Dodge Ram SRT-10 Quad Cab

Dodge Ram SRT-10 Quad Cab - When the folks at Dodge's Street and Racing Technology (SRT) set out to build this more practical version of the Ram SRT-10, they took a half-step back from the goal of ultimate performance and instead focused on adding versatility while maintaining its ferocious performance. To that end, the Quad Cab has four real doors, seats a family-friendly six, and comes only with an anyone-can-drive-it automatic.

The 8.3-liter V-10 Viper engine that pumps out 500 horsepower and 525 pound-feet of torque ensures that performance won't be compromised. However, the Quad Cab, unlike the regular cab, uses Dodge's 48RE four-speed and is automatic only. This tranny usually sees duty on the business end of the Cummins diesel engine in 2500- or 3500-series Ram trucks.

Despite weighing in at 5618 pounds (479 more than the regular-cab SRT-10) and employing a power-robbing automatic, this truck's performance still qualifies as exceptional. The Quad Cab's 5.6-second 0-to-60 time was 0.7 second slower than the regular cab's, and the quarter-mile was 0.6 second off at 14.2 seconds. The Quad Cab squealed its tires to a 0.83-g skidpad rating, 0.03 g less than its two-door sibling, and registered a lofty 147 mph top speed, just 6 mph slower.

Dodge invited us out to its proving ground in Chelsea, Michigan, to sample the SRT-10 Quad Cab in an autocross setting. After a few tire-spinning starts and a couple attempts to hang out the tail around an entire sweeping left-hander, we were left giggling like grade-school dorks who'd just successfully slipped a whoopee cushion on the teacher's chair without his noticing.

Also, the brakes suffer from a condition known as knock-back. This occurs under hard cornering when a wheel (and pertinent brake rotor) moves slightly relative to the location of the brake caliper, causing the brake pad to be pushed back and giving the driver that sinking feeling when he goes for the brakes and—whoa!—the pedal goes nearly to the floor before the pads and rotors are reunited.

Dodge hopes some Viper owners, who presumably have put down 85K for their superfast roadsters, will be willing to shell out another $50,850 ($5000 more than the regular-cab SRT-10) for an SRT-10 Quad Cab. In a year, we'll see if there were enough of them out there to make this powerful truck a success.