F-R: | 245/45 R20 – 255/45 R20 |
| Driveline: | Rear Wheel Drive |
| Engine | |
| Type: | V8 |
| Displacement cu in (cc): | 370 (6059) |
| Power bhp (kW) at RPM: | 425(318) / 6000 |
| Torque lb-ft (Nm) at RPM: | 420(569) / 4800 |
| Redline at RPM: | 6400 |
| Exterior | |
| Length × Width × Height in: | 200.1 × 74.5 × 57.7 |
| Weight lb (kg): | 4160 (1887) |
| Performance | |
| Acceleration 0-62 mph s: | 5.0 (estimate) |
| Top Speed mph (km/h): | n.a. |
| Fuel Economy EPA city/highway mpg (l/100 km): | n.a. |
"We do our best to publish and share Non Copyrighted Material on this blog, We merely take the power of Google Search(pdf search), forums, social bookmarks to find those materials and link to it. None of those materials are hosted in this server. We are neither affiliated with authors of any site nor responsible for its content and change of content. If you see unrelated pdf files with the description or copyrighted materials published on this blog, please contact us, we'll take action as soon as possible. Please read our Disclaimer for more detail."