Snow Is No Challenge for Dodge Challenger GT AWD
CARS.COM — Do you like muscle cars, but you also like skiing? Are you a fan of retro styling, love the feel of a big American car, but don’t live in a part of the world where palm trees tend to be the norm? Dodge has an answer for you.
Maybe you’re sitting in the big blizzard happening now across the Northeastern U.S. and thinking you’ve missed out on your chance to respond to the French Toast Alert (wherein everyone mobs the local grocery store for eggs, milk and bread) because your conveyance isn’t the best in ice and snow. With the new 2017 Dodge Challenger GT, you no longer need to huddle in your home and risk starvation during Winter Storm Stella.
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The new GT trim comes with all-wheel drive, the first muscle car featuring four driven wheels from the factory. While it doesn’t exactly turn the Challenger into a Jeep Wrangler, it does provide an astonishing level of traction — decidedly better than the standard rear-wheel drive Chally and better than anything offered from Ford or Chevrolet when the weather turns foul.
It borrows its setup from the Dodge Charger Pursuit AWD police car, massaged slightly for a more compliant feel and a softer ride than the cops enjoy. Up to 38 percent of the total torque output can be transferred to the front wheels, but under normal operation, 100 percent of the output goes to the rear. The AWD only engages under certain conditions as well; detected wheel slippage as well as ambient air temperature or activated windshield wipers can also engage it.
How well does it work? It doesn’t kick in immediately — it works best under straight-line acceleration, allowing you to power away from a stop with confidence, even under slippery conditions, and it’s positively a boon when trying to scale a steep icy hill or driveway. But this is still a rear-wheel drive biased car, and if you’re getting on the throttle from a start while turning a corner, for example, you will kick the tail out quickly. The difference here is that you can catch it with a little countersteer very easily, and the AWD system and stability control system will help straighten you out with a minimum of fuss and drama.
The only downside to the Challenger GT is that it can only be had with the 305-horsepower, 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine — no Hemi V-8 is available for this drivetrain. That’s a little like having a hot fudge sundae but substituting cold Hershey’s syrup: It looks the same but doesn’t taste as good. It’s still plenty quick, but half the fun of a Challenger is the visceral gut-punch of the 5.7-liter Hemi to complement its throwback muscle car looks.
But if your main desire is to have a sweet-looking coupe with astonishing all-weather capability, Dodge has your number. Who needs a Subaru Outback when you can have this?
