Towing, Then Testing a Charger 392 Scat Pack

Long before our beloved 2021 Ram 1500 TRX accumulated any Trans-America Trail dust, it spent a month in Michigan accumulating its manual-recommended break-in procedure: keep engine speeds below 3,500 rpm with no wide-open-throttle for the first 100 miles; 5,000 rpm max up to 300 miles; no sustained WOT up to 500 miles; and then until 1,500 miles the manual recommends against participating in any track events. So naturally at 1,600 miles we hit the track.

We needed to get "before" acceleration numbers for our new Ram 1500 TRX (just in case the TAT did irreparable harm), and we also had a corporate cousin in for testing: a Dodge Charger 392 Scat Pack in widebody form. And because the two closest test venues to our Michigan HQ were shuttered due to COVID and other problems, we were forced to drive well up Michigan's thumb to Ubly Dragway.

Because I'm a one-man test team, and our 2021 Truck of the Year is rated to tow 8,100 pounds, I figured why not just tow the 4,480-pound Dodge up with the Ram and test them both in one go? So, I hitched up this rig and hit the two-lane blacktop arteries toward Ubly.

I instantly appreciated the way the Ram used its rear-corner blind-spot radar units to measure the length of my rig (30 feet) after a couple turns, adjusting the blind-spot warning accordingly. The whole rig probably weighed around 7,000 pounds; this certainly dulled throttle response a bit but never stressed our HellRam.

On the 3,000-foot dragstrip, the TRX happily charged right up to 111 mph, after which hauling it back down to a stop added a lot of heat to the brakes. For the rest of the test session, I struggled to cool the brakes enough to allow them to hold a brake-torque launch—which this supercharged 702-hp V-8 definitely requires for best results. Such runs are attended by substantial squat, as is to be expected from a suspension compliant enough to soak up desert ruts. Fun fact about the brake-torque launch: A gauge actually registers brake-line pressure, which I managed to get to 1,300 psi.

The TRX roared to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds and through the quarter in 12.7 seconds at 107.3 mph. That's a tenth slower than our TOTY test truck's 0-60-mph time, a perfect match for its quarter-mile ET, and a 1-mph boost in trap speed. Not bad for a 6,760-pound truck on off-road tires.

Our naturally aspirated 485-hp 6.4-liter Charger 392 Scat Pack registered a virtual photo finish in our one-driver drag race, matching the TRX precisely, both to 60 mph and through the quarter mile. But the car rolled past the lights going 3.4 mph faster than the truck, which illustrates how much harder the 4WD TRX launches than the rear-drive Dodge. However, once that Charger hooks up, its 4 percent weight-to-power ratio advantage and vastly smaller frontal area really kick in.

Of course, there's really no comparing the two when it comes to braking and cornering—the fat-tired Dodge stops in 107 feet and corners worth 0.94 g, compared with the TRX's 129 feet and 0.68 g. Or towing. Or, as we'd soon learn, negotiating Black Bear Pass.

Credits