The SRT brand name.... Mean anything to you?

[Newport Viper]

Thinking out loud here....(cause it's pretty quiet in here...not my head....this forum) Does the SRT brand name mean anything to you?

With the 2013 refined (EeeeK haha) Viper coming out under the SRT "brand"..... Does give it any street cred?

Or... does the guy on the street just ask "what the heck does SRT mean?" Granted it takes time and very..very.. successful products to build a great brand following.

Was SRT worth keeping as a brand or was another name a more prestigious fit? ( I don't have the answer...)

Is "Drive SRT" the tagline?









Street and Racing Technology

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This article is about the Chrysler LLC sport vehicles. For other uses, see SRT (disambiguation).

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SRT-4 Emblem

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SRT-10 Emblem


Street & Racing Technology (commonly called SRT) is a high-performance automobile group within Chrysler LLC. SRT began as "Team Viper" to develop the Dodge Viper. It later merged with "Team Prowler", the developers of the Plymouth Prowler, to become Specialty Vehicle Engineering (SVE). This was renamed Performance Vehicle Operations (PVO). Since all PVO vehicles used the SRT name, it was decided in 2004 to use that name for the development group as well. SRT produces vehicles for the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep Vehicles.
The naming convention used by SRT for its models are indicative of the vehicle's engine type. The number that follows the "SRT" prefix denotes the number of engine cylinders the vehicle has. For example the Chrysler 300C has a 5.7L Hemi V-8; Therefore the SRT version is known as the Chrysler 300C SRT-8, which has a 6.1L Hemi V-8. Similarly, the Dodge Viper SRT-10 along with the Dodge Ram SRT-10 have an 8.3L V-10.
Currently the fastest SRT production models are the 2010 Dodge Viper SRT-10 series with a recorded quarter mile time of 11.7 seconds.[SUP][1][/SUP] The other SRT models have recorded quarter mile performances from 12.8 seconds[SUP][2][/SUP] for the AMG-based Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6 to the Dodge Caliber SRT-4 at 14.6 seconds.
Chrysler released the 6.4L Hemi engine in early 2011. New SRT-8 versions have 392 HEMI (6.4L) engine, rated at 470 hp (350 kW) and 470 lb·ft (637 N·m).[SUP][3][/SUP]
The new engine is used in the 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8, Dodge Charger SRT8, Chrysler 300 SRT8 and the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.
Chrysler has recently announced plans to turn SRT into a separate brand.[SUP][4][/SUP]

 

[bcmarly]

The idea behind branding Chrysler's performance vehicles under the name SRT is a good one, but no, at this point very few people know what SRT stands for. Assuming the plan is well executed it could take on the the same kind of credibilty as do the names AMG and M - BMW Both AMG and M sell their vehicles out of their Mercedes and BMW stores respectively, as will Chrysler. On the other hand Toyota formed the Lexus division and under that brand they sell Lexus exclusively. In Europe and other parts of the world, they don't bother. It's sold as an upscale Toyota. It was however a brilliant move on Toyota's part to brand the upscale Toyotas in the USA under the Lexus name. Who would want to spend $80,000 plus on a Toyota?....
Hmmm.

 

[ferraritoviper]

Not necessarily quiet on this forum...but rather boring, until ordering time comes around. As for the SRT name, it's a distraction imo. Other than here, the Vette board or in car mags, not too many people are going to get it. Dodge Viper is a well established brand name, and that's what I'll be calling my 2013...especially to the gawkers who say, "what kind of car is that? As an example, I don't think SRT will ever catch on, the way AMG has for the Mercedes brand...and I'm sure that is what Chrysler had in mind for their branding.

 

[Vic]

Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe.

I think they were just trying to dissasociate a great sports car, from the masses of cheaply built mini-vans.

IOW, take the mundane, humble name of "Dodge" off the Viper, and then it may shake some of that lingering, dismissive criticism of kit-car cheapness.

Then spiff it up inside and out, and it will be ready to fight in the rarer, more stratified atmosphere of exotics and hyper-exotics, comensurate with it's superlative performance.

The changes to the engine, suspension, brakes, body and interior are far more important to me, regardless of what brand name they stick on it.

 

[Leslie]

I kept saying 'Dodge' at ALMS/Mid OH a few weeks ago and the SRT people kept saying
'Dodge is no more'. I did the survey at the computers there and picked 'dodge' and Viper didn't come up. Oh well.

It says Dodge on my Viper, that's all I know Hahaha.

 

[mattdillon]

Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe.

I think they were just trying to dissasociate a great sports car, from the masses of cheaply built mini-vans.

IOW, take the mundane, humble name of "Dodge" off the Viper, and then it may shake some of that lingering, dismissive criticism of kit-car cheapness.

Then spiff it up inside and out, and it will be ready to fight in the rarer, more stratified atmosphere of exotics and hyper-exotics, comensurate with it's superlative performance.

The changes to the engine, suspension, brakes, body and interior are far more important to me, regardless of what brand name they stick on it.

I don't know to many people that could tell you what SRT means, but I do know when people use to ask me who makes a Viper & I told them Dodge it was like it all of a sudden turned from a Beautiful, Awesome looking car into a pumpkin (Now when somebody asks me who makes Vipers I tell them SRT, just not mine but they don't know, I don't have any Dodge decals on it anyway)! Its like the name Dodge (is like the Rodney Dangerfield of cars) it just doesn't get ANY Respect! jmo

 

[SADVIPER]

street & racing technology for me

 

[ferraritoviper]

street & racing technology for me

Sounds good, but sort of an oxymoron when applied to a Jeep.

 

[Bobpantax]

It takes time and creative marketing to develop a "brand". Fiat already has the Ferrari and Maserati performance brands. It makes sense for there to be an American performance brand within the Chrysler unit of Fiat and I assume that a cogent business case was made for same or we would not be witnessing the SRT brand's development. With that said, it seems like the SRT brand development budget is very, very limited. Especially when it is compared with the marketing and advertising costs associated with the other Fiat ( Fiat 500 for instance) and Chrysler brands. But this makes sense since the entire SRT line of vehicles is barely more than a footnote to the financial life of Fiat and Chrysler. There also seems like there may, on occasion, be a little friendly friction between the MOPAR unit and the SRT brand. I say this because if they are going to have an SRT brand, there should not be MOPAR special performance edition vehicles that seem to be somewhat in competition with SRT vehicles. They are usually priced below SRT vehicles. This does not make sense to me. It undermines the SRT brand.

 

[Bobpantax]

Have you ever raced the SRT Jeep on the drag strip? Road course? I have. I think it fits well. When I took it on the road course at Homestead Speedway ( before it was supercharged) I was passing a number of cars. It handles surprisingly well. As for the quarter mile, nothing launches better. Low 60 foot times are incredibly easy: point; power brake, and shoot.

Jeep SRT-8 Supercharged vs BMW X5M with a RENNtech Tune Drag Racing 1/4 Mile - YouTube

Sounds good, but sort of an oxymoron when applied to a Jeep.

 

[dodgefever]

I didn't give the "SRT" branding any thought or credit until I purchased my 300 SRT. I went from a 300C to the 300SRT and I noticed a whole lot more attention was received SOLEY because of the SRT emblem on the trunk. I overheard people calling the car an "SRT"... not a 300. I've gone to cars and coffee gatherings where I have watched people walk around the car and pause when they saw SRT on the trunk and look at each other making comments about the car being "basa$$". My point being, I first hand have discovered the SRT marketing is working. People who don't like Dodge or don't even pay attention to Mopar know what that emblem stating "SRT" means. I have talked to die hard chevy and Ford co-workers who outright dismiss anything from Chrysler as a joke, but respect SRT because they have seen them run at the track and on the street. When I am somewhere like a gas station and fire the engine up and that Bassani exhaust roars awake, people come up and ask questions about my "SRT". I think the SRT branding of the performance branch for Chrysler is working and I have seen how the general public receives SRT in a different, more respectful, manner than Dodge or Chrysler in general.

 

[v10enomous]

SRT is a myth at this point. It doesn't appear on any internet pull down menu that I've looked at like ebay, cars.com, Yahoo Autos, etc...

 

[Kala]

Have you ever raced the SRT Jeep on the drag strip? Road course? I have. I think it fits well. When I took it on the road course at Homestead Speedway ( before it was supercharged) I was passing a number of cars. It handles surprisingly well. As for the quarter mile, nothing launches better. Low 60 foot times are incredibly easy: point; power brake, and shoot.

Jeep SRT-8 Supercharged vs BMW X5M with a RENNtech Tune Drag Racing 1/4 Mile - YouTube

+1 After driving a supercharged JGC... I'd caution stock Viper owners about trying to beat one. Step on the gas and it's like a Disneyland ride...

Think rocket ship

 

[ferraritoviper]

Have you ever raced the SRT Jeep on the drag strip? Road course? I have. I think it fits well. When I took it on the road course at Homestead Speedway ( before it was supercharged) I was passing a number of cars. It handles surprisingly well. As for the quarter mile, nothing launches better. Low 60 foot times are incredibly easy: point; power brake, and shoot.

Jeep SRT-8 Supercharged vs BMW X5M with a RENNtech Tune Drag Racing 1/4 Mile - YouTube

Point well taken, although I was talking about the Jeep in general terms...ie: SUV and/or off road vehicle vs. SRT Viper, a car who's obvious main purpose is to go very fast, each and every one produced. I'm sure the percentage of SRT Jeeps sold is extremely small, as a percentage of total Jeep production.

I still feel dropping the Dodge name from Viper is foolish, as would be dropping the Chevy name from Corvette. As for the MOPAR name/competition...another good point.

 

[BigDawg]

I don't know to many people that could tell you what SRT means, but I do know when people use to ask me who makes a Viper & I told them Dodge it was like it all of a sudden turned from a Beautiful, Awesome looking car into a pumpkin (Now when somebody asks me who makes Vipers I tell them SRT, just not mine but they don't know, I don't have any Dodge decals on it anyway)! Its like the name Dodge (is like the Rodney Dangerfield of cars) it just doesn't get ANY Respect! jmo

It reminds me of when people would tell me how gorgeous my dog is. Then they ask what it is, I reply "Pit Bull". Whole demeanor changes. Then again this was before Dog Whisperer was big and very few people knew what great dogs they were.

 

[GTS Bruce]

The Viper was a Chhrysler in Europe because there was no Dodge. Viper may be doing something for the other Chrysler SRT products. But the SRT badge doesn't do anything for the Viper. GTS Bruce

 

[PDCjonny]

You don't erase 20 years of history, it will ALWAYS be a Dodge Viper.

 

[Paul Hawker]

SRT is the new kid on the block. They are in charge of taking the Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler brand and adding the Zing to the product line.

Many other manufacturers have had success in developing performance brands, with both inside and outside tuner segments.

Fiat has Abarth, Mercedes AMG, Ford Cobra or SVT, BMW had the M performance department.

I believe that SRT is unique in their position to assist the engineers of the base vehicles to consider development of their cars to later integrate SRT components. Just as Viper once only produced their basic engine, they now integrate better engine components with the intended possibility for further performance enhancements.

Even now there are stories of development programs to supercharge a limited, special edition of SRT vehicles. Believe that SRT will continue to push the envelope to bring us a full lineup of Street and Racing Technology to enhance the driving experience.

 

[AviP]

To SRT or not?

IMHO, the Viper and the Vette will always be their own brand. The Dodge and Chevy labels were unnecessary. The Vette does not even have the Chevy name on it! This whole SRT business is just political within the Chrysler bureaucracy designed to help the fat cats survive.

So while the Vette brand gets stronger, the Viper brand keeps getting more diluted with 2 makes and 3 logos.

 

[swexlin]

You don't erase 20 years of history, it will ALWAYS be a Dodge Viper.

Jon, I was just about to post this. It was, is, and always will be, a DODGE Viper to me, and many of us.

 

[v10enomous]

I'm sure that SRT is a great way to make it easier for Chrysler to meet the new and upcoming fuel economy and emission standard company averages while SRT will probably be able to skirt a lot of that with the super low overall production numbers of a niche vehicle manufacturer.

Jon, I was just about to post this. It was, is, and always will be, a DODGE Viper to me, and many of us.

 

[bcmarly]

I'm sure that SRT is a great way to make it easier for Chrysler to meet the new and upcoming fuel economy and emission standard company averages while SRT will probably be able to skirt a l of that with the super low overall production numbers of a niche vehicle manufacturer.

You could be onto something here. Ferrari is able to avoid the ridiculous front fascia, bumper height required by the regulators in Europe because it is a subsidiary brand of Fiat and is produced at levels that preclude adherence to the law.

 

[Stealth]

SRT is important in that it means performance and performance bits on and design for the vehicle.

SRT as a separate brand is nothing to me other than some organizational scheme, whether accounting, tax, marketing, CAFE, etc. The vehicle is still a Dodge/Chrysler.

The important focus should be on the vehicles, and SRT appears to have the correct focus.

Also +1 on the small SRT budget (not just for marketing, but for R&D and products) based on products produced. Let's hope that the excellent SRT vehicles produced will drive sales and warrant a larger budget and more substantial new vehicles.