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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.

Junkyard Gem: 1990 Dodge Colt Vista

The partnership between Chrysler and Mitsubishi started way back in 1971 and led to plenty of Mitsubishis being sold in the United States as Chryslers, Dodges, Plymouths, and Eagles (plus the use of Mitsubishi engines in all manner of Chrysler-built vehicles). The Colt name – used on a series of Galant-, Lancer-, and Mirage-based cars – became a fairly successful brand for Chrysler, and so it was slapped on Dodge- and Plymouth-badged Mitsubishi Chariots. The Colt Vista wasn't a huge sales success, and you won't see many today, but they had a certain following. Here's a rare '90 that I spotted in a Minneapolis self-service wrecking yard over the summer. Just 114k miles on this one, but the rust got pretty bad and that's the most likely culprit for its junkyardization. These cars made good family haulers, although you wouldn't find many of their 2016 counterparts sporting three pedals. Turbo Tom kept it going for quite a while, but rust never sleeps in Minnesota. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. In Japan, the Chariot was sponsored by the terrifyingly disembodied head of Mickey Mouse. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Seats seven actors! Featured Gallery Junked 1990 Dodge Colt Vista View 17 Photos Auto News Dodge Automotive History Hatchback Minivan/Van dodge colt

2015 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack

We all knew That Kid. As a freshman, he was a big kid, overweight but surprisingly strong. Still, he was often picked on for his size. Then, he chatted with the football coach, who convinced him that his true calling was on the team's offensive line. After a season on the freshman squad and a summer of two-a-days, this mild-mannered, husky high schooler returned for his sophomore year as a big, imposing, solid piece of muscle. Needless to say, the same bullies that picked on him were praying he'd forgotten about them as a 10th grader.
That's the V8-powered 2015 Dodge Challenger. It arrived on the scene with a max of 425 horsepower and a bit of a weight problem. It completed its proverbial freshman year with a nice 2011 refresh, where the SRT8 was bumped up to 470 hp, but it still had some work to do.
Enter 2015, and fresh off three months of constant burpees and wind sprints, the newest Challenger is as big and powerful as it's ever been, but it's now got poise and potential, and my goodness, it's fun in a way that Dodge's muscle car has never been.