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Challenger GT was driven up from the winter test circuit in rural Maine. Photo credit: John Gilbert

PORTLAND, Maine – Driving a powerful coupe on a curving icy roadway can be a sudden thrill when the vehicle breaks loose and starts skidding toward the snowbank on the right shoulder. “Oops!” just doesn’t quite cover it. But the instincts gained while driving up and down the hills of Duluth, Minnesota, did the job.

I didn’t yank the steering wheel and aim into the skid, and I didn’t abruptly jump on the brakes, but instead, I kept my poise and let off the gas slightly while steering in an attitude that let the vehicle’s traction-control straighten us out.
“Good job,” said my co-driver, who had good reason to be less poised than I was as we sailed through the woods just outside Portland, Maine. We were cheating, though, because the red Challenger we were in was a pre-production model with all-wheel drive.
It’s not as though we don’t get enough winter weather in Northern Minnesota, but there was no way to avoid the opportunity when Dodge invited a group of auto journalists to visit the rock-bound coast of Maine for the chance to drive the new Challenger GT, which, for 2017, can be bought with all-wheel drive.

Our test Challenger GT parked in company with some other snow-worthy machines. Photo credit: John Gilbert

The Challenger is a vehicle that is always a joy to drive, joining the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro as the three “ponycar” throwbacks – I call them “future retro” – that recreate the Trans-Am road-racing heyday in North America. Dodge calls them “Muscle Coupes,” which is OK, too.
The three were ferocious rivals in road-racing, and among the joys of my sports and auto writing career was to be able to cover that Trans-Am series in places such as Donnybrooke Speedway (now BIR, for Brainerd International Raceway), Elkhart Lake, Bridgehampton and all points where road-racing circuits existed. They were a diversion from the hot-rod sedans of the late 1960s, with 2 doors and a specific silhouette of long-hood, short rear deck.

The Mustang continued on while the Camaro and Challenger were discontinued along with the Pontiac Trans-Am, Plymouth Barracuda, American Motors Javelin and a few others. But about the time Ford decided to redo the Mustang in a style that recaptured the attitude and demeanor of the 1970 model, Camaro came back out and did the same thing, and so did Challenger.

Snow-covered rural roads of Maine provided good traction tests for all-wheel drive. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Dodge cheated just a bit by planting the great-looking Challenger coupe body on the platform for the larger Charger 4-door sedan, and the shortcut produced a very competitive vehicle. In some ways, it has an edge. Some say the Challenger looks most like the 1970 car, but in any event it has a larger trunk and a more spacious interior, which can actually house a couple of adults in something approaching comfort.

But in all cases, the Challenger, Mustang and Camaro are front-engine, rear-drive hot cars that are enormous fun in the summertime, and in spring and fall, but virtually need to be parked in the winter if you live in snowy weather, because no traction control system can conquer the glare ice of winter with a rear-driver.

At the test track, we had our choice of Challenger GTs -- orange, or red. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Dodge, meanwhile, made a good move with the Charger a few years ago by installing an all-wheel-drive system underneath. While the arsenal of Hemi V8s make both the Charger and Challenger fly, the very strong 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 is more than capable in the Charger and Challenger, and it works well enough in the Charger that many police departments deploy it to chase – and catch – the bad guys in bad weather.

We should have anticipated, then, that Dodge could make the jump and refine that all-wheel-drive system for the smaller Challenger.
“We were able to take the all-wheel-drive system from the Charger and use it in the Challenger,” said chief engineer Allison Rahm. “It’s not exactly the same, because we had to refine it in a few ways. We took the Charger Pursuit sedan, used by some police departments, and adapted the suspension, stabilizer bars, springs and steering calibration, and gave it its own vehicle dynamic control that uses the same front-axle disconnect.

“We have developed the perspective on a test area we use in Northern Michigan, where they have huge snow-pack fields. We learned we can push the car and stay in control, so it’s fuim, cool, and you can drive it very confidently.  It goes back to rear-wheel drive when you don’t need it, but in snowy conditions, or when it senses wheelspin, its sensors can send up to 100 percent of the torque to the front.”

Equipped with AWD, the Challenger GT looks as good as the normal Challenger. Photo credit: John Gilbert

How the car is being driven also activates AWD, and the unit only adds 200 pounds to the overall weight of the Challenger, which sits low and doesn’t betray the fact that all four wheels can pull the car.
Ben Lyon showed us an interesting map of the U.S. and has the facts behind the market research that indicates all-wheel-drive models of the Charger and such SUVs as the Durango are up 12 percent year-over-year from last year, and on the Charger it is up to 17 percent of purchases. In the 17 states from Northern California and north of a line across through Nebraska and points east, the take rate is over 50 percent all-wheel drive on vehicle purchases.

“We also surveyed buyers who looked at the Challenger but didn’t buy,” said Lyon, the Challenger brand manager. “One-third said all-wheel drive was important, and half of them then bought something with all-wheel drive.”
We had our choice of colors and I took red. If we’re going to stand out, we might as well stand out all the way. Powering the Challenger is that Pentastar V6, a 3.6-liter unit with 305 horsepower at 6,350 RPMs, and 268 foot-pounds of torque at 4,800 RPMs. More than 90 percent of the peak torque is provided from 1,800 to 6,400 revs which gives you pretty constant power anywhere in the tach’s range.

The only thing that rivals that for power is the audio system, which barks through a 506-watt amplifier. A surprisingly large trunk and fold-down rear seat allows you to haul long things, even skis. Specific GT leather bucket seats and trim on the dash and console set the car apart as well.
Naturally, all the goodies provided boost the price. Our test car started at $33,395 and as-tested it was $40,555. Stability control and all the assumed connectivity features of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto can be brought to life. Also, the performance information from the Hellcat Trac Pak with readouts on the 8.4-inch center screen let you monitor 0-60 times, G-forces and a launch-control device.

For driving performance, the power is harnessed by the 8-speed automatic with paddle shifters, and if you switch into Sport mode, you are immediately in all-wheel drive. Otherwise, your driving style will summon AWD instantly and seamlessly.
We found driving the Challenger GT smooth and precise, with the possible exception of my little unscheduled side-skid that threatened the shoulder. So we were ready for the test track, even as the temperature climbed to a less-than-challenging 45 degrees. We would have prefered the harshness of the “Nor’easter” that hit the area one day earlier.

I had the chance to be first out on the under-construction road-racing course Dodge had contracted for, where a circular stability track, a straight line acceleration stretch, a small autocross-like circuit could challenge us for our driving response and the car’s capability.
The stylish 19-inch wheels were shod with some high-performance all-season Michelin tires, and they proved pretty good, but not exceptional to a winter-driving veteran.  They are production tires, and they worked well to test the car around the circular skid course, where you could jockey the car back and forth and even provoke a bit of skidding, just for fun.

After several laps around that, in 6-inch deep snow, we moved over to the auto-cross like course. The groomer had done a great job smoothing out the trail, and my guide informed me that I could be confident staying on the power if we got off a little. I got off a little, putting the left-side tires into the fringe area, and when I stayed on the power, it went a bit farther off, until it got hung up. I know enough to stay on the power in moderate snow, and I did that, right until it hung itself up.

Turns out, the groomer had not groomed the inside-most line, but instead did the outer groove, so when I thought I was still on the track, I had allowed the left side to get off the surface. No problem. Four guys tried to push me out, but we had to summon the groomer, which hooked up to the rear and pulled us out of the snow.

Continuing on, a bit more gingerly, and staying to the inside on all the curves brought back the fun quotient. And, as I suggested to Ms. Rahm, the chief engineer, the Michelins were probably the right tires for 90 percent of the all-weather driving Dodge might predict, but it might be a good move to try a set of Nokian all-season or snow tires.

The Challenger GT AWD already has a large jump on Mustangs and Camaros, and virtually all other muscle cars, and with the right winter tires, it could take on any SUV.