What Makes Dodge Vehicles Unique?

The Dodge automotive brand is pretty unique when you think about it. Is there any brand out there as iconic as Dodge? Every vehicle is infused with their heritage and style. Components, colors, engines, even entire vehicle series make Dodge stand apart as an automotive brand, and although some have been shared in recent years, we can still trace their origin back to the original automaker – Dodge. Let’s take a look at some of the features that set Dodge vehicles and muscle cars apart from the rest of the crowd.

Power

Originally belonging only to the Dodge name, the supercharged engines that now power the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon were at one point, one-of-a-kind, and in some aspects, they still are. Starting with the Dodge Challenger SRT 392, a 392 cubic-inch HEMI engine was put under the hood, able to deliver 485 horsepower. This was the engine that really charged up the Dodge Challenger name, and it could only be found on the Challenger for some time. It was unique to the Dodge name until the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT came out, outfitted with the same engine.

Next came the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. Making its debut back in 2015, this muscle car came with a supercharged 6.2L V8 SRT Hellcat HEMI engine, capable of generating 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque, and accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.6 seconds. For awhile, this engine could only be found on the SRT Hellcat, and in essence still is. Consumers won’t find a supercharged 6.2L V8 SRT Hellcat HEMI engine on any other vehicle, but they will find the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 under the hood of the 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk .

A similar engine to that found in the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon engine. It has the same name as the engine in the Hellcat with one key difference – “Hellcat” is replaced by “Demon”. In addition, the Challenger SRT Demon can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 2.3 seconds, and that’s thanks to its SRT Power Chiller and a recorded installation of 97 new parts integrated into the SRT Demon engine. This kind of power most likely won’t make it anywhere else.

Style

If there’s on thing no other automaker can copy, it’s the look and feel of a Dodge car. When thinking of iconic Dodge style, three things come to mind – the Shaker hood, the Scat Pack series, and Dodge High Impact Paint (HIP) colors. Each has not only set Dodge apart, but has made Dodge vehicles classics in their own right.

The shaker hood , also known as the “shaker scoop” was a scoop-shaped unit attached to the air intake of a car engine and protrudes through an opening in the hood. As the engine revs up, the vibration of the engine combustion cycle will cause the scoop to shake, giving the illusion that the entire car is shaking from the raw power of the engine. No one can think of the shaker hood without thinking of Dodge.

Similarly, the Scat Pack series holds the same weight of the shaker hood. A play on Frank Sinatra’s “Rat Pack”, the term first started as an advertising strategy to encompass several powerful cars Dodge had come out with in the late 1960’s, capable of running a quarter mile in 14 seconds or less. Today, Dodge still has several Scat Pack models in its lineup, and in 2017 they introduced a little treat for Scat Pack models. If prospective owners are looking for a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat without the Hellcat price tag, they can get a Dodge Challenger Scat Pack trim that _ looks _ like a Hellcat with the Dodge Dynamics Scat Pack Package .

Then there’s the HIP colors , another large part of the Dodge Challenger’s colorful heritage. Dodge made their cars unmistakable on the road with these colors. Hidden away in the automakers vault of goodies, bold colors exclusive to the Dodge name are released every so often and then tucked away for special release who knows when. For any Dodge owners out there, do any of these colors ring a bell? Bright Green, Butterscotch, Citron Yella, Go Mango (also known as Go Man Go!), Green Go, HEMI Orange, Panther Pink, Plum Crazy, Sublime, and Top Banana.

R/T and SRT

These two suffixes can be found on many Dodge vehicles today and on some Jeep vehicles as well. Originally strictly belonging to Dodge, “SRT” stands for “ Street and Racing Technology ”, and refers to a high-performance automobile group conceived within FCA to build powerful, aggressive vehicles. The group started with the forever known Dodge Viper and eventually worked their way up to the hellish Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. Recently, the SRT name was shared with the Jeep automotive brand for the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT, but not the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.

“R/T” is also unique to Dodge, having been used since the 1960s on select trims. The term “R/T” stands for “ Road/Track ” – just the two words, with a “slash”, as if they were one and the same, much like SRT “Street _ and _ Racing Technology”. To be called an R/T model, a car needed upgraded suspension, tires, brakes, and a more powerful engine, such as the Dodge Challenger R/T, powered by a 375 horsepower 5.7-liter HEMI V8 engine. The term was also popular during the era when Dodge vehicles were still raced in NASCAR. Whether the brand will ever return is yet to be certain, but many relate the automakers thirst for power to the race track.

* Did you know all of these Dodge terms and facts? Let us know what attracts you to the Dodge brand name on Miami Lakes Automall social media . Or look for your own Dodge Challenger in our inventory. *

Photo Source/Copyright: Dodge.com

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