Straight-line speed.
The Dodge Challenger is the quintessential American muscle car with its big body, big V-8, and rear-wheel drive. It’s perfect for stoplight races and Mopar has worked their magic to make it a beast on the drag strip with the new Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak. Developed for over a year, the new track-only drag racer sports new chrome wheels, a choice of two engines, and lots of other goodies to make that quarter mile disappear quickly.
“Today, we write the next page in our performance playbook with the reveal of the production Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak, a vehicle that offers, for the first time, a supercharged engine that provides our racers more options,” said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO — Mopar Brand Service, Parts and Customer Care, FCA. “Our brand is committed to supporting Mopar drivers who compete at all levels. In 2014, we debuted a new Dodge Dart NHRA Pro Stock car that won right out of the gate. In 2015, our new Dodge Charger R/T NHRA Funny Car did the same. Now, Mopar is supercharging our Sportsman racers.”
Buyers will have a choice of two different engines to drive the rear chrome wheels on their Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak. The top-dog is the supercharged 354 HEMI engine sporting a cast iron block, forged steel crankshaft, Mopar-spec camshaft, and a full high-performance engine calibration system. The other, less expensive choice is a naturally-aspirated 426 Race HEMI engine that comes from a Mopar aluminum block with pressed-in steed liners and heads, along with a custom-tailored high-performance engine calibration. Both engines are paired up with a race-spec, modified automatic transmission.
The chassis of the new Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak was beefed up to handle the extreme power and stress experienced during a race. A Mopar K-Member, double-adjustable struts, and unique geometry makes up the front suspension. At the rear, a four-link setup with Panhard bar, Strange Engineering 4.0-inch solid axle with 9.0-inch aluminum third member, 40-spline gun drilled axles, adjustable shocks, and an anti-roll bar is built for strength. Even the mounting has been strengthened at the rear axle, putting all the pressure on the new chrome wheels to do their job.
Beneath the special engine-specific bodywork sit new 15-inch front and rear lightweight chrome wheels with Mopar logos. These chrome wheels wear beefy Hoosier drag radials that measure 28 x 4.5 inches up front and 30 x 9.0 at the rear. Behind them sit new slotted brake rotors with race-spec calipers and a master cylinder.
“We are extremely pleased with the results obtained during our testing,” said Dale Aldo, Mopar Motorsports Marketing Manager. “In the first runs the new Drag Pak ran consistently in the eights (eight-second range) while improving times at the 60-ft. mark and also performing very well in the quarter mile. Once our customers get the car on the track, we feel it’s going to be a clear winner.”
The new Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak will be available starting July 23rd at authorized Dodge dealerships. MSRP for each model will start at $99,426 for the ‘426’ engine and $109,354 for the ‘354’ engine.
Source: Dodge