Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320 Outruns Mustang GT on the Strip

Cars.com shows how the Scat Pack has both the power and performance to leave the Mustang competitor galloping behind it.

Dodge stunned the automotive world a couple of years ago when it revealed the 2018 Demon. The ultimate Challenger had an absolutely bonkers 840 horsepower and 770 lb-ft of torque and the hardware designed to put it down on its natural habitat, the drag strip. As badass as the Demon was, it was more than just a cool singularity. It was the ancestor from which future Mopar machines, such as the 2019 Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320 in this cars.com video, would inherit some of their performance DNA.

As its name implies, the 1320 is built for drag racing. It has the naturally aspirated 6.4-liter Hemi V8 with 485 horsepower and 475 lb-ft of torque you find in other R/T Scat Packs, but it has a few special hardware upgrades – courtesy of the Demon – that help apply that power to the strip as effectively as possible.

Those include an SRT-tuned suspension with adaptive damping and a drag mode, Line Lock, TransBrake, and Torque Reserve. The one-seat interior helps cut weight while a set of Nexen SUR4G Drag Spec 275/40R20 street-legal drag radials move the lightened Challenger to the finish line. As cars.com’s managing editor Joe Bruzek tells his co-host and cars.com’s Detroit bureau chief Aaron Bragman, “Dodge says this can do 11.7 seconds in the quarter mile at 115 miles an hour.”

Instead of testing the 1320 by itself at the Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove, Wisconsin, Bruzek and Bragman bring a previously tested 2018 Ford Mustang GT with the Performance Pack Level 1, which adds summer tires, larger rotors and Brembo six-piston calipers up front, special front springs, and a Torsen limited-slip differential. The Mustang’s smaller 5.0-liter engine only generates 460 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque, but that also has less weight to move than the Challenger’s massive 392. Bruzek says, “We’ve had some pretty good luck in the 2018 Mustang. We ran 11.9 seconds in that car and we brought back that exact car back to see … do you really need to get a single-seater, drag-special, limited-edition Challenger to go 11 seconds in the quarter mile?”

Given the times from Bruzek’s and Bragman’s testing, the short answer to that question is yes. With the Challenger 1320, they were able to complete the quarter mile in 11.86 seconds at 115 mph. It took them 12.25 seconds in the Mustang GT, but they were able to hit 117 in that time.

The hot and muggy weather took its toll on both cars. According to Bragman, “When you compensate for the humidity in the air and the temperature, we do think it would do an 11.7-second quarter mile without a problem.” So do we. And we’re sure there are at least a few other videos on YouTube shot at drag strips across the country that show the Challenger 1320 doing just that…and beating a Mustang.

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Derek Shiekhi

Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.

After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.

While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.

Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.

In addition to writing for a variety of Internet Brands sites, including JK Forum, H-D Forums, The Mustang Source, Mustang Forums, LS1Tech, HondaTech, Jaguar Forums, YotaTech, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts. Derek also started There Will Be Cars on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

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