If there's one perk to being headquartered in Southern California, it's that we're never far from more auto-related activity than we could ever hope to cover. It also means that folks like Steve Saleen can drop by any time with a brand new SMS 570 Challenger.
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The Dodge Challenger is a menacing car in black, and an SMS Signature Series body kit only makes it look meaner. SMS Supercars completely replaces the front and rear fascias with new custom pieces, meaning a new grille and air inlets in front and a new rear diffuser along with customized taillights. The kit also adds several functional vents, new side skirts and their signature Red Butterfly Induction Hood, whose twin butterfly valves open as you depress the gas pedal. All of these parts are built in-house, as are the custom wheels, suspension and monster ABS brakes.
More importantly, SMS works its magic on the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 bolting up a twin-screw supercharger and intercooler along with a cold air intake system. The result is "a little over" 500 horsepower on just 4.5 psi of boost SMS claims, leaving plenty of room for further upgrades. SMS starts with the 5.7-liter engine to keep costs down and reuses most of the Challenger's stock drivetrain.
Inside, the Challenger gets new gauge faces and a custom gauge pod on the center stack with boost pressure and air charge temperature gauges. A short shifter makes quicker work of rowing your own and the re-stuffed, retrimmed seats offer plenty of support . Altogether, this package will run you $64,995 for a complete car, and there are of course options including a 700-horsepower 570X model if you're so inclined (and financially endowed).
On the throttle, a rich V-8 rumble permeates the cabin, drowned out only by the blower whine. Despite its power, the Challenger is still quite street friendly and docile enough to be a very cool daily driver. How does it perform on the track, you ask? We'll just have to ask Steve if we can keep it and find out.
Were you one of those kids who taught themselves to identify cars at night by their headlights and taillights? I was. I was also one of those kids with a huge box of Hot Wheels and impressive collection of home-made Lego hot rods. I asked my parents for a Power Wheels Porsche 911 for Christmas for years, though the best I got was a pedal-powered tractor. I drove the wheels off it. I used to tell my friends I’d own a “slug bug” one day. When I was 15, my dad told me he would get me a car on the condition that I had to maintain it. He came back with a rough-around-the-edges 1967 Volkswagen Beetle he’d picked up for something like $600. I drove the wheels off that thing, too, even though it was only slightly faster than the tractor. When I got tired of chasing electrical gremlins (none of which were related to my bitchin’ self-installed stereo, thank you very much), I thought I’d move on to something more sensible. I bought a 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT and got my first speeding ticket in that car during the test drive. Not my first-ever ticket, mind you. That came behind the wheel of a Geo Metro hatchback I delivered pizza in during high school. I never planned to have this job. I was actually an aerospace engineering major in college, but calculus and I had a bad breakup. Considering how much better my English grades were than my calculus grades, I decided to stick to my strengths and write instead. When I made the switch, people kept asking me what I wanted to do with my life. I told them I’d like to write for a car magazine someday, not expecting it to actually happen. I figured I’d be in newspapers, maybe a magazine if I was lucky. Then this happened, which was slightly awkward because I grew up reading Car & Driver, but convenient since I don’t live in Michigan. Now I just try to make it through the day without adding any more names to the list of people who want to kill me and take my job.
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