Tim Kuniskis, the recently re-hired CEO of Ram, has been promoted to lead all American brands under the Stellantis umbrella. He’ll remain Ram CEO, and the CEOs of Jeep, Dodge, and Chrysler will keep their jobs, as well. We suspect Kuniskis will be in charge of unifying and amplifying the group’s fight for relevance in today’s ultra-competitive market.
One of his first moves is reviving the dormant Street and Racing Technology performance division, which is more popularly known as SRT. Kuniskis himself led the SRT operation back in 2014 when he was President and CEO of Dodge. Those were the days of the Chrysler 300 SRT, Dodge Charger SRT8, Dodge Challenger SRT, and Dodge SRT Viper.
As gas engines became persona non grata in recent years, though, SRT-branded models began to dwindle in 2021. As it turns out, that was a mistake, just like replacing the HEMI V8 in Ram trucks with a twin-turbocharged in-line 6-cylinder was a mistake, for which Kuniskis recently apologized and quickly remedied.
SRT Will Rise Again!
Stellantis says reviving SRT is “a bold step in unifying high-performance engineering across Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram under a single, dedicated identity.” Kuniskis himself adds, “SRT is another box we needed to check as we head into a product launch cadence enabling more performance than we’ve ever seen before.”
What this seems to mean is that new SRT products are coming to all the automaker’s American brands: Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, and Ram. It could also mean that SRT will develop its first all-electric high-performance models. So far, the Dodge Challenger Daytona Scat Pack is the only high-performance EV the company sells, and it’s neither been received well by critics nor bought well by the public.
That said, it’s far more likely SRT will get back to doing what it does best: juicing the performance of gas-guzzling engines to unspeakable levels. Currently, the Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is the only SRT product still on sale. Not to be taken lightly, it has a 6.2-liter V8 engine that makes 710 horsepower, and it starts at $84,995. Still, one high-performance SUV does not a performance division make, so we’re excited to see which vehicles get put in the pipeline for an SRT upgrade.
TopSpeed’s Take
Please bring back the Viper. Please bring back the Viper. Please bring back the Viper. It’s one thing to make a Durango SRT, or a high-performance Ram street truck, or a Dodge Daytona Challenger with a V8, but is SRT really even back until it has its very own model again? The Viper is, was, and ever shall be the highest expression of SRT’s potential, and losing it back in 2017 was a gut punch.
The Viper’s competitors have not been standing still, either. The Corvette has gone mid-engine and can now be had with more than 1,250 horsepower and all-wheel drive. The Mustang GTD is a purpose-built track horse with 815 horsepower and a top speed over 200 miles per hour. Our mind reels at imagining the modern-day Viper that a revived SRT might cook up. It should stick with tradition, a strategy which Kuniskis favors, which means a big engine up front, driven wheels in the rear, and a missing roof. Something that would make Carroll Shelby proud, and a little scared to drive.
Read the full article here
