What Does This Tool Do?
CARS.COM — Dodge isn’t shy about outfitting its special editions with loud, throwback badging inside and out, and that’s readily apparent on the — take a deep breath — 2016 Dodge Challenger 392 Hemi R/T Scat Pack Shaker we recently tested. The Dodge Challenger’s Shaker refers to the monstrous scoop that sits atop the engine. It sticks out of the hood and moves with the torque of the engine while feeding air into the engine’s air filter box through the scoop’s twin nostrils.
Related: The V-8 Muscle Car Challenge 2016: Performance
Challenger Shaker editions are so special that they even get their own 10-millimeter nut driver embellished with — what else? — a Shaker logo. More than just a bonus branded tool, the nut driver serves a purpose with the Shaker hood. The large tub covers a ton of real estate, including that of the engine oil fill cap, so the lid of the two-piece assembly requires removal to fill ‘er up with the recommended full synthetic 0W-40 weight oil. The oil dipstick is still unobstructed on the passenger side of the engine.
Removing the Challenger’s Shaker lid to add oil is a breeze. Only four nuts secure the lid to the base, and they’re easy to remove with the provided nut driver. The hardware stays firmly secured in the driver after removal so they don’t bounce to the ground like a losing game of Plinko and into the black hole of your garage floor. It’s still a good idea to immediately secure them so they don’t fall out of the tool.
Once the top lid is off, there’s just the access panel and then the oil cap itself to remove to fill the 485-horsepower, 392-cubic-inch Hemi engine with oil. You might as well give it a good scrub while you’re in there, because our test Dodge Challenger Scat Pack Shaker had a bunch of what looked like dried water and dirt stains under the hood. The airstream to the engine isn’t direct, however, and the snorkel from the Shaker hood provides air to the air filter box and not the engine’s air intake itself. Dodge recommends clearing debris and occasionally clearing the water drains in the lower Shaker assembly as well as applying leather, rubber and vinyl protectant to the Shaker seals after cleaning.
The Dodge Challenger continues to offer the Shaker hood on the 392 Scat Pack Shaker for 2018, as well as other Dodge Challengers, including the R/T Shaker and R/T Plus Shaker. It’s also available after the fact from Mopar accessories as an add-on Shaker hood kit to sit on top of Hemi engines under the hood of 2011-18 5.7- or 6.4-liter Dodge Challengers, though the hood is sold separately. At current pricing, the Mopar Dodge Challenger Shaker Hood Kit is $800-$1,000 depending on year and includes the aluminum hood, coated and ready for paint and the trim ring kit, Shaker decal and washer hose. The actual air induction kit with parts including scoop, duct, filter and hardware varies between $1,400-$1,500 through Mopar depending on which Hemi you want to add a Shaker hood, too.
We loved seeing the Challenger’s Shaker scoop dance around in our testing of the 2016 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack with six-speed manual transmission in Cars.com’s V-8 Muscle Car Challenge. Sure, the Dodge Challenger placed third overall, but the winning 2016 Chevrolet Camaro and second-place 2016 Ford Mustang GT certainly left fun points on the table by not having a dancing Dodge Shaker hood scoop.
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