2014 Dodge Challenger Happens in Vegas, Shakes in Vegas

With Dodge’s modern-day muscle car already on a record-setting sales pace this year, the 2014 Dodge Challenger charged into the 2013 SEMA Show with enough Mopar Magic to ensure a fast finish to the current selling season. As announced by Tim Kuniskis, president and CEO of the Dodge brand: “The legendary Shaker performance hood is back, with its engine-mounted, fully floating scoop and exposed high-flow element that produces cold-air induction—making the new 2014 Dodge Challenger R/T Shaker the real deal.”

The Shaker show car benefits from an unspecified power bump to its 5.7-liter HEMI V8, which puts out 375 hp and 410 lb.-ft. of torque without the new hood-intake system, and the car then makes good use of that added motivation with a Super Track Pak that includes further improvements to the steering, braking, and suspension systems. A three-mode stability control setup and three-season Goodyear Eagle F1 Super Car tires are standard, with all-season rubber a no-charge option.

Needless to say, the 2014 Dodge Challenger R/T Shaker wears some equally earth-shaking design enhancements, like:

• Satin Black graphics for its hood, roof and deck lid, complemented by a body-color grille surround and “Shaker,” “HEMI,” and “Challenger” exterior badging
• 20-inch five-spoke aluminum wheels with a polished face, black pockets, and a satin matte clearcoat
• Shaker-exclusive cabin accents such as a flat-bottomed racing-style steering wheel, “K-Black” painted instrument-panel and console-bezel highlights, Nappa leather performance seats with “Shaker” logos, and a custom welcome screen for its available 6.5-inch Uconnect system

Packing an enthusiast-satisfying six-speed manual transmission, the 2014 Dodge Challenger R/T Shaker is scheduled to reach dealerships in the first quarterof next year with an MSRP of $36,995.

But as was the case at SEMA, the Shaker won’t be the only 2014 Challenger that will have gearheads champing at the bit to get one …

2014 Dodge Challenger Honored as ‘Mopar ’14’ Limited Edition

The 2014 Dodge Challenger also was selected as this year’s Mopar limited-edition car, following a tradition that kicked off in 2010 and also has seen the Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300 and Dodge Dart previously enjoy full Mopar makeovers for retail sale.

Just keep in mind that this is a true limited-edition model, with Dodge and Mopar set to combine forces on only 100 units, with each featuring a blue-on-white Mopar-style color scheme, a variety of custom striping packages, 20-inch Gloss Black aluminum wheels, and one of those new “Shaker” hoods. In its cockpit, this short-run 2014 Dodge Challenger showcases a Dark Slate interior with Mopar Blue accent stitching and embroidered Mopar “M” logos on the seatbacks.

To further differentiate the Mopar ’14 from the rest of the 2014 Dodge Challenger family, owners receive Mopar-branded key fobs, a serialized instrument-panel plaque, and a special “owner’s kit” that’s been packed with Mopar memorabilia.

Now, you might have noticed that, once again, no mention has been made of any specific power-ups, but that’s because the Mopar ’14—and the Shaker R/T and other HEMI-powered 2014 Dodge Challengers—also can take advantage of a series of new Mopar “Scat Packs” that provide progressively higher performance upgrades over the cars’ 5.7-liter powerplants.

It’s another old-school idea that’s bringing new levels of performance to Dodge customers, according to Kuniskis: “The Scat Pack performance philosophy has always been the core of Dodge DNA. Bringing back factory stage kits allows Dodge enthusiasts to extract the maximum performance from their vehicles without the fear and guesswork typically associated with modifying late-model vehicles.”

2014 Dodge Challenger Scat Packs Pack in More Power

Hearkening back to 1968, when Dodge and Mopar worked together to meet the performance demands of enthusiast groups like the “Scat Pack Club,” the new stage kits will launch in the spring of 2014 and offer three levels of performance enhancement to the 2014 Dodge Challenger. Among the Mopar goodies included here:

• Optimized engine calibrations
• Cold-air intakes
• Cat-back exhaust systems
• Performance camshafts
• Ported/polished heads
• High-flow performance headers
• Unique badges for each of the three stage kits

Of course, it’s not just the 2014 Dodge Challenger that will offer the new performance packages; three-stage Scat Pack upgrades also have been developed for the 2014 Dodge Charger and 2014 Dodge Dart, too.

The party line from Pietro Gorlier, president and CEO of Mopar: “The new Scat Package kits reinforce our commitment to the performance arena. With multiple kits available, we can suit the performance upgrade needs of our owners.”