CHECK OUT THE 2009 CHALLENGER SRT8 PERFORMANCE TEST:
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ENGLISHTOWN, New Jersey - Following the official introduction of the 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8 at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey, we conducted our own independent testing of the 425-horsepower coupe, now available with a six-speed manual transmission for the new model year.

This is the very first chance to test the performance of Chrysler's new muscle car with the combination of the SRT 6.1-liter Hemi V8 and the Tremec six-speed manual transmission. The data includes 0-60-mph acceleration, quarter-mile performance, braking distance and slalom speed, as well as insight from IL's test driver.

Chrysler based its introduction of the 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8, RT and SE at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, a traditional stop for the NHRA's professional drag-racing championship. Thanks to our portable Racelogic VBOX III testing gear, we were able to use the track for performance testing, although the lack of a suitable plot of pavement precluded skid pad evaluation.

The 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8 with its 425-hp 6.1-liter V8 and six-speed manual transmission accelerated to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds (5.2 seconds with 1 foot of rollout), then reached the quarter-mile in 13.8 seconds at 103.0 mph. This compares to the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 with its five-speed automatic that achieved 60 mph in 5.1 seconds (4.8 seconds with 1 foot of rollout) and completed the quarter-mile in 13.2 seconds at 107.5 mph.

We're surprised that the 2008 Challenger SRT8 with its automatic transmission has the edge in speed here, but we were slightly suspicious at the time that it had an unusually healthy engine. In comparison, the engine of this 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8 with its manual transmission seemed slightly sick during our testing. In the end, we're still left with some questions about the comparative performance of automatic and manual transmissions in this car.

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