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2015 Dodge Challenger SRT 392

I've just started reading the third installment in a planned five-book biography of Lyndon Baines Johnson, Master of the Senate, written by the incomparable Robert Caro. Conveniently, a recent trip to drive the BMW X6 M and 228i Convertible was to be staged in Austin, TX, within easy driving distance of LBJ's birthplace, Johnson City. And yes, the city is named for his family. Having completed my duties with the Bimmers, I borrowed the spangled 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT 392 you see above, to squire me around the Texas capitol for a weekend, and as a lift out to the Hill Country homestead of our 36th President. Johnson City isn't exactly a road trip mecca, but there's a pretty good brewery, a museum, the reconstructed LBJ house to take snapshots of, and it's a nice drive to get out there if you've got a 485-horsepower muscle car at your disposal. Driving Notes With the heroic Hellcat, this 392 and the R/T Scat Pack (that Brandon Turkus reviewed recently), there are more SRT-treated Challengers to choose from than ever before. There are 707 obvious reasons that the Hellkitty is the top dog (as it were), but there are important difference between this 392 and the Scat Pack, too. Both cars make use of the 6.4-liter Hemi V8 putting out 485 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque, but the 392 also gets an adaptive suspension, six-piston Brembo brake calipers (instead of four-piston), wider tires, leather and Alcantara seats, a heated steering wheel, a louder stereo and HID headlights. When LBJ was campaigning for his seat in the House of Representatives, he would've loved to have something as potent as this monster of a V8 under the hood of his canvassing car. The 6.4L snorts with authority before it sends the big coupe forward to just about any speed I'd ask of it, and with a quickness. Johnson was known for haranguing drivers to step on it, when all that stood between himself and a few more votes was the ability to fit one more stump speech into the day. The 392 feels as though it could cover a quarter of the state of Texas in a morning if you throttle down deep enough (faster even than the Johnson City Windmill, I'd guess). Though there's a six-speed manual available, I'm actually quite fond of the eight-speed automatic in the 392. The two-pedal setup better suits the fast-cruiser attitude of the car, and it never served up any poorly conceived shift logic when I left it in D. Of course, the roads are better now than they were in the 1930s and 40s, too.

Camel-power and Challengers | Autoblog Podcast #510

On this week's podcast, Mike Austin and David Gluckman are in a huddle room, because the studio was already taken. We talk about the Dodge Challenger GT all-wheel-drive and who would want one. (And a correction we'll mention in next week's podcast - the trunk lid on the Challenger does wrap around vertically for a decent-sized opening.) Then David has a new performance metric to introduce, proposed by Nissan. The episode wraps up with the traditional doling out of Spend My Money buying advice, with an update on the feasibility of the one-year Ferrari financial plan. The rundown is below. Remember, if you have a car-related question you'd like us to answer or you want buying advice of your very own, send a message or a voice memo to podcast at autoblog dot com. (If you record audio of a question with your phone and get it to us, you could hear your very own voice on the podcast. Neat, right?) And if you have other questions or comments, please send those too. Autoblog Podcast #510 Topics and stories we mention Dodge Challenger GT Long-term Mazda MX-5 Miata Mazda CX-5 Nissan Camelpower The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho Used cars! Rundown Intro - 00:00 What we're driving - 02:11 Camelpower - 17:28 Spend My Money - 24:39 Total Duration: 44:17 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show on iTunes Podcasts Dodge Car Buying dodge challenger gt

Hellephant 1,000-horsepower Mopar crate engine priced, is available to order

The folks at Fiat Chrysler's Mopar division unveiled its meanest road-going V8 ever at last year's SEMA show. It makes 1,000 horsepower, and it's called the Hellephant in honor of the second-generation Charger's 426 "Elephant" V8, and because it has a honking big supercharger on top like the modern Hellcat. What we didn't know was the price, but now order books are open, and it's priced at $29,995. That's about $10,000 more than the currently available Hellcat engine, which makes 707 horsepower. You'll also probably want to buy the available kit that comes with all the computers, wiring, sensors and throttle to run it, and that's an extra $2,265. Putting things further into perspective, you can actually buy an entire new Dodge Challenger SXT V6 for $29,340. You'll also still need to add other accessories if you want things like air conditioning, which Mopar is also happy to sell you. What we're saying is, this is a lot of money just for an engine. But on the other hand, this is a roughly plug-and-play engine with Bugatti Veyron power for the price of a V6 Challenger, so that's pretty awesome. And you can put it into anything you have the skills or money to put it in. Plus, it should be able to make more power with higher-octane fuel. We can't wait to see the swaps and builds.