Comments on: Lock Up Your Pink Slips: Dodge Greenlights Drag Race Challenger

By: rudiger

rudiger — Sat, 17 May 2008 10:49:55 +0000

Sajeev Mehta: “I would say this version should come in at thousands less than the R/T, but we all know that Chrysler needs $$$ and people will dig deep for one of these.”

I wouldn’t bet on the price being less than an R/T. Manufacturers have a bad habit of charging exhorbitant sums for anything ‘limited’ or ’special’, even if they’re actually much cheaper to build. Porsche used to have a lighter ‘Club Sport’ 993 that lacked A/C and a radio, yet was over $10k more than an RPO car.

With a limited production run (there were only a total of around 100 Hemi-Darts and ‘Cudas built in 1968, and they were expensive, stripped, dragstrip-only cars, too), I would imagine any true Super-Stock Challenger will fall into the same high-price category.

By: golden2husky

golden2husky — Sat, 17 May 2008 02:25:20 +0000

Sounds like one to buy and stash for Barrett Jackson 2040….

By: AJ

AJ — Sat, 17 May 2008 01:20:09 +0000

Makes me wish I had the garage space, a tow vehicle, a reason, oh, and the extra money to buy one! And how about my own personal track. Yes, that would be cool. :)

By: Sajeev Mehta

Sajeev Mehta — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:22:49 +0000

Odds are the Drag Pack’d Challenger won’t come with an expensive warranty, either. Or $2.99 a gallon gas.

I would say this version should come in at thousands less than the R/T, but we all know that Chrysler needs $$$ and people will dig deep for one of these.

By: TriShield

TriShield — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:06:28 +0000

Ford has been doing this for awhile as well. You can purchase the super-light, super-road racing Mustang FR500S from them. But it will cost ya.

There’s a Drag-Pak option coming for street legal, run of the mill Challenger R/T and SRT8s as well that includes 3.92 rear gears. That should make the cars a beast from a dig.

By: blowfish

blowfish — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:12:34 +0000

Racing Sunday, selling Monday.
It has been imbedded in the culture as much as right to bear arm.
Starting up the racing divsion wont costs Chryslerbus all that much but stir up the racing and trickle down to the average joe.
If Chrysler want another go again this is the way.
The Hemi engines are stronger than a S*it brickhouse.

By: DragDog

DragDog — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:22:07 +0000

Weight reduction for drag racing invariably involves removing functionality unrelated to the race or replacing cheap/heavy materials with light/expensive ones.

A first pass at WR usually involves removing the AC system, heating system, stereo, all passenger seats, carpet and headliner, sound deadening material, spare tire and jack, interior bits (console, power plugs, visors, etc), airbags, emissions systems, windshield wipers, miscellaneous accessories (cruise, power locks, etc), and relocating the battery to the trunk. Chassis bracing may be removed but a roll cage is added, which adds rigidity but can be uncomfortable to move around. The next step is dropping power steering and power brakes. Fiberglass body panels reduce weight but shatter on impact so a fender-bender becomes very expensive. Replacing iron engine components with aluminum helps a lot too. None of these things cut very much individually but in aggregate it really adds up.

However I doubt very many retail customers would tolerate a vehicle missing all those “essential” features. Which is why Chrysler doesn’t do this to every Challenger.

By: Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:13:47 +0000

Of course, Allpar has full coverage on this vehicle, Mopar fans have known about it for nearly a year. It is pretty sweet.

http://www.allpar.com/cars/dodge/super-stock-challenger.html

By: GS650G

GS650G — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:56:23 +0000

It’s probably not missing much impact protection, however sound insulation adds weight. Using carbon fiber or other high tech materials is expensive and difficult to incorporate in a production run, that could make up the bulk of it. We will have to weight (pun intended) and see.

By: quasimondo

quasimondo — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:47:02 +0000

Lighter chassis probably won’t be street legal after they’ve removed all of the impact protection, etc.

By: lprocter1982

lprocter1982 — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:44:56 +0000

So why don’t they use the lighter chassis in the production vehicles? I mean, any fuel savings is good, right?