Dodge Challenger R/T 3rd Gen History and Year to Year Changes.

How are you guys doing today on the channel? I thought we would talk about the Challenger rt and some of the

changes

it has undergone in its 12

year

s of running the model. How are you doing? So today I wanted to make this video for those people. who are looking to buy a used Challenger RT but weren't exactly sure what came in which particular model

year

, for example, maybe this person is looking at a 2014 Challenger RT but aren't sure if they would be better off if they waited and tried . to find maybe a used 2016 Challenger rt and what the difference is in the features and the different things that have come up year after year, just a little bit of information for any of those people that might be buying or looking at, maybe you've found a very good offer. on a slightly older

challenger

and you'd like to get into maybe your first hemi and you just want to see what the differences are year over year if it's worth it to get a slightly older

challenger

versus maybe something quite a bit older. a little newer and what the differences are, so today we're going to address that, having said that I know for a fact that I'm definitely going to miss certain features and maybe certain things that came in particular model years as we all know each car.

It has its own quirks, I'm sure different model years have their own quirks. My 2009 has quite a few weird quirks and I'm pretty sure no one else who doesn't own a 2009 knows about the weird quirks I have. my car, so if you know there's something in there that I missed, feel free to comment below so we have the information for people to see, just add more information to the pile, carry on, keep the information flowing anyway Guys, let's continue. Back in that, uh, 2009, I was in love with the Challenger in 2008, when Dodge decided to bring it back.

I remember seeing it on Car and Driver TV back then, definitely not on the internet or YouTube. YouTube wasn't really a big thing. Definitely not for car reviews and stuff like that around the time I remember going in 2007. I think we went to Barrett-Jackson and they had some kind of challenger prototype there, it was a little different than what the challenger ended up with. Later, but I thought it was absolutely unrealistic and I thought it was cool that Dodge brought it back. Now, the style of these early challengers obviously had a specific style after the 1970 challenger, as everyone knows, obviously, and they did an excellent job. almost a tribute to that car in these new generation cars, so we fast forward a couple of years to 2009, the first year the full Challenger line is launched.

I know that in 2008, the Challenger was obviously the inaugural year of this third generation of Challenger, but the only one. one that was available was an automatic and a srt8 in a couple of colors and there was very limited production just to release it the first year and then in 2009 was when the sxt uh or the se, sorry, like it was then and the rt came out , the different trim levels came out and the full Challenger line was finally launched, so before we get into 2009 and the start of the Challenger rt, I just want to talk about what the automotive landscape was like in 2009 because it was drastically different than what it is. now, I mean, right now it's amazing like we're literally in the era of muscle cars in the era of performance cars like we've never seen before.

I know everyone idolizes the 70s, uh, and they were extremely cool in the late 60s, early 70s, but they don't compare to today, the current performance is unreal, but it wasn't always like that in 2009, no the camaro existed, the camaro was dead, last produced in 2002. uh, chevy. It didn't come out with the Camaro for another year in 2010, they would eventually bring it back, but at the time 2008 2009, when the challenger came out, there was no camaro, uh, Pontiac is dead, the G8 doesn't exist and it didn't really take off. It would have been some sort of competitor to the charger that disappeared, uh, the gto, I mean in Canada we didn't even get the gto and it didn't set the world on fire when it came out anyway. so that other type of competitor in that market completely disappeared, the performance was in a really strange place, a very transitional place, the mustang was practically the only one holding the fort at the time before the challenger came out and in At that time they had their retro. style that was fairly new in 2009 and had only been back for a couple of years with the retro styling and at that time they had a 4.6 liter overhead cam v8 that made 300 horsepower, now sounds a bit unpleasant because our v6 3.6 which is in the base model.

The Challenger has more power than the V8 GT Mustang back in the day, but back then it was one of the most powerful GT Mustangs that came out the generation before it had the 4.6 that only had 260 horsepower. Things were kind of in a weird place if you were looking for a performance car at the time and didn't have a ton of stuff to buy, things were kind of bland and in a very weird transitional period, so the 2009 challenger , so I remember it as As soon as the 2009 5.7 liter rt trim level came out, I went to my local Dodge dealer and started negotiating for the car I've owned since 2009, black leather manual sunroof, everything I wanted in a car and of course the 5.7 liter hemi. uh the 6.1 hemi was really good, but I remember at the time it was pretty much in the infancy of the challenger coming out, dealers were trying to beat the hell out of everyone who walked into a dealership trying to order a new hemi.

Motorized Challenger, so I remember when I first took my car home to go to the dealership, it was strange, there was definitely something special about the car, people would walk down the sidewalk and completely stop what they were doing, turn around and he looked at you intently. The whole way you were passing, I would park my car somewhere to go run some errands, I would get out and have a group of people around the car looking around trying to see the inside, asking me questions about the car, it was like that. New back then there were almost none of them on the road and it caught a lot of people's attention.

It was definitely a special car throughout the entire life cycle of the Challenger RT. It has been powered by the same 5.7-liter hemi that the automatics were rated with. 372 horsepower and 401 pound-feet of torque, the manuals were rated at 376 horsepower and 410 pound-feet of torque, but we'll call it around 375 horsepower for the 5.7 hemi, all of them You know, although now both had practically the same engine. the only difference is that the six speed manual obviously doesn't have mds and it makes sense when you think about it because it's hard to deactivate cylinders when you can't predict how the car is going to shift because you were shifting the car so that feature is completely absent in The six speed manual transmission and the compression ratio on the 5.7 hemi is 10.5 to 1.

Now the exhaust pipe diameter and all 2009 RT rivals was two and a half inches and the suspension was quite soft. It was a comfortable ride, but definitely not even close to as good handling as some of the later model years of the RT line, so the automatic transmission offered in 2009 for these cars was a five-speed with 306 gears in the rear and for automatics. they were an open differential whether you had them with a track package or not you still have an open differential with them if you have the six speed manual transmission you have 392 speeds in the rear it's funny because my Dodge brochure from 2009 it says 391 gears in one part of the brochure and then in another part near the end it says 392 gears it's probably a typo or Dodge couldn't make up its mind we'll just call them 392 gears all The manuals came with 392 gears and a limited slip differential on the rear, whether you had the track package or not, now some people really didn't like the interior of the previous challengers, they felt they were too boring, too generic, maybe a little.

Too much plastic and to be honest if you listen to any automotive journalist they will tell you that no rival has ever had a good interior, they all suck, even the updated version they were complaining about, so you have to take that with a grain of salt. Salt a little too, but I have to agree that the previous challengers are very, very basic in their design. 2009 had some strange quirks that almost made you think the car was rushed out before it was fully ready for production. Strange quirks has a driver's seat that doesn't have a quick-fold option, a quick-fold latch so people can easily get in and out of the driver's side rear seat, the other thing that's really strange about the 2009 model year , the Previous production models, mine in particular is the tack, it looks like it was just a totally generic tack that Chrysler had hanging around in their parts bin that they threw into the car.

They didn't even have a red line for it. I have a Tachometer in the car with no redline for a six speed manual car super super strange, you think especially with a manual car you would want to know where that redline was so you couldn't bounce off the rev limiter, but there is another strange quirk. from the 2009 model year, honestly I have to say I really like the interiors of the previous challengers, they checked all the boxes for me, number one the interior has to be black or at least very very dark because you don't feel bad when drive. ride in an awesome muscle car with a light gray or tan interior it has to be black or dark two it has to have really really comfortable leather seats three it has to have nice soft areas for you to put your arms pretty much everywhere you touch it has It's a nice comfortable place to be and everyone's in the challenger, so the only thing that's a little strange in this era, Dodge seems like they had yet to discover their own brand, uh, which of course I'm referring to all the emblems. of Dodge Ram. not just about the early 2009 and 2010 challengers but literally their entire lineup, if you bought a

dodge

nitro or a sxt or something like that they all had the little ram logo on them even their

dodge

grand caravan it was like they really didn't They got their own Brand, don't get me wrong, the Ram logo is super cool and I totally identify with a ram since it's my spirit animal, but it seems a little strange on a Dodge product compared to a Ram truck like the Ram. truck, I get it, that's the symbol of that truck, which is super cool, but on a challenger, uh, it doesn't really fit with the double red stripe racing logo that they released in 2015, it was actually really awesome.

Dodge finally made it and finally Understood, we have to have our own logo and our own brand in our own division, so now that we've covered the basics of how the challenger started, let's take a look at some of the

changes

that came year after year. anus. The entire 2011 model line saw the introduction of an updated steering wheel, they finally got rid of the ram design and the four spoke steering wheel and replaced it with a three nine and six o'clock type of design that they didn't have yet. They didn't have the new double racing stripe design, but they did have some sort of cool, updated Dodge logo in the middle.

I realized that, hey, maybe we should brand our car as it should be under its own division. 2011 also saw the introduction of the classic rt package which basically gave you some cool retro looking wheels that were off the krager type design and some cool retro style graphics as well as hood scoops that were actually functional on the rt level, uh, the srt, they were always functional. uh the rt classic was the first time it ran in the rt line and that was basically just to get cold air into the engine just to cool it down not for induction bypass finally got rid of all the ram logos and finally updated the suspension , so it handled a little sharper than the 2009 and 2010 models and it was also the first time the shaker setup came back, which of course was a throwback to the old Dodge Challenger and Dodge Barracudas shakers with the hemi shakers. .

Super super cool shaker. The system is incredible. I have a shaker intake on my 1981 trans. I'm the old guy smoking bandit style and I have to say they are super awesome, although they may not add much performance. It really is wicked just watching him sit there and thrash around. It contracts every time you touch the accelerator pedal, it's super fun to drive with it, it just adds to the driving experience of the car. I love the shaker package in 2015, the challenger received the biggest update in its production, the interior received a major update with some really cool gauges that were a little retro but at the same time a little modern, they really knocked it out of the park with these gauges super cool and a renewed control layout and center console. 2015 was also the year in which MeI moved away from the standard leather seats and started moving toward more grippy Alcantara and suede-style leather.

I'm a little torn, I like the look of the original leather a little better, but at the same time. the grip of that alcantara and, you know, the suede-style leather when you're cornering keeps you in the seat much better, so that's either way, although those seats look absolutely amazing and are super super comfortable, the steering wheel updated and the new Dodge. The logo appeared in 2015. I'm really a big fan of this. I'm really jealous of you guys who have the steering wheel because it actually looks pretty badass and the logo is the perfect Dodge logo in my opinion. 2015 also saw the introduction of the eight-speed transmission, which is an amazing automatic transmission if you're going to have an automatic transmission in a car and not save the manuals like we've often talked about.

The 8-speed automatic is a great way to go. The transmissions shift so hard and always seem to have you right in the power band. The first time I drove a scat pack with the eight-speed automatic transmission, I was immediately impressed, like drastically impressed. I didn't expect the car to pull so hard. It did and part of the reason it did is because the transmission simply puts you in the sweet spot for each shift. A truly excellent transmission. A big improvement over the old five speeds. The nice thing about those eight-speed transmissions too is that it really did.

Helping performance pretty dramatically for the RT lineup probably shaved a couple tenths off their quarter mile time for sure and a couple tenths off their zero to 60. Many guys with 2015 challenger RTS reported that they could keep up. day pretty evenly with the older model 6.1-liter SR8 Hemis with the five-speed automatic transmission, which gives you an idea of ​​how much of an advantage that transmission gives you now. 2015 was also the year Dodge decided to say fu to the aftermarket and decided to lock down. Everyone was out of their PCMs, so tuning these cars became extremely difficult. If you have a 2015 or later car and are thinking about making modifications, you will need to get an aftermarket pcm that you can then properly program and tune your car.

For their new mods, I remember when the 2015 models first came out and guys were buying them and immediately realized they were having trouble fitting them. There were a lot of really angry guys on the forums who were really angry at Dodge. At that point I say man, what the hell is going on? We have these super cool cars that we're not going to be able to add any performance to or customize at all. There are a lot of guys who were pretty upset about it before the aftermarket. fortunately I came up with an alternative solution and diablosport and all the tuners, hp tuners, all of you, thank you very much for coming up with that solution, we owe you a lot, so in 2017, another interesting thing that happened was that Dodge offered active exhaust and the range rt. it was first available on the 392 before that but 2017 was the year active exhaust became available on the rt with a super cool 5.7 hemi uh it adds a little less flow restriction you're definitely probably going to see some Gane with this, especially after making some modifications to your challenger, so you're making a little more horsepower and want a more free-flowing exhaust.

This increased the exhaust diameter size to two and three-quarter inches from the two and a half inch pipe. Which the older Challenger RTS had, so this gave you a little better flow for sure and definitely a much better, more aggressive sound when the active exhaust was activated. 2019 was also the year that the hood changed for the base model Challenger rt uh instead of Going from what it had had up to that point, the two hood scoops about halfway up the hood on each side, they changed it to one scoop. central further forward, kind of like the Hellcat hood, the original Hellcat hood when the Hellcat went dual. nostril type, the rt and scat package has that type of center air intake appearance as of 2019, so over the years the Dodge Challenger also included some performance packages, so if you are Looking for a Challenger that has a super track package that basically adds some performance suspension, a little bit stiffer suspension, also better steering and some bigger brakes, and they also offered a TA package.

I didn't include it in this video simply because the ta is no longer an art, while the shaker is kind. of the rt shaker pack, the ta is just a little thing, it's just the ta pack, but basically that gave you a scoop and an intake of fresh, free-flowing air that was actually quite sweet, that was really the main difference among them, uh, others. Than the graphics and seat emblems, of course, but that covers the differences over the years of the Challenger. I have to say don't shy away from the older Challenger models if you got a really good deal on one and are really considering one, they are great cars, the newer cars handle better out of the box but a couple of upgrades maybe a price lower entry and it also has its advantages and disadvantages, either way, they are really cool cars, uh, it wouldn't be great either.

I'm embarrassed to get into one of the cars that has the five-speed automatic transmission with a trans tune. That five-speed automatic can kick a lot of butt too, so while it may not be as wild as the new eight-speed, it's still a pretty decent option. transmission that can handle a lot of power you throw at it, put a trans tune on it and you probably won't have too many complaints about how that five-speed transmission will perform, regardless of whether it at least gives you the information about the changes that occur year after year, so if you are there and you are buying a used car, you will have the information with you to know what your car came with and what the differences were, maybe even a couple of years newer or older than the car they are watching anyway guys hope you enjoyed the episode if you haven't already click the subscribe button maybe like the video and see you later cheers