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2006 Dodge Magnum SRT8 Road & Track Test

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Khatir Soltani
Rebel Wagon Might be the Ultimate Automotive Paradox

There's a rebel side to my personality, an anti-establishmentarianism that some would say typifies my entire character, and therefore
The Magnum SRT8 is one of those cars momma wouldn't be proud to see you drive up to dinner in, especially if painted bad-boy black. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)
juxtaposes my somewhat conservative, religiously oriented mindset to the point that wires cross, sparks fly, retinas glaze over and pupils dart back and forth in a frenzy of short circuitry that numbs the mind. At least that's what happened when I sat behind the wheel of Dodge's new Magnum SRT8.

Yes, its one of those cars momma wouldn't be proud to see you drive up to dinner in, especially if painted bad-boy black. Its 20-inch forged aluminum rims, low profile rubber and ground hugging nature evokes the darker side in us all, "inspiring" performance enthusiast minded auto writers to produce reams of overbearing hyperbole ad nauseam and cause environmentalists to foam at the mouth in seething contempt, before taking up organized marches, placards piled atop one another in the backs of suitably boring, anemic station wagons.

The well-appointed Magnum SRT8 has room enough for all your placards, I say with sly grin and one eyebrow raised. Oh, there's that unscrupulous side of my personality acting up again. Heck, even Dodge can't tout its fuel-saving MDS cylinder-deactivation technology in this dark horse, it being
Lets, for the time being, forget any planet damaging rhetoric for a gluttonous serving of self-satisfying indulgence, shall we? (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)
excluded when the R/T's 5.7-litre HEMI jumps in displacement to 6.1-litres. So lets, for the time being, forget any planet damaging rhetoric for a gluttonous serving of self-satisfying indulgence, shall we?

Even Hollywood do-gooder Tim Robbins would have to agree that the Magnum SRT8 has a Schwarzenegger-like presence. Bold, brash and, even rooted in Germany no less, what with its Mercedes-Benz E-Class inspired undercarriage, steering rack, manually actuated five-speed automatic transmission, etc. Arnold might even agree that it looks better than the Hummers he's so faithfully promoted up until becoming the green (previously golden) state's "governator", and it certainly would get him to and from daily meetings on time.
Khatir Soltani
Khatir Soltani
Automotive expert
  • Over 6 years experience as a car reviewer
  • Over 50 test drives in the last year
  • Involved in discussions with virtually every auto manufacturer in Canada