Leaked documents from last week's dealer product event claim power output on the newly-6.4-litered 2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 is a whopping 475HP. Dodge brand CEO Ralph Gilles even claims it'll break the three second range in the 0-to-60. Umm, how?
The SRT and new 392 (special edition) versions of the 2011 Challenger will see a power output of 475 HP and 460 lb.-ft. of torque thanks to the new 6.4-liter Hemi. Although an appreciated boost, the car seemed to receive an even bigger, and seemingly impossible, performance boost from Dodge brand CEO Ralph Gilles.
Apparently, according to Ontario Street Car, during last week's dealer presentation, Gilles was quoted as saying the cars would hit 60 MPH from 0 in the 3-second zone. But how, considering the gearing will be the same as on the 2010 model that only breaks the 5.0-second barrier by a tenth of a second? Wouldn't it need a significantly boosted horsepower number than 475? Does this mean the Challenger's downrated — or that Gilles misspoke?
Setting aside the power penis size debate, the thing that's getting us to nerd out from an industry point of view is that Dodge is pitting the new Challenger, specifically the lower-powered versions, directly against the Chevy Camaro rather than the Ford Mustang. That makes sense as the Camaro's now stolen the pony car sales lead from FoMoCo — but it's interesting seeing other car companies take note and align their offerings against the General.
Want to know the rest of the details — including the numbers on the V6 Challenger? Click on the images below (and on top) to embiggen them: