When push comes to shove the Charger SRT8 is capable of sprints to 100 km/h in about five seconds, with zero to 160 km/h and back to
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| When push comes to shove the Charger SRT8 is capable of sprints to 100 km/h in about five seconds, with zero to 160 km/h and back to zero taking a mere 16 seconds. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
zero taking a mere 16 seconds. While this sounds impressive on paper, it's a lot more stunning in real life, especially on the open road.
The run from Willow Springs, through the Mojave to Palmdale, isn't much to get excited about, so I'll leave its flat, straight roads, nondescript walled housing projects, lifeless mountains and sagebrush scenery to your imagination, but the trek up the mountain on the Angeles Forest highway, and then down the other side on the Angeles Crest highway, features some of the most engaging tarmac the world has to offer. My driving partner, while talented behind the wheel, wasn't quite as comfortable
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| The way it tackles corners is difficult to put into words. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
in the mountains as I, born and raised in BC, have become, therefore I gave him, and myself, a thrill ride either will soon forget.
The capability of this car, especially when factoring in its girth, heft and limousine-like passenger room, is hard to fathom. The way it tackles corners, with absolutely predictable balance, oversteering just enough to make it exciting before understeering exactly when needed, tires rarely making a peep in complaint despite forcing them beyond what should physically be possible, is difficult to put into words. And the power! The relentless force its 6.1-litre HEMI exacts from its rear tires is stupefying. We laughed, giggled like schoolgirls, chortled deviously as we shot past an Escort wagon, out through the blackened tunnel like if shot from a cannon, into blinding sunlight, and then downward once again, the mountain curves beckoning us forward like a wicked siren to our certain demise.
