The Number of the Beast: Dodge Debuts Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320

If you went to bed last night worried that Dodge doesn’t field enough Challenger variants to satisfy your diverse driving whims, rest easy tonight. The Challenger, which harbors more personas than David Bowie, wants you to go to the dragstrip again.

For 2019, the Challenger R/T Scat Pack gives birth to a new offering that, while borrowing much of the defunct SRT Demon’s launch-assist hardware, rejects its hellish dragster predecessor’s supercharged 6.2-liter in favor of 6.4 liters of naturally aspirated grunt.

Normally, you’d find the 485 hp, 475 lb-ft mill lurking beneath the hood of Challengers bearing the 392 designation, but this big coupe swaps that number for larger one: 1320 — the number of feet in a quarter mile.

Fiat Chrysler claims its newest offering can complete the quarter mile in an elapsed time of 11.7 seconds at 115 mph, thus making it “the fastest naturally aspirated, street-legal muscle car available.” The model’s launch comes just ahead of this weekend’s Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals (Powered by Mopar) at Bandimere Speedway in Colorado.

Unlike the Demon, this version can be driven from the showroom to the dragstrip and back without the owner having to worry about Johnny Law. There’s no crate of gear available with this one, no skinny front tires to swap out before heading home. The R/T Scat Pack 1320’s Nexen SUR4G Drag Spec 275/40R20 slicks are street legal.

However, much like the Demon, this ride comes with a single seat as standard equipment. You can add a passenger seat and rear bench for a buck apiece.

What elevates this model further above its brethren is the addition of Adaptive Damping Suspension with Drag Mode (to induce grip-boosting rear squat at launch), Line Lock (to hold the vehicle in place while freeing up the rear rubber for warm-up), TransBrake (to pre-load the driveline and hold the car stationary for a brake-free launch), Torque Reserve (to fine-tune fuel delivery), and “extreme-duty” 41-spline half shafts. Naturally, there’s a Brembo high-performance brake package to bring a quick end to the party.

All of these goodies add $3,995 to the pre-destination MSRP of a Challenger R/T Scat Pack. Unlike the stock R/T Scat Pack, the only transmission choice here is an eight-speed TorqueFlite automatic, and that adds another $1,595 to the sticker. Factoring in the destination fee, Dodge’s newest dragster will run you $45,980.

Is the three-tenths-of-a-second improvement in quarter mile time worth the extra cost over a basic R/T Scat Pack? That’s up to you to decide. The 1320 goes on sale in early 2019.

[Images: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]