What drives like a brick house with Hemi? The Dodge Challenger! The SRT8, Hellcat, and Demon launch like drag cars and turn like runaway freight trains. They’ve gained huge popularity amongst drag tuning houses and track racers alike due to the tremendous amount of power they put down, but often they are limited by their handling performance. Dodge has recently developed a new, wider version of the Challenger, aptly named the Challenger Widebody. Genius, no?
Not every Challenger is a Scat Pack widebody, however. There are lots of parts available to make every Challenger faster, but speed in a straight line is only so much fun. Corners make a delightful addition to any performance driving experience. Coilovers can make your Dodge Challenger SXT, Hellcat, or even the SRT Demon handle far better when taken away from their natural quarter-mile habitat. Like any car with wide aftermarket support, there are many different styles out there: some owners are going for full-on track builds with stiff damping and useable ride height on their Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Packs, while others are turning their SRT Hellcats into stanced out lowriders with giant wheels and a ton of camber. Whichever build you’re going for, there are plenty of options available.
Why coilovers?
The most complete overhaul of your car’s suspension system is a coilover suspension kit. These kits include replacement dampers, springs, and mounting hardware, rather than just a set of springs. This more advanced suspension system allows for adjustable ride height and dampening as well as other fine tuning. This allows for decreases in body roll, better ride, and smoother transitions in corners.
The first part of selecting a set of coilovers is to figure out how and where you’ll be driving. Are you looking for a system for street use, or one for high-performance driving experiences and track days? Time attack, drifting, and drag racing all benefit from different components. Manufacturers may offer unique systems for several of the areas listed, or have a single product targeted at one of the driving modes mentioned.
As always, when you consider making any changes to your suspension, the factor you need to consider first is the tires. They are the vehicle’s only direct link to the road. The coilover kit you select should be one tuned to the type of tires that you’ll be using. For example, street coilovers take best advantage of ultra-high performance summer tires. Performance coilover systems designed for track use are more aggressive to pair with slicks or DOT-R track tires. These tend to ride tighter than most people will be comfortable with on the street.
For track days, a set of moderately-priced coilovers, combined with larger diameter sway bars with adjustable links are a great starting point. As you learn the characteristics of the car over laps and laps of track driving you can begin to make adjustments – one at a time – to optimize the set-up to your car, tires, and driving style.
So where do I start?
For the Dodge Challenger and its related LD/LX platform cars (the Dodge Magnum, Charger, and Chrysler 300), coilover kits are available from a ton of reputable, high-profile brands. BC Racing makes one of the most popular kits for the Challenger. Their BR series coilover kit offers 30 levels of adjustable damper preload. This can give you a lower ride height than stock, a low center of gravity, and less wheel well gap. The BR series coilovers are designed for spirited road driving and light track use, so if you want to go low on the street these are a great place to start.
If you’re looking to keep up with the Mustangs and Camaros on road or autocross, check out the KW Variant 2 coilover suspension kit. These coilovers are a bit more expensive than the BC BRs, but they offer strong build quality and progressive rate springs. Progressive rate springs mean that this suspension will adapt to your driving style: if you’re pushing the car hard, the spring rate tenses up, and if you’re cruising at 155 miles an hour down the main straight they’ll be able to soak up bumps and imperfections in the road so you don’t go sailing into a wall.
If you want good handling on a tighter budget, the Bilstein B12 Pro Kit offers enough flexibility for a dual-duty road and light track setup without breaking the bank. If you’re just looking to daily your car to and from work and go to the occasional autocross event, this is a great way to bump up your handling performance while still keeping your Challenger comfortable and safe on the road.
Many drivers won’t reach the limits of their stock suspension setup, and it’s important to make the distinction for yourself of needing an upgrade versus wanting one. Coilover setups are a significant undertaking, and the most drastic change to your vehicle’s performance short of completely altering the suspension geometry. If you’re looking for the ultimate in ride height adjustment and handling tunability for your Dodge Challenger, Charger, or Chrysler 300, coilovers are the right place to go. For coilover kits and more, check out the Motoroso Marketplace!
