Once upon a time, Dodge (now Ram) decided that what their 1500 pickup needed was the V10 from the Viper put under the hood. Sometime after that, another buyer thought that the V10 just wasn't quite enough power. So they put a supercharger on it. And that massive horsepower truck is perfect for our autoTRADER.ca Find of the Week this week.
That's because this week is the annual Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show, held in Las Vegas. SEMA represents the aftermarket companies that make the products that you can use to make your stock vehicle your own. They make everything from air fresheners to fully built cars and trucks that you'd be hard-pressed to guess their original identity.
In the last few years, automakers have started bringing their own concepts and modified cars. We've shown you some of the best this year, like the 600 hp Toyota C-HR, and the Gemballa GT. So we wanted to find something that showed the spirit of SEMA this week. And have we ever.
Dodge has been making some shockingly fast vehicles lately, like the 707 hp Hellcats and the 840 hp Demon. But before those vehicles, Dodge's SRT brand was better known for turbocharged Neons. In the middle, Dodge SRT made one of the wildest they've ever made.
It started with a third generation Ram 1500. When the Ram SRT debuted in 2002, the biggest engine you could buy in a Ram was the 5.9L V8 that made 245 hp. The Hemi wasn't available yet, and buyers wanted lots more power. Something that could compete with the Ford SVT Lightning's 380 hp.
SRT engineers found just the right engine, and it was on the car side of the lot. It was big, it was loud, and it was there. The 8.3L V10 from the Viper. It made 500 hp and 525 lb-ft of torque. A six-speed manual transmission was available, and it helped the Ram SRT-10 hit 100 km/h in about five seconds.
The truck debuted at the 2002 Detroit auto show, and it was a huge success. So the truck entered production for the 2004 model year.
Putting that massive V10 in the truck wasn't enough. More changes were needed to handle the power. The SRT-10 got the steering and front suspension from the heavy-duty pickups. There was a modified frame, combined with all-new suspension tuning. It was lowered 25 mm in the front and 64 mm in the rear. There was a fifth shock added to the rear axle to stop wheel hop at launch.
The SRT-10 had a special hood with a big bulge to clear the engine and a special scoop. There was a unique bumper and special side skirts to help the airflow around the brick that is a full-size truck. Massive 22-inch wheels came stock with huge 305/40 tires. The wheels were a copy of the Viper's 10-spoke design. The brakes were discs all around, taken from the Heavy Duty pickup. ABS was standard, controlling 380 mm front and 360 mm rear rotors.
All that was great, and it made for one of the fastest pickups ever. But as always when it comes to truck horsepower, if lots is good, more is better.
Enter our Find of the Week, for sale in Drayton Valley, AB, about an hour and a half west of Edmonton. It's taken the Ram SRT-10 and added more. It has a centrifugal supercharger mounted beside the engine, cramming in seven pounds of boost. Supporting that is a Magnaflow exhaust, headers, and methanol injection. The end result is 774 hp and enough torque to rotate the earth. Making sure that power makes it to the tires - getting it to the ground is up to your right foot - is a stronger clutch.
Adding some show to the go, this Ram has custom black on blue two-tone paint with an accent strip that looks super-cool. It also has aftermarket head and taillights, as well as other aftermarket accessories.
This 2004 Ram SRT-10 is very low mileage, with just 34,785 km on the odometer, with an asking price of $34,770.
If you want the most powerful truck around, then this Ram SRT-10 might be just what you're looking for.
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