The Dodge Charger SRT8

The Dodge Charger SRT8 is a blast from the past.
I have to admit, I've always been a MOPAR person.
My Driver’s Ed car was a 71 Dodge Charger with a 440 Magnum engine.
Yes I said my driver’s TRAINING car!
The deep throb of that Magnum engine when you just lightly pressed down on the accelerator was awesome.
Later on I bought a Dodge Magnum. I got mine as a special order with the 360 high performance engine.
Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone and put a Edelbrock Aluminum intake on it, a Holley 650 cfm double pumper, blew out the catalytic converter (a friend of mine ran a Emissions Check Station, so when the time came to have it inspected, we just slipped on a real converter), moved the battery to the trunk and switched her over to leaded gas.
Anyone remember leaded gas?

Anyway I ruined the nights of several Trans-Am and Z-28 owners with that innocent looking "sedan".
I thought those days were gone till we walked onto the lot of a local Dodge dealer and sitting there was a silver Dodge Charger SRT-8.
It even looks wicked. Kinda like a pit bull just sitting there looking at you. Can a Muscle Car actually look muscular?
The salesman cranked it up for us and I was transported back listening to that rumble.
Then the test drive. How can a car sound like a Harley? It didn't roar under acceleration, it howled.

And the specs on this beast......
A 6.1 liter Hemi putting out 425 hp?
Well that gives it 0 to 60 in the five second range. (I've read as far as 4.8 seconds)
Drag Times tested one and got a 13 second quarter mile at almost 109 mph.
Dodge says the top end is about 173 mph. But I have heard of way higher speeds than that, actually in the 200 mph range.
Economy? Forget it. Estimates range from 12 to 17 mpg.
Amazingly enough it actually has a fairly workable backseat. Meaning people can actually sit in it.

Bottom line, is the Dodge Charger SRT8....practical?
No.
Fun?
YES!

Since I wrote this in 2009, I thought I'd update it for 2010, but no update is needed.
The car is virtually unchanged with the standard five-speed automatic transmission with AutoStick manual controls, and the 425-hp, 6.1-liter Hemi V-8 still remains.
Of course some people are moving to the Dodge Challenger SRT8 which from what I understand, weighs in about 20 pounds lighter than the Charger.

A few more cosmetic changes were made in 2011, but nothing really major.
If you wanna see major, take a look below at the redesign for 2012 with it's "Vector-like" grill. 

The big news for 2012 is that the Charger SRT8 gets the 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 that first showed up in the Challenger SRT8.
That will raise the Charger's horsepower from 425 to 465 and torque up to 465 as well.
I wonder how long it will take some inventive soul to aftermarket that 465 up to 500 horsepower?