Driver’s Notebook: Boot Scootin’ Boogie
October 1, 2004
Hey, what we gonna do with this leftover Viper engine? Stick it in that big ole
pickup truck? You kidding? No? Well, it won’t be pretty, but I reckon you got
something there. Yes sir, that dog will hunt.
Obviously, the genesis of the world’s fastest production pickup truck was a bit
more sophisticated than that–if only because of product liability law. One
glance at the 10’s blunt front end, huge power bulge, and gaping air scoop tells
you, though, that the Dodge Ram SRT-10 just might have been engineered by a
couple of good ole boys with one thing on their minds: speed.
Climb into the beast, and you would be forgiven for thinking you’d hopped aboard
a standard-issue, V-8-powered Dodge Ram. You are surrounded by the same swaths
of gray plastic and the same rotary controls that adorn thousands of
hard-working pickup trucks across America. And then you notice the perfectly
shaped sports seats, the oil temperature gauge set into the front pillar, the
golf club—sized Hurst shifter, and the white-on-black dials–with 160 on the
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ENGINE: 8.3-liter V-10
POWER:
500 hp at 5,600
rpm
TORQUE: 525 ft lbs at
4,200 rpm
TRANSMISSION:
6-speed manual
CURB WEIGHT: 5,000 lbs
BASE
PRICE:
$45,000 (Click image to enlarge)
Yes, and to get to that, or at least near that, you have to press a little red
button just east of the steering wheel. “Engine start” hooks you up to an
8.3-liter V-10. The Dodge Boys have modified the legendary powerplant’s
internals: increasing the bore and stroke, fitting cast aluminum alloy pistons;
tinkering with mighty mill to increase its civility and reliability. But it is
still the same 500 hp engine that makes the Dodge Viper one of the most brutal
sports cars known to man.
Strange, then, that the SRT-10 starts with a whine and quickly settles into a
subdued rumble. It may be music to an aftermarket exhaust maker’s ears, but an
SRT-10 buyer could rightfully expect a bit more aural aggression straight out of the box–something to match
the pickup’s steroidal appearance.
Fortunately for street cred, there is nothing wimpy about the way the SRT-10
moves down the road. With 525 ft lbs of torque on tap, you could amble along in
the low end of any of the pickup’s six gears. But why would you want to do that?
Press the 10’s go-pedal past 3,000 rpm and things get seriously fast.
The 10’s civilized sound track instantly morphs into something very much like an extended explosion of TNT. The gigantic Pirelli Scorpions scrabble for purchase, then hold on for dear life as truck imitates cannonball. Zero to 60 takes just 5.2 seconds. Provided you can shift fast enough–and the Tremec T56 gearbox is hardly what I would call helpful in this regard–the SRT-10 will keep on accelerating with the same ferocity well into triple digits.
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