Latest news with #DodgeChargerScatPack
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Yahoo
Dodge Charger Sows Chaos For Arkansas Troopers On Independence Day
Read the full story on The Auto Wire A guy in a Dodge Charger Scat Pack gave Arkansas troopers a real run for their money on Independence Day this year. Dashcam footage of the chase, which involved quite a few ASP units, shows the guy really uncorked the performance on his Mopar muscle car, almost literally running circles around dashcam footage starts with our camera car waiting for the purple Dodge Charger Scat Pack to come along. Sure enough, it blasts into the frame and the trooper gives chase as they both find their way around slower traffic blocking both lanes. From there, the suspect gaps the trooper big time, then disappears on the horizon. In other words, the guy just smoked the trooper after ditching one right before. Thankfully, ASP has troopers stationed all over and they're looking for the distinct Mopar. One spots the suspect, who'd probably feeling pretty smug by that point, and another chase ensues once the trooper goes code three. It's the same story as before, the Scat Pack easily gapping the cop car. However, that trooper stays on the suspect along with some other nearby units. From there, the footage jumps from one ASP unit to another because none of them can keep up with the guy. But ASP is swarming the area in an effort to put an end to the dangerous chase. We see one trooper almost run into a bystander's car, thankfully stopping just in time, as well as other close calls. At one point, towards the end of the pursuit, the suspect dodges a Stop Stick as it's thrown right in front of him, so the guy has good reflexes. Funny enough, what takes out the fleeing Dodge Charger Scat Pack in the end is a roundabout. The guy must've not realized one was coming up, and at his breakneck speed he just couldn't navigate it, wrecking out into the curb instead. Image via Police Pursuits/YouTube Join our Newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube page, and follow us on Facebook.
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Hellcat Hunter: Mercedes-AMG S63 E-Performance Hits the Drag Strip
"Man, you're out here eating up Hellcats!" So says the guy in the Dodge Charger Scat Pack who had the misfortune of lining up twice against the 2024 Mercedes-AMG S63 E-Performance plug-in hybrid at Rockingham Dragway. The big Benz doesn't look like it would be all that quick, especially wearing a gold paint job that prompted me to dub the car "Champagne Supernova" on the sign-in tech sheet. (Mercedes calls the hue Kalahari gold metallic, a $1750 option.) It's the kind of color you expect to see in the valet line at Joe's Stone Crab, not in the staging lanes at the Rockingham March Madness takeover, where the predominant exterior aesthetic seemed to be "vandalized by a graffiti artist, but in a cool way." The S63 is a sleeper, is what I'm saying. The S-class doesn't look like it has 791 horsepower and 1055 pound-feet of torque, but there's a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 at the front making 603 horsepower, and there's an electric motor out back contributing another 188 hp. It's like a mullet on both sides of your head: party in the front, party in the back. The electric motor is hooked to its own two-speed transmission and can generate its peak 188 horsepower for 10-second stints, after which it drops to 94. And 10 seconds, by my seat-of-the-pants reckoning, ought to be just about long enough to see the S63 down the quarter-mile. It feels like a 10-second car off the line. Is it? Let's find out. I've only run one official 10-second quarter-mile, in a Hennessey Hammer Wagon at Darlington. I almost certainly ran one there in the McLaren 765LT too, but the timing equipment malfunctioned on my first run and then traction went away after that. I got close with a Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye at Fayetteville, but the best I could wring was an 11.1. Even with the gonzo horsepower of modern muscle- and supercars (and EVs), 10 seconds remains rare air. But the S63 feels like it's got the juice. With a wet clutch, all-wheel drive, and launch control, the S63 departs like it's going to pull the front tires off the ground. (It's close, really—Elana Scherr tells me the drag-race term for this is a "paper-slipper," because you could slide a piece of paper under the front end at launch.) On my first few runs, I can't seem to get launch control going, but the Benz still cracks off runs in the 11.3-second range at 126 mph. That is no joke, but not quite what I'm looking for. I pull to the side in the staging lanes and consult the AMG addendum to the S-class owner's manual, learning that my practiced starting-line calm is actually too chill—you need to hold the brake with your left foot and aggressively stab the accelerator with your right to tell the Benz you'd like some launch control, please. At that point, the V-8 chatters at just below 4000 rpm, and when you pop your foot off the brake, you're on your way to what is surely a sub-3.0-second sprint to 60 mph. The first time I make a launch-control pass, I'm on my way back past the bleachers when I hear a spectator exclaim, "That m---------r's fast!" After another run, a guy calls out, "Is that an AMG?" Yes. "What've you done to it?" Nothing. This is just how they build them now. And I sneak into the 11.1 range—11.19 seconds at 125 mph—but that's all it's got. Which, make no mistake, is crazy quick, especially for a car that can do that sort of thing while giving you a hot stone massage and wafting its own signature fragrance from the HVAC vents. The S63 E-Performance is an impressive answer to the question, "Where does the S-class fit in a G-class world?" It's stately and menacing all at once, like Nicole Kidman in The Perfect Couple. The S63 never lost, even dispatching a fearsome regular-cab F-150 powered by what sounded like a supercharged Coyote. A guy in a Jeep Trackhawk challenged me to a run but later decided he wanted to line up against the F-150, so we don't know how that would have turned out, but I suspect my perfect record would've been shattered. The Jeep owner was wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with a photo of the Trackhawk, and I asked him, "Am I about to learn not to run against someone who has a picture of their car on their sweatshirt?" He laughed in a way that suggested that this was correct. Although I never broke into the 10s, I think my sense that the S63 is a 10-second car is correct. It has a vulnerability, though. Around 80 mph it feels like there's a flat spot in the power, followed by a 100-shot of nitrous. This happened consistently, at the same place every run, making me wonder if the car thought there was a traction problem or some reason to moderate thrust and then suddenly restore it. Then I realized the likely culprit: I was feeling the shift from the two-speed transmission at the rear axle. So that pause and surge before the eighth-mile is the electric motor hitting its limit, then rejoining the party after the upshift. As Benz's tech material says, "An electric actuator engages second gear by approximately 87 mph, which corresponds to the electric motor's maximum speed of around 13,500 rpm." If I may make a suggestion, perhaps we could tinker with the gear ratios to either extend that shift to, say, 130 mph, or do it sooner, before the electric motor runs out of revs. Because I want to break into the 10s again, and I've got a feeling that ol' Champagne Supernova here can do it. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Yahoo
Dodge Charger Scat Pack Can't Shake Virginia Trooper
Read the full story on The Auto Wire We don't see too many interesting chases from Viriginia State Police, but this one involving a fleeing Dodge Charger Scat Pack has plenty of excitement. It also showcases the superior driving skills of at least one state trooper, even though he's severely outgunned in the dashcam footage from this incident sure is interesting to watch. The camera car joins in the pursuit after the Mopar muscle car gets away from one member of VSP. We see the trooper coming in hot, passing on the shoulder and doing all he can to get into position on another highway before the suspect comes along. All his effort pays off as he gets in right behind the matte purple Scat Pack. But the suspect is determined to get away. The guy pulls a risky move, cutting across the gore point and almost hitting a barrier, taking an exit at the last second. While the trooper isn't fooled even a little, the Charger blacks out, trying to take advantage of its non-reflective, dark exterior to disappear into the night. We get a clue about how skilled the suspect driver is when he immediately hits his turn signal a few times, defeating the purpose of blacking out. But once the suspect goes through a transition ramp and gets on yet another highway, he nails it and takes off, easily pulling away from the trooper. It's difficult for most police cruisers to keep up with such high-powered vehicles. For his part, the trooper, keeps the suspect in sight and relays his moves to dispatch. Then the suspect gets off the highway, perhaps hoping the turns on surface streets will let him ditch his tail. Outgunned, the trooper has a lot to handle, but he leverages superior driving skill to make up for the lack of horsepower. What our suspect doesn't know is troopers down the line are setting up spikes to blow out the Mopar muscle car's tires. However, a sudden turn onto a freeway thwarts that trap. It doesn't matter anyway, because not too long after the trooper notices one of the rear drive tires on the Dodge is blown out. His ability to flee greatly reduced, our suspect almost becomes a sitting duck as the trooper goes in for the kill. But before he can close the gap all the way, the driver bails and runs, realizing the muscle car is done. We hope he got a criminal charge for that wrap, because it's a violation of good taste. Image via State Boyzzz/YouTube Join our Newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube page, and follow us on Facebook.
