2006 Dodge Magnum SRT8: The Station Wagon That Got the 425-Horsepower HEMI

Dodge revealed the Magnum SRT8 in Los Angeles on January 4, 2005, and its press kit did not bother with subtlety. The car was, in Dodge's own phrase, the "Dodge Magnum on steroids." Darryl Jackson, Dodge's vice president of marketing, supplied the line that summed up the idea: with a 425-horsepower 6.1-liter HEMI up front and a wagon's cargo floor behind, the car "hauls in more ways than one." By the time the car went on sale, Dodge's line was that the Magnum combined utility and performance in one package.^1,2

The Magnum itself was only a year old. MotorWeek's review of the 2005 Magnum and Chrysler 300 presented them as Chrysler's rear-wheel-drive alternative to the front-drive Camrys, Accords and Tauruses filling American driveways. The Magnum RT's 5.7-liter HEMI made 340 horsepower and 390 lb-ft, MotorWeek timed it to 60 mph in 6.3 seconds, and it started at $29,995. Behind the seats were 27.2 cubic feet of cargo space, or 71.6 with the rear seat folded. Stellantis's Brampton plant history dates the start of 300 and Magnum rear-drive production to the beginning of 2004. The SRT8 would add power without taking away any of that room.^3,4

The SRT group's engine was the heart of the change. Dodge's August 2005 release rates the 6.1-liter SRT HEMI at 425 horsepower, 85 more than the standard Magnum's HEMI, and 420 lb-ft, and describes the parts that made the difference: a reinforced block, a forged crankshaft, and sodium-filled hollow valve stems to carry away heat. Power went through a five-speed automatic with a driver-selectable AutoStick, a heavy-duty four-flange propeller shaft and an upgraded differential. Those are Dodge's advertised ratings. The same engine, as sister releases show, was also going into Chrysler's 300C SRT8 and the new Charger SRT8 the same model year.^2,5,6

The chassis work followed the same recipe as the 300C SRT8. The press kit lists SRT-tuned dampers, tailored spring rates and bushings, large-diameter anti-roll bars, and a ride height half an inch lower than the standard Magnum. Twenty-inch forged aluminum wheels carried Goodyear F1 tires, 245/45 in front and 255/45 at the rear. Brembo four-piston calipers, finished in SRT red, worked on 360-by-32-millimeter front rotors. The rear rotors show how even factory paperwork can drift: the January 2005 reveal kit gives them as 350 by 26 millimeters, and Dodge's August 2005 release gives 350 by 28. Neither document explains the difference, so both stand.^1,2

Dodge made sure the car looked the part. The reveal kit describes a new front fascia with cooling ducts and an air dam, a rear fascia with a wake modifier, dual 3.5-inch chrome exhaust tips and SRT badging. Inside came power-adjustable sport seats with performance suede, carbon-fiber trim on the steering wheel, red stitching and a 180-mph speedometer. Dodge's pricing release lists three colors, Bright Silver, Brilliant Black and Inferno Red Crystal Pearl, with a Dark Slate Gray and Light Graystone interior. Options included a power sunroof, heated seats, side airbags, load leveling and height control, SIRIUS satellite radio and UConnect hands-free calling.^1,7

Dodge priced the Magnum SRT8 at $37,995 including $675 destination and put it on sale in the summer of 2005, building it at Brampton, Ontario. That was about $8,000 more than MotorWeek's quoted $29,995 starting price for a 2005 Magnum RT, though the two figures come from different dates and should be read as a rough gap rather than an exact premium. For the money, the buyer got 85 more horsepower, the Brembo brakes, the forged wheels and the SRT interior, and kept the 71.6 cubic feet of cargo space that Dodge's releases repeat. It was still a wagon, only with a much larger engine.^7,3,2

Dodge's performance claims were a 0-to-60 time in the low five-second range, 0-100-0 mph in the mid-16s and 60-to-0 stops of about 110 feet. The quarter-mile claim moved between releases: the January 2005 kit said the high 13-second range, and the August 2005 release said the mid-13s. No instrumented magazine or broadcast test of a Magnum SRT8 has been located. MotorWeek did test two siblings with the 6.1: a 2006 Charger SRT8 at 5.0 seconds to 60 and 13.4 seconds at 104 mph, and a 2006 Grand Cherokee SRT8, rated at 420 horsepower, at 4.9 seconds and 13.5 at 102. Those figures belong to those vehicles.^1,2,6,8

Those siblings make 2006 the year Chrysler's SRT group put one engine into four very different bodies. MotorWeek called the Grand Cherokee SRT8, at a $39,995 base, the group's first Jeep project. MotorWeek's Charger SRT8 started at $38,095 including a $2,100 gas-guzzler tax, and Chrysler had priced the first 300C SRT8 at $39,995 with destination. Against those figures the Magnum's $37,995 put all four within about $2,000 of one another, though the bases differ: some include destination, one includes the gas-guzzler tax, and the Magnum release does not say whether its price did. The choice was about body and badge, not about horsepower.^8,6,9,7

How many buyers chose the wagon is not known. Neither Dodge nor Chrysler published a Magnum SRT8 production or sales count. Chrysler's sales reporting gives 40,095 United States sales for the whole Magnum nameplate in calendar 2006, a figure that covers every Magnum from the V6 up and says nothing about the SRT8's share. For comparison, the same report counts 143,647 Chrysler 300s of all trims. Any real rarity claim for a 2006 Magnum SRT8 would need a VIN-based count or a build record, and none has been published by the factory. Until one is, the honest number is unknown.^10,7

The Magnum SRT8 carried on. For 2007 Dodge added TorRed and Steel Blue Metallic to the color list and made its SRT Track Experience standard, with the 425-horsepower rating unchanged. For 2008 the Magnum received a redesigned hood with a functional scoop, a new grille, fascia and headlamps, and a new instrument panel; Dodge's release says 2008 production began at Brampton in August 2007, with engines from Saltillo and transmissions from Indianapolis. The 2006 car remains the first of the run: the first year a Dodge family wagon shared its engine with the company's SRT sedans and still carried 71.6 cubic feet of cargo.^11,12,7