SRT, for "Street and Racing Technology," is Chrysler's in-house tuner analogous to Ford's SVT and Mercedes' AMG.
A friend of mine had to attend the all-day "SRT Track Experience" for work (her job has some perks) and asked if I'd like to come along. The cost would be $300, but all-day driving classes usually cost quite a bit more. So I opted in.

I went hoping to refine my driving skills. Thus I was a bit disappointed, as the event focused more on sampling the SRT line-up than on skill development. The upside: I received enough exposure to three SRT products to write reviews of them: the 300C / Magnum (essentially the sedan and wagon versions of one model), Ram, and Viper. I also had some seat time in the Neon and Crossfire, but it was more limited. Instead of writing new reviews of those cars I'll add some comments to my existing reviews: Chrysler Crossfire and Dodge Neon SRT-4.

SRT Track Experience

I'll include a section on the SRT Track Experience for those who might also be interested in attending. It's free to anyone who has bought an SRT product since January, and $300 for anyone else. The event takes place at a racetrack, in my case Michigan International Speedway. It lasts all day, from 8:00 in the morning to 4:30 or so in the afternoon. A continental breakfast and cold-cut lunch are included.

The Experience includes four "modules." The first, classroom instruction, lasts about an hour. It teaches the basics you'll receive in just about any introductory performance driving class, focusing on what's going on at the tire's contact patches when you accelerate, steer, and brake. In my case this class was taught by Terry Earwood, legendary driver and currently Skip Barber's chief instructor. I've had the same material in other classes, but none has presented it as humorously as Mr. Earwood. Redneck jokes aren't exactly novel, but they fit the material well (generally in examples of what not to do) and his delivery is spot on.

After the class the group breaks into three subgroups to rotate through the other modules. The first includes a minimum of two runs per car down a short drag strip, with a short slalom on the return to the starting area. The second includes three to four fast laps per car around a combination high-speed oval and road course, the latter in the oval's infield at this track. The third includes two runs per car through a cone-demarcated autocross course demarcated within a blocked off section of the big oval.

Participants sample three cars in each module: 300, Crossfire, and Ram in the first; Magnum, Ram, and Viper in the second; and Neon, Crossfire, and Viper in the third.

At the end of the day the instructors took each participant through the road course then an entire high-speed lap of the oval in each of two cars. I opted for the two most popular rides, the Viper (finally with the top down) and 300C.

You're probably beginning to see why I didn't get the skill development I was hoping for: with three modules and three vehicles per module, the exposure to a particular vehicle in a particular module was limited. I spent nearly all of my time becoming acquainted with the cars instead of being able to focus on the fine points of my driving.

Which, in retrospect, was exactly what Chrysler and Skip Barber intended. I went in hoping to get an $800+ all-day driving course for $300. Their response: if you want a real driving course, you've got to spend real money. The event is called the "SRT Track Experience" rather than the "SRT Driving Course" for a reason.

So if you're seeking an experience, the $300 is well worth it. If you're seeking a driving course, not so much.

Now, on to the car.

Styling

I wrote a detailed review of the Magnum in its 3.5-liter V6 and 5.7-liter V8 forms last year. That review can be read here. This review will focus on the unique features of the SRT8.

Last year a good friend of mine strongly considered buying a Magnum RT (renamed R/T for 2006) because he enjoyed the Hemi's low-end torque and because the car's look was just so "baaaad." With truck-like front-end styling, blocky fenders, a relatively upright windshield, Hummer-like window cut-outs whose shallow height recalls the "chopped" custom cars of the Fifties, and a long downward-sweeping roofline, the Magnum is a wagon for men so real that they generally wouldn't be caught dead in a wagon. A decent-sized but not huge segment, it seems. The related Chrysler 300 sedan has outsold the Dodge wagon by about two-to-one. And now that Dodge offers the Charger sedan, Magnum sales will likely fall further behind.

To this styling SRT adds huge 20-inch mirror-polished alloy wheels and a tasteful body kit. If you liked the brick-on-wheels look before, you'll like it even more in SRT form. On the other hand, if you didn't care for the Magnum's styling before, SRT's tweaks aren't going to change your mind.

Inside the SRT8 looks much like the Magnum RT. Even more than the slightly dressier Chrysler 300 interior, the Dodge's circa-1975 interior looks overly spartan in the $25,000 V6-powered 2006 car. So it's clearly a number of cuts below the norm among $40,000 cars. Materials are roughly mid-grade, suitable for a car in the high twenties, but in many cases the hard-edged styling makes them look cheaper than they are. Conventional wisdom holds that Chrysler saved money here so they could spend it on the V8 and chassis. Fair enough, especially if this is the way your priorities run.

Accommodations

SRT has made one major, very welcome change to the Magnum's interior. I don't care for the seats in the regular 300 and Magnum, as they are too flat for aggressive driving. SRT has fixed this problem; the SRT8's seats, likely based on those in the Viper, are very heavily bolstered. Though larger adults might find these seats overly confining, I found them both comfortable (an issue for many with the SRT4's seats) and perfectly supportive. The shoulder-level bolsters are an especially nice touch, as the lever principle suggests that restraints are more effective the further they are from the center of rotation. I'd like to see such bolsters in more cars.

Like other Magnums, the SRT8 is very roomy inside. Large adults have plenty of room front and rear. The cushions are moderately firm, and the rear seat is high enough off the floor to provide decent thigh support.

The driving position does nothing to disguise the fact that the Magnum is, with a S-Class-like 120-inch wheelbase, a large car. The opposite, actually. The windshield is very upright and distant, such that the view forward intentionally resembles that from a bunker. (Chrysler's market research at the time the Magnum was developed suggested that people wanted to feel safe in their cars.) The restricted forward view makes the car feel even larger than it is from the driver's seat.

The Magnum's cargo area is wide and long, but not very high owing to the downward sweeping roofline. Because of this roofline, the liftgate must cut far into the roof to provide a usable opening. This has the positive by-product of placing the raised liftgate well clear of heads.

For driving enthusiasts high-performance wagons often serve as substitutes for minivans and large SUVs. The Magnum's capability in this area is limited, as the roofline also seems to have prevented a third-row seat.

On the Track

The SRT8 is available with only one drivetrain: the large V8 driving the rear wheels through a five-speed manually shiftable automatic. Both the chassis and transmission are Mercedes' previous generation technology.

Even with the 340-horsepower 5.7-liter "Hemi" the Magnum accelerates strongly. The SRT version of this engine uses another 0.4 liters of displacement, higher compression, better breathing, and a more aggressive cam to yield another 85 horsepower. While this increase in peak horsepower is significant, note that torque has increased by "only" 30 foot-pounds and the power peak, at 6000 RPM, is 1000 RPM higher than the 5.7's. The upshot: up to 5000 RPM the SRT engine feels only a bit more powerful than the regular Hemi. A shorter final drive ratio (3.06 vs. 2.82) likely has a larger impact on low-speed acceleration.

On the drag strip, which was just over a tenth of a mile long, the similar 300C SRT8 launched strongly even without brake torquing, the rear tires initially struggling to retain their grip on the pavement, and turned in times in the 7.2s. This was two to three tenths behind the Crossfire and a couple tenths ahead of the RAM. All reached trap speeds in the mid-70s. When I first started driving in the mid-1980s the average car struggled to reach such speeds in the quarter-mile.

Over 5000 RPM the SRT engine feels notably stronger than the 5.7, accelerating the Magnum effortlessly even well over 100 MPH (the instructors in their SRT4 lead cars allowed us up into the 120s). But in regular driving on public roads engines this large are rarely run so high, and when they are fuel economy is dreadful.

Heck, the SRT8's fuel economy is dreadful regardless. The 5.7 uses cylinder deactivation, with the engine running on four cylinders while cruising at highway speeds, to eke out EPA ratings of 17/25. Chrysler decided that the low volume of the SRT engine didn't justify developing cylinder deactivation for it. Toss in that shorter final drive, and the EPA ratings fall to 14/18.

Personally, I was looking to SRT more for improvements to the chassis than to the engine. The Magnum RT didn't feel particularly sporting to me when hustled through turns. Here SRT has delivered as well as could be expected. On the track the big wagon steers easily and feels balanced. This balance likely wasn't terribly hard for SRT to achieve, as the wagon's static weight distribution, at 53/47, is a bit better than the 300C SRT8's 55/45. Changing the engine block material from iron to aluminum would bring it even close to 50/50.

The SRT-massaged chassis feels much tighter, in a good way. Body motions are very well controlled, with flatter cornering than in the RT. Given the engine's power, it should come as no surprise that the attitude of the chassis can readily be adjusted with the throttle. The stability control unobtrusively prevents excessive adjustments.

The SRT8's steering is significantly firmer and somewhat quicker than in the regular car, but I still wouldn't call it "razor sharp." This isn't entirely a bad thing, as you don't want to twitch and end up in another lane during the morning commute.

And yet the Magnum never ceases to feel large. Agile it is not. I suppose this cannot be helped, as it is a truly large car that the driving position makes feel even larger. Notably, neither the 300C nor the Magnum was included in the autocross module, where the turns were tighter and the speeds lower.

If any doubts remained in my mind about the SRT8's capability, the hot laps with the instructor would have dispelled them. As I got into the car I remarked that the Viper driver had thrown his car into such a wide skid that I had momentarily wondered if he had lost control of the car. In response, the Magnum driver said he was limited by my comfort level. I told him he wouldn't hear any complaints from me. So while the Viper driver had driven his car with the tail waaaaay out there through one turn, the Magnum driver did this through every turn of the road course. (The stability control had been totally disabled, likely by pulling the fuse.) While I doubt this would yield the fastest time, it did thoroughly demonstrate his ability to control the car. I was truly amazed as I watched him feather the wheel back and forth through each of these lengthy high speed drifts. The tires complained loudly, and their tread even began to separate on a couple of the SRT8s, but the car itself seemed perfectly happy.

Want to learn to do this yourself? Skip Barber would be happy to teach you. But it won't be cheap.

What really impressed people was how quiet and composed the Magnum felt at ultra-high speeds on the oval. Here the car's Mercedes E-Class roots come through; it could be driven comfortably with a minimum of effort at over 120 MPH all day long. Perhaps for this reason--and the Magnum's stability control system--the Skip Barber instructors allowed the wagon to be driven faster than the other cars. My third lap in the Magnum was somewhat spoiled because our group of three caught up to the group of Vipers during the road course section. In how many cars can you be held up by Vipers through a set of turns?

Magazine reviews have suggested that the SRT's ride can be harsh. I didn't detect even a hint of bad behavior, but then the track's surface possessed few flaws. If the roads are rough where you drive, be sure to try before you buy.

Dodge Magnum SRT8 Price Comparisons and Pricing

The Magnum SRT8 lists for about $1,900 less than a similarly equipped 300C SRT8. The latter has about $800 more content (including xenon headlights, a memory driver's seat, and power steering wheel adjustments), but also a $2,100 gas guzzler tax. The Magnum avoids this tax because Chrysler had it classified as a truck. End result: adjusted for features the Magnum is $3,200 less expensive.

On the other hand, a similarly equipped Magnum R/T runs about $5,400 less than the SRT8. When you consider that dealers discount the R/T, but not the SRT8, the gap widens. On the Charger Dodge offers a package with the SRT's seats, steering, and suspension for $1,600. So figure roughly $3,800 for the engine and larger wheels. If you want them, it's a very reasonable price.

Prices change frequently, and differences will vary based on feature level. To quickly generate these and other comparisons with the specific features you want, visit my Web site, www.truedelta.com. (It's the only site that provides true "apples-to-apples" price comparisons.)

TrueDelta's page for the Magnum:

http://www.truedelta.com/models/Charger.php
(no, that's not a typo)

Last Words

If you've been reading this review you want this car. SRT has fully delivered on the concept of a tough-looking, ultra-powerful, flat-cornering large wagon. It might not handle like a sports car, but in all honesty nothing this large handles like a sports car. On the track at least the revised steering and suspension seem a large improvement over the systems in the R/T. The seats undoubtedly are.

My reaction to the engine is more mixed. Sure, it's more powerful, especially up top. But this has been accomplished heavily at the expense of fuel economy. How much money can you afford to spend on unleaded premium?

For my personal taste, the optimum Magnum would be the SRT8 minus the larger V8. The 350-horsepower unit available in the Charger moves the car well enough and, based on the EPA figures, gets much better fuel economy. In the Charger an R/T package including the 350-horse engine and SRT seats, steering, and suspension costs $1,600. I'd like to see this package available with the 300 and Magnum as well. Offering the 20-inch wheels separately wouldn't hurt either. While I generally frown on offering bits piecemeal from a well-integrated performance package, the regular Hemi is no slouch, so I see no harm done as long as these same bits aren't available with the sixes.

A Note on Dodge Magnum SRT8 Reliability

I cannot practically cover reliability within the context of this review. However, many people are interested in such information, so I've started collecting my own data. Results, once they are available, will be posted to my site, www.truedelta.com, with updates every three months.

Unlike other sources, TrueDelta will clearly identify what difference it will make if you buy a Magnum SRT8 rather than another vehicle by providing "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats (among others). You will be able to specify the number of years, annual miles, and types of repairs to include in Dodge Magnum SRT8 reliability comparisons.

Before I can report results, I need data on all cars--not just the Magnum SRT8--from people like you. To encourage participation, those who help provide the data will receive free access to the site's reliability information. Non-participants will have to pay an access fee.

For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.

A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.

Some of my reviews of related vehicles:
Dodge Charger review (2006, base car)
Dodge Magnum review (2005, 3.5 and 5.7)