2017 Dodge Challenger T/A 392 Automatic (2024)

Today’s Dodge Challenger is so effective at channeling its Nixon-era predecessors that we’re surprised it doesn’t run on leaded gas. Delightfully brash if a bit oafish, it is an old-school type of badass that its main rivals have evolved away from. While Chevrolet and Ford were out chasing Nürburgring lap times with the latest Camaro and Mustang, Mopar engineers built a streetable Challenger that can pop a wheelie. The new-for-2017 Challenger T/A, however, is a hard-core reminder that, once upon a time, Dodge’s muscle coupe was an actual production-based road racer.

The T/A takes its name from the SCCA’s legendary Trans-American championship, which was in its prime in 1970 when Dodge joined the series and sent the then new Challenger to battle AMC Javelins, Chevy Camaro Z/28s, and Ford Mustang Boss 302s on North America’s premiere racing circuits. Although the 1970 Challenger T/A was short-lived and ultimately unsuccessful in competition, its racing pedigree and scrappy attitude made Mopar royalty out of the 2399 roadgoing hom*ologation cars.

Drivers, Start Your Engines

The 2017 T/A model is yet another stonking variation of the current Challenger that was last updated for 2015, albeit one with aggressive handling hardware and lots of satin-black touches. Its extra nostalgia comes as part of a $4400 to $7200 bundle, depending on the trim level and which Hemi V-8 you opt for: a 5.7-liter with about 375 horsepower or a 6.4-liter (close enough to 392 cubic inches to satisfy Chrysler’s history-minded marketers) with 485 horsepower and 475 lb-ft of torque. Our test car featured the latter mated to the Challenger’s optional $1500 eight-speed automatic, which erases the six-speed-manual 392’s $1000 gas-guzzler tax, effectively making the automatic transmission a $500 option.

Dodge opened up the new T/A engine’s breathing with a standard, variable performance exhaust system and a less restrictive air filter fed by both the hood scoop and a pair of Air-Catcher intakes within the two inboard headlights (accented by LED-illuminated T/A logos). Neither engine’s output changes, but the 392’s raucous bellow is too intoxicating to ignore. The Challenger’s trip-wire throttle and stubborn lack of traction make it tricky to leave the line without spinning the rear tires, but the Hemi’s mellifluous rap makes it even more difficult to lift off once the fun starts.

Although C/D never tested the original Challenger T/A, we did strap test gear to the mechanically identical 1970 Plymouth ’Cuda AAR that shared the Trans-Am grid with the Dodge. Powered by a conservatively rated 290-hp 5.6-liter (340-cubic-inch) V-8 backed by a four-speed manual, the 3585-pound AAR’s lazy 14.3-second quarter-mile run at 100 mph pales in comparison to this big 392’s 12.5-second blast at 116 mph—on pace with similarly powered Challengers from the 21st century.

While the manual gearbox would have been even more old-timey, we can’t fault how quickly and deftly the new Challenger’s ZF-sourced automatic controls the Hemi’s thrust, whether on its own or via the wheel-mounted shift paddles. The T/A averaged a decent 17 mpg during its time with us, and the 26 mpg it returned on our 200-mile highway test loop—1 mpg better than its EPA highway rating—would have made it a veritable Prius in 1970.

A Dancing Pachyderm

Decades of tire and suspension advancement also let today’s car run circles around its predecessor at the test track. The T/A stopped from 70 mph in a solid 151 feet and topped the charts among modern Challengers with 0.93 g of grip, which would be pretty impressive if the hottest Ford and Chevy pony cars weren’t playing on the far side of 1.0 g. Dodge’s chassis upgrades come via the included Super Track Pak, which lowers the body by 0.5 inch and fits non-adjustable Bilstein dampers and a three-mode stability-control system that can be fully deactivated. Versions with the 392 engine also receive massive Brembo brakes—15.4-inch front rotors clamped by six-piston calipers and four-piston, 13.8-inch discs in back—surrounded by new 20-inch forged-aluminum wheels shod with either 275/40ZR-20 all-season tires or our example’s $695 Pirelli P Zero performance rubber.

Apollo astronauts would have gotten a kick out of Dodge’s Performance Pages that display on the infotainment screen with a touch of the Super Track Pak button. When you’re not distracted by its many gauge readouts and performance timers, the system allows you to adjust the launch-control rpm and various settings for the steering weight, stability control, and transmission responsiveness via Comfort, Sport, and Track modes. None of the computers lend any feel to the T/A’s fairly quick 14.4:1 steering rack, nor were they as useful as a careful right foot on our quickest acceleration runs. And we dig that there is no setting to truly tame the T/A’s overtly loud-and-proud swagger on the street.

But the T/A needs more tire and a serious diet. With 55.3 percent of the car’s hulking 4274 pounds sitting over the front wheels, understeer is abundant and there’s no escaping this Dodge’s oppressive bulk. Body roll is minimal at the limit, but the stiff and choppy suspension containing all that mass had us wishing for the top-spec SRT 392 model’s comfier three-mode adjustable dampers. Even though the T/A changes direction better than any Challenger we’ve driven, a Camaro SS or Mustang GT would need to be loaded with passengers to make it a close fight on a racetrack.

Too Cool for School

Our test car’s Destroyer Grey paint made for a sinister pairing with the T/A package’s matte-black finish on the wheels, hood, fascia, roof, trunklid, fuel-filler door, and body-side T/A stripes. We especially like the classic Challenger script on the rear spoiler and the optional $295 hood pins. Even in available T/A colors such as Go Mango and Yellow Jacket, few cars could pull off looking like a weapons-grade peaco*ck as well as this Dodge. (The most photogenic of the original T/A race cars were painted bright green, a hue echoed in today’s Green Go.) More black trim and a 180-mph speedometer highlight the T/A’s standard cabin upgrades. On the higher-end 392 and 5.7-liter T/A Plus models, black nappa leather replaces the stock houndstooth cloth on the supportive front sport seats, and our test car also had the excellent 8.4-inch Uconnect touchscreen interface with navigation as well as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a $795 option.

The base T/A’s order book opens at $38,490, but you’ll need a sizable $46,090 to step into the 392, about five grand less than the full SRT 392 model. But at $53,995, the final tally on this example surpassed even that mark, thanks to options such as the $1695 Leather Interior group (heated and ventilated front seats, aluminum trim bezels, a power tilting and telescoping steering column with a heated wheel), a $1595 Harman/Kardon premium audio system, the $1195 Technology group (adaptive cruise control, automatic high-beams, forward-collision warning, rain-sensing wipers), and the $1095 Driver Convenience group (HID headlights, remote starting, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic detection).

That pricing pushes the top Challenger T/A above the cost of the track-focused Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE and the Ford Mustang GT with the Performance package—and not far from the entry point of Ford’s 526-hp Shelby GT350. Those comparisons, however, matter little to the Mopar enthusiasts who get the T/A’s racing lineage. While it may not be the sharpest tool in the paddock, the T/A 392 earns pole position as a tire-smoking wormhole to the good ol’ days.