2006 Dodge Charger SRT8 Vs. 2005 Pontiac GTO

Ezra Scattergood knew a thing or two about high voltage. Known as Los Angeles's "father of power," Scattergood led L.A.'s Department of Water and Power for 31 years, growing it from a one-employee institute into the largest municipal utility of its kind. Under Scattergood's reign, the City of Angels exploded into one of the most influential and vital metropolitan areas in the world. As Cosmopolitan magazine wrote in 1947, "Probably nobody has contributed more to the creation of this phenomenal Western metropolis than Ezra Frederick Scattergood." Knowledge may be power, but knowledge of power can be just as, um, powerful.

Seeing we possess an endless knowledge of power--horsepower, that is--we thought it only fitting to bring the burly, all-new Dodge Charger SRT8 and its archrival, the Pontiac GTO, together for a rendezvous of force at nearby Scattergood Generating Station in Playa Del Rey. For four decades, these two nemeses have not only been giving the automotive world lessons in power, they've also been duking it out, toe to toe, with many a face-off going down right in Scattergood's backyard of SoCal. Consider our little soiree an homage to good ol' Ezra.

The rules were simple and the stakes high: Bring your most potent ponycar to the party, leave all excuses at the door, and fight for the right to be crowned king musclecar. The General versus the Goat in the ring at Scattergood's house. Let the power trip begin...

Although the Charger SRT8 is the fresh face in this fight, we've seen its formula before. Under its four-door "coupe" styling, replete with flying-buttress C-pillars echoing its 1960s ancestors, the new Charger is for all intents and purposes a Chrysler 300 SRT8, sharing its platform, powertrain, chassis, and numerous dimensions. But while the two appear nearly identical in size, the Charger's bodywork has been pumped to add 3.3 inches of length, 0.4 inch more width, and 0.3 inch extra height.

That the musclecar maniacs in DaimlerChrysler's Street and Racing Technology (SRT) group subjected the Charger to essentially the same rigorous workout as the 300C SRT8 means the testosterone-infused Dodge leaves the gym emphatically ripped compared with its softer, 5.7-liter sibling. Accordingly, it packs a 6.1-liter, 425-horsepower Hemi V-8; a heavy-duty five-speed AutoStick teamed with upgraded axles and differential; SRT-tuned dampers, springs, bushings, and anti-roll bars; a half-inch-lower ride height; and four-piston Brembo brakes peeking through 20-inch forged wheels wrapped in Goodyear summer tires. Appropriately, the Charger gets a more menacing face that features an integrated hood scoop, a body-color cross-hair grille, and a deeper air dam with brake ducts the size of cantaloupes. See a Charger SRT8 loom large in your rearview mirror, and it looks like you're about to be run down by an angry, hungry lion.