What we’re looking at here is a 2-ton lump of awesome nostalgia. There are others like it, but nothing quite matches the 2015 Dodge Challenger R/T’s level of sentimentality. We’re talking a 15-hour marathon of “The Wonder Years” served on your mother’s floral-print dining room tablecloth.
You can’t always trust memory, though. Like your mother’s tablecloth, there are stains that are worth remembering, and some aren’t. The muscle cars of yesteryear were deeply flawed heroes; hugely attractive sucks of resources. Oh, beautiful 1970s pig iron.
But the 2015 Dodge Challenger R/T does a very good job of separating past from present. The new Challenger is a sophisticated hump. For instance, the available 8.4-inch touchscreen inside ($695 option) is the only gatekeeper between you and the Challenger R/T’s best party trick: launch control.
No, for the most part, the 2015 Challenger has as much in common with 1960s-era muscle cars as Burt Reynolds has with Ryan Reynolds. And that’s perfectly acceptable. Both cars share a front-engined, rear-wheel drive philosophy; a timeless idea that it is far better to be shoved to 60 mph rather than dragged. I wholeheartedly agree.
The Challenger R/T Plus that we’re driving slots firmly in the middle of a Challenger lineup more intriguing than the “Twilight Zone.” On one end of the spectrum lives the Challenger Hellcat, a supercharged 700-horsepower beast with the structural integrity of a thoroughbred racehorse, and on the other end, the Challenger V-6, only more fun than a paint horse and a fistful of ‘ludes.
The 5.7-liter engine is remarkably the oldest engine in a car that’s barely more than 6 years old. The V8 Hemi lump up front cranks 372 horsepower and 410 lb.-ft. of torque to 20-inch wheels in the back, with a monumentally perfect howl. Power is shifted through an eight-speed automatic transmission ($1,400) that is way more fun than it sounds.
Taken alone those numbers aren’t particularly impressive when pitted against Mustangs, Camaros — and even Challengers — in circulation. The 375 horsepower is a little more than half of the Hellcat’s 707 horsepower, and the 8-speed automatic transmission sounds more at home on your Kitchen-Aid mixer than dropped into the floor of your showcase ride. But wait a minute there, hoss.
The only way to realize the R/T’s mid-5 second 0-60 times is to let the car do the thinking for you. If anything the cogs stick around too long, running the 5.7-liter V8 into its 6,000 rpm strawberry patch. (Perhaps that’s why we managed 16 mpg all around, short of the Challenger R/T’s 16/25 mpg EPA rating.)
Inside, the Challenger is plush and comfortable, a nod that you’re driving one massive car instead of a svelte sports coupe. Far and away, the best part of the 2015 Challenger R/T is the engine and body, rather than the plush buckets, which are high-grain Nappa leather specimens with a massive pair of “R/T” letters embroidered on both. I don’t imagine most people will say, “Listen to those automatic lumbar adjusters purr, baby. Oh yeah.”
Second only to the R/T’s incredible hum from the front is the R/T’s reason for being on the planet: its price. At just under $30,000 to start, it’s almost unbelievable that Toyota Camry money can buy a shouting V8 sports car, capable of an approving nod or two at the stoplights. And it’s almost just as unbelievable that for $5,000 more, you can get the best R/T they make: fitted with the “Super Track Pak.”
(Personal aside: There’s a button in the R/T labeled “Super Track Pak” and I want one everywhere: on my oven, in my car, on my TV remote or even in my bathroom. The world would be a great place with Super Track Paks for everything, I think.)
Super Track Pak is sport shocks, sports steering, paddle shifters, performance pages in the navigation screen, and is basically a great place to start when trying to raise your insurance rates sky high. I dare say this: A Challenger R/T without a Super Track Pak is a wasted opportunity. In it, the Challenger R/T ducks and dives, billeting its massive weight and size back at the line for a brief moment before physics catches back up. Don’t be fooled, the Challenger is big and heavy — suspension tweaks are a temporary distraction.
But my goodness can the Challenger R/T run. Our tester, fitted with just about everything you can bolt on to a Challenger ran all the way up to $44,255. And that brings us to an inconvenient truth about the Challenger R/T. Breathing down its neck is the $38,495 2015 Challenger R/T Scat Pack with a bigger engine and better performance. Shed some of the unnecessary additions (Harmon Kardon stereo, I’m looking at you) and you’re right around the same price for a truly epic, 6.4-liter muscle car. The best part of the Challenger R/T is that it’s wonderful nostalgia, in beautiful two-door glory. The worst part about the Challenger R/T is that with a comparably priced bigger-engined model already here its time may have been cut too short.
I think the challenger is awesome