After months of waiting, she finally has arrived. We have been eager to get our hands on the keys of our 2019 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320, since January. Our friends at White Rock Dodge in Surrey, British Columbia were also excited about receiving the special edition grassroots drag racing package, as you saw in our last post about the delivery process of the car. Now that the car is finally home, we can tell you our initial impressions of the vehicle.
Before this car, I had only previously driven a Challenger once, and that was the 2018 Scat Pack Shaker that I reviewed almost a year ago to this day. Upon leaving the dealer, I was reminded of just how big these cars are, but you quickly get used to it. As soon as you do get used to the size of the Challenger the strengths begin to show, while I have not driven a 6th generation Camaro I have driven S550 Mustangs, and the Challenger is a LOT more comfortable, and the back seat is actually usable. Sightlines and visibility are good for the class, but it does take a bit to get used to just how far back you sit from the front of the car. The C-pillars are also extremely thick, which hampers visibility over your shoulder, but luckily we sprang for the driver convenience group which includes blind spot monitoring.
Interior wise the Challenger shines again with easily the best cockpit in its class. While design is subjective (I like the Challenger interior design the best out of the Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger), the quality of the materials in the Challenger is light years ahead of the other two muscle cars. All the controls are easy to use, and We opted for the 1320 plus group which comes with the Nappa leather/Alcantara vented seats, and they are incredibly comfortable with aggressive side bolstering. Challenger 1320s also get an Alcantara wrapped steering wheel which feels very premium and has already been a bit of a conversation piece. All switchgear is angled towards the driver and is easy to operate along with the 8.4-inch Uconnect system.
Out on the road, the car is an extremely comfortable cruiser; I have been using it as my daily driver for the past four days with no complaints at all. The suspension is firm but compliant, and the car handles a lot better than I expected and much better than they get credit for. While it isn’t going to hang with a Camaro or a Mustang on a road course that isn’t what the car is designed to do (If road courses are your thing, take a look at the Widebody models). What it is intended to do is go fast in a straight line, and that is something it does VERY well.
I was a little worried that I would be disappointed with the straight line performance of the car after riding in a Demon a few weeks ago, but I am happy to report that is absolutely not the case. This car pulls hard from any speed, and the TorqueFlite 8-speed transmission shifts incredibly fast. After putting the car into drag mode (which sets the suspension up for maximum weight transfer to the rear) you can launch the car off idle with little to no wheelspin if you’re smart with the go pedal. Challenger 1320s come with Nexen drag radials developed explicitly for this car, and they provide a ton of grip, that said I don’t think they will last very long.
These are just my first impressions of the car but look for a full review within the next few weeks. So far I am thrilled with the car and can’t wait to get it out to the track next week to see what kind of times we can get out of it.
