I can't remember how many times I circled the course in this suitably equipped sports sedan, but it quickly became my favourite, even
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| I can't remember how many times I circled the course in this suitably equipped sports sedan, but it quickly became my favourite, even over the two Viper models. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
over the two Viper models. Now don't get me wrong, the Vipers are amazingly quick and capable of leaving the Charger SRT8 far behind if piloted by someone with vastly more experience than I. While a good driver by most peoples' admonition, I'm no profession racer and the Viper is no cakewalk for the uninitiated, witnessed by all who attended the day's proceedings when a well versed journalist spun a new coupe when powering through the uphill esses. It ended up perched high atop the tire barrier, right side up fortunately and surprisingly unscathed - other than a little front fascia body work. The driver, however, was no doubt emotionally scarred. It was the last we saw of him for the remainder of the event.
Much
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| The Charger SRT8 offers some of the best sports seats in the business. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
sobered, track times seamed less important and erring on the side of safety became the unspoken agenda for the remaining two hours. Nevertheless, I was able to push all the SRT cars to extreme levels and came away unsure which variation on the theme I would want as my own - they're all amazingly good.
Their common denominators include the aforementioned chassis architecture and other shared components, plus most notably that brute of an engine. In order to extract its high horsepower and torque ratings, the SRT team bored out the "regular" 5.7-litre HEMI's cylinder diameters by 3.5 millimeters apiece, modified the block with reinforcements and increased coolant flow. A forged steel crankshaft was added to minimize vibration, while stronger powder-metal connecting rods, capped off by oil squirter-cooled floating-pin pistons are attached. Also, a modified oil pan was put in place to reduce oil foaming.
