Scat Pack 1320: Track-ready, Super-techy, Budget-friendly
Scat Pack 1320 Challenger is all the bang on the strip you need for a price just under $45,000.
A monstrous track-ready car with the stiffest sway bars, advanced aero and the grippiest tires that’s also easy on the wallet. It seems like an oxymoron, right? Well, there’s no need to chase that unicorn anymore because the 1320 Scat Pack Challenger is the mythical pony you’ve been looking for (minus the spiral horn and rainbows).
DodgeForum got a chance to drive the the new 1320 Drag Pak at the Spring Festival of LX 2019, with a bonus canyon drive with the 2019 Hellcat Redeye at Crystal Lake in California. The new 1320 comes with the vetted 392 Hemi V8, a TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic transmission, and specially-manufactured Nexen SUR4 tires. I know what you’re thinking, “Aren’t those drift tires? What business do they have on the dragstrip?” These are the Nexen SUR4G Drag Spec radials, and they only come in 275/40R20. They’re also street-legal, in case you were wondering.
Monster Grip
These tires, for lack of better terminology, are downright amazing. Even with the staff running into issues properly treating the strip, these tires stick. I was amazed at how very little time I spent in the water box to get these rubbers nice and warm.
Each attendee got a total of three track runs, with the first one essentially being a trial. The FCA officials insisted on us using the new line lock feature in the water box instead of using brake stands. And honestly, I can see why.
“I’ve used the line lock feature in cars like the Camaro and the Mustang, and they frankly are not nearly as intuitive as the Challenger,” said Jim Wilder, Vehicle Development Manager for SRT Hellcat Challenger. “The steps are much simpler, and you control the brake with just one button.”
Really, all you do is push the line lock button on the digital display, depress the brake to the proper pressure rating (which is about 1,400), then hold the brake with the “OK” button on the steering wheel. It’s that simple. As long as you hold the button, you can burnout for an indeterminate amount of time. Though with these tires, it takes very little effort to disappear in your own smoke.
Scat Pack 1320 Transbrake
I’m sure you all are familiar with the all-alluring transbrake on the illustrious Demon. It’s like launch control, but uses the transmission to hover between reverse gear and first to keep the car stationary while you rev high into the power band for an epic launch.
Well, the new Scat Pack 1320 also comes with its own flavor of transmission braking. Like the Demon, you can use either paddle shifter to serve as the electrical delay switch. Meaning as long as you hold one of the paddles down, you will remain a motionless, high-revving monster roaring and ready to launch when the time is right.
This again speaks to the simplicity and ergonomic vision of Dodge’s design for the Scat Pack 1320; giving the driver as much control as possible in the hands is both easy and ingenious.
Here’s an awesome video from my fellow editor, Jake Stumph, doing an in-depth review of the dragstrip bruiser.
As fun as track runs are, there is still a whole world out there to explore. Enter the Hellcat Redeye.
Scat Pack 1320: Track-ready, Super-techy, Budget-friendly continued…
