Welcome to the build thread for my 2017 Dodge Charger Scat Pack!
I am super excited to finally have a car with some real power! Of course, there will always be something faster out there, that’s louder, more bells & whistles, etc.. Having said that, I absolutely LOVE this Charger! From the very beginning of this body style, when the front end got a major overhaul, along with additional power, I was intrigued. Having seen the Hellcats in person, I was blown away by the massive supercharger sitting atop the 392 HEMI! Well, after careful consideration, I decided not to increase my car payment by $200 just to get 707hp lol, and instead, set out looking for a Scat Pack that would fit the bill from a feature/option standpoint within the budget.
I was able to negotiate an awesome deal on this loaded out Scat Pack! It has all the major packages, technology, driver confidence, etc.. Anywhere from HID headlights, to rain-sensing wipers, to driver assist features such as lane departure and collision avoidance braking, CarPlay, you name it. Then, there is of course the power to talk about. I was seriously considering the SRT vs the Scat Pack. The SRT’s sticker came in literally $10k more than the Scat Pack, and honestly, the only major difference was the adjustable suspension system. In the SRT, you can adjust the ride firmness between a few modes whereas on the SP, it’s fixed. Other minor changes, such as slightly larger Brembo brakes, and a few extra options under the Performance/SRT pages screen, and lastly, 275’s instead of 245 tires. Not worth 10k to me, so the Scat Pack is where I landed. Wound up basically dropping keys for the Jeep without changing my payment at all! 🙂
Tires are easy. The current wheels I have support up to a 275, so swapping out the 2 rear tires would be a walk in the park; however, I will most likely hold out until I can get a set of reproduction wheels in a 10.5″ instead of the stock 9″ width, so in the rear I can run a set of 315’s. Putting 245 tires on a car making nearly 500hp is idiotic, and frankly, I have no damn clue what Dodge was thinking! The SRT and Scat Pack are exactly the same from a performance and drive train standpoint, so why drop 275’s on the SRT and not the Scat Pack is beyond me. To save a few dollars?? lol
I did a lot of soul searching on this purchase.. I had a 2015 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon that I absolutely LOVED; however, found myself not using it the way I had intended based on my first 2012 Jeep Wrangler Sport. Back when I had the sport, we had a big group that would go wheel at least once a month, and also didn’t have a daughter 🙂 Now, with my little girl nearly 2, and still driving 50 miles a day round trip to work, the Wrangler didn’t make a lot of economical sense 🙂 Sure, I fully expect a winter snowpocolypse this year simply because I sold it, and i’m sure the summer will only hit 80 degrees making for perfect “naked” weather in the Jeep, but I made the change anyway. This charger got 28mpg on the highway coming home from Albany, GA where I made the deal, and has averaged around 17-18mpg in the city. The Jeep would get 13mpg city, and maybe 15 highway on a good day. This is also a full-sized family sedan, plenty of trunk space, so traveling in it will be possible, whereas before in the Jeep was very impractical. But, at the end of the day, this is one of the many benefits of being a grown adult, being able to make decisions without having to get everyones’ approval 🙂 You only live once, and tomorrow is NOT a guarantee, might as well enjoy the ride! #YOLO
This car is rated at 485hp and 475 ft. lbs. of torque right off the showroom floor!
In any event, I will be doing a review of the car soon. I will also keep track of any changes I make to the car and my opinion of the results.
…stay tuned…