AM: Talk about some of the challenges of turning a Ram into the SRT-10. Not only with the brand and its promotion, and getting SRT away from something that's strictly Viper, but also the challenges of making a truck perform like a muscle car.
DN: Frankly, it was a big challenge. First, we started with a great truck. That's a fundamental. It's not like we're starting with a product that's a huge stretch. The base truck handles very well and has a very good set of brakes. But what we did in the case of the SRT-10 was said Okay, we've got 500 horsepower and 525 foot-pounds that we've got to get to the road. How do we do that? We lower the center of gravity, lower the truck, and we knew we had to go after something like that power-hop damper. We studied several different alternatives and what we ended up with was basically a damper mounted on the top of the diff that, as the rear axle starts to wind up, forces it down. We also went with a snubber under the rear leaf springs, so as it starts to compress, you get loads on the wheels. And it's so effective that we can put slicks on it and open the throttle all the way, and it stays stuck to the pavement. So getting the power to the road was critical. And making that early decision to get those snubbers and that damper in there was critical.
One of the issues with designing and developing a product like this is that you have such a short development time. We're moving toward less-than-24-months kinds of programs, and the only way you can do that is if you sit down right up front and you say, Based upon all these people out there racing, out there walking the talk, and doing it everyday, what does our expertise have to deliver? We can't wait until we're all the way down stream to say; Gee we hope we don't need to put a damper on that rear axle. And the more expertise you've got, the more easily you can make those decisions up front.
Another area that we went after was the spoiler on the back, which is a functional spoiler that does provide downforce. So in the wind-tunnel testing, crosswinds, straight-ahead, we do get downforce from it. And we do get downforce from the front end in terms of how we designed the fascia and splitter. The exterior jumps out and grabs you, but it's also extremely functional. A bit of that NASCAR influence. One of the things you see on the SRT-10 is that in NASCAR truck racing, we close the grille off and funnel the air where we really want it to go, and typically you don't see that on production trucks. So what we've done is diverted some of the air so we can get a highly efficient air flow up there. The other thing is on a truck that goes 150 mph, is that you get a lift, so you have to divert some air to help keep the front end down.
The other challenge to a truck that weighs 5000 pounds and has to deliver good handling is you've got to lower the suspension, and go with performance shocks, which in this case are Bilsteins, and the result has been pretty impressive.
AM: What's the one key message that the SRT-10 delivers?
DN: When you look at what we're trying to deliver with the Ram, I think we've done very well. I'm really happy with how we've delivered the SRT cues. I kind of think that when people walk up to a vehicle, there's a promise that already starts to establish in their mind. And you walk up to the SRT truck, and first of all it's very aggressive and in-your-face, but it looks like it should handle and perform well. And I'm happy to report that it does all of those very well, and for me, as I start to build this SRT brand, it's really critical that we do that and we don't take any step backward. So I think there's one key message and that it that the truck delivers, it walks the talk. It's another notch in the belt of the SRT portfolio.
So what's it going to be, gearheads? Dodge or Ford? PVO or SVT?
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