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Dodge Dakota R/T sport truck puts serious horsepower to play
Bob Plunkett
Date Posted: 5/10/2005
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WITTMAN, Ariz. -- Chrysler's Arizona proving grounds, spreading for miles across a sandy pancake dotted with tumbleweed and creosote brush in the desert west of Phoenix, contains an enormous black lake of flat asphalt paving where vehicles can romp in unrestricted fashion to measure acceleration and athletic agility.
Put a muscle machine on that tarmac and arrange orange traffic cones on a circuitous course that pushes the wheels to navigate tight turns in scant time, and you're set for automotive fun.
So roll up to the starting line, wait for a timer's green light to go, then put pedal to metal and hang on as one rig rips down the straightaway and plunges headlong into the first corner, a hard left-hander which leads to an equally tight right before a long left sweeper.
The car cuts through that left with little body roll, then swings deftly through the right and flows into the sweep, big 17-inch tires squealing across the apex.
Another long straight follows, with speed building, before a second left sweeper that sets up a left-right-left chicane, and the machine performs this hip-flicking hula without requiring driver to hold back on throttle.
Now brake those saucer discs for the next left, and upon exit prepare for a decreasing-radius final turn which rounds out this course in a dash across the finish line.
Check the clock to find you've set the lowest mark of ten runs, then contemplate the irony that for these tests the vehicle doing all of that high-powered wiggling amounts to a sport machine complete with bold racing stripes running down the front hood but a conformation with boxed bed in back which cannot deny the fact that the thing is actually a pickup truck.
Sport-tuning at the Dodge Division of Chrysler goes so far, it seems, that there's even a pickup truck ripe for powerful road play.
It's Dakota R/T, new iteration for the mid-size Dodge pickup truck, decked out with racing stripes which mimic the Viper supercar and a beefy V8 engine lurking beneath the bold front hoodline.
The R/T badge, with initials denoting Road and Track, reflects Dodge's muscle car heritage, which traces back to the 1960s with the most powerful and sporty Dodges bearing names like Charger R/T and Challenger R/T.
In 1999 the R/T nomenclature at Dodge applies to a performance-geared Neon R/T compact sedan with twin-cam engine, stiff sport suspension, rear decklid spoiler and racing stripes that reproduce the streaks of Dodge's ripper, Viper GTS coupe.
A racy Viper or even the Neon cast as a competition coupe may be easy to comprehend, but what, you might wonder, can you do with what commonly amounts to a work truck only now dressed out with racing stripes, all sorts of performance gear and heady V8 power?
Well, you can plow the boulevards and show off the low stance of this truck, or rev its big engine as it musters those throaty cranked-up sounds from the low-restriction exhaust system.
It's unquestionably a show-out machine, but it's also capable of producing some sport-pitched maneuvers on pavement and in terms of raw acceleration along a street course this is the truck that can definitely kick butt over any stock competition.
Although there's no 4-wheel-drive edition, the Dakota R/T comes with either a regular-size cabin with twin high-back bucket seats or a Club Cab edition with an area added behind front seats to put a split/folding bench for three.
Look beyond those flashy racing stripes and you'll find that the meat of this machine comes down to its humongous V8 engine, low profile 17-inch tires and a stiff-but-sporty suspension that drops the vehicle by an inch to make it look like a customized hot rod.
Dakota in more conventional dress totes a variety of engines up to a 5.2-liter V8 rated at 230 horsepower, but the Dakota R/T goes further by installing Dodge's 5.9-liter Magnum V8.
That plant, built with a cast iron block and heads and equipped with overhead valving and sequential electronic multi-port fuel injection, pushes the power curve to 250 hp.
The Magnum 5.9 also spits out massive torque -- the engine's ultimate measure of muscle that translates into linear propulsion -- to 345 lbs/ft.
Tied to a free-flowing exhaust arrangement with performance tuning, you get some serious notes played on those pipes every time foot pumps throttle.
The only transmission for this R/T, Dodge's 46 RE electronic automatic, carries four forward gears with overdrive lock out and converter clutch. It's smooth in shifting and controllable with limited slip differential.
Even the barest Dakota contains excellent handing equipment like rack and pinion steering, power brakes with front discs and rear drums linked to passive anti-lock controls, as well as an independent front suspension in responsive wishbone design, and a rear live axle with 4-leaf springs and gas-charged shocks plus stabilizer bar.
For R/T, the suspension slams the chassis down for that dropped effect, then the rear stabilizer bar increases in diameter to 21 mm for additional strength to minimize lateral body roll during hard cornering maneuvers.
As a further enhancement for sporty handling, the R/T rolls on oversized 17-inch aluminum wheels with low-profile Goodyear Eagle LS black sidewall tires (P255/55R17), which stretches an extravagant footprint on pavement and improve the truck's curve-hugging grip.
Drive it down the road and R/T feels tight and precise.
It rides with firm suspension control that works well on a wavy route but may feel downright hard when managing more mundane pavement grooves and bumps.
Outside, R/T puts those racing stripes down the hood, with body-colored fascia and grille and front and rear bumpers, plus decals spelling out "Dakota R/T" on doors.
Inside, the cabin contains cloth and vinyl seats, analog instruments with tachometer, and a stereo system wired to four speakers and AM/FM radio with cassette deck.
Optional equipment for R/T ranges from air conditioning to power controls for windows and doors and mirrors, and upgraded sound packages capped by a 100-watt amp with eight Infinity speakers and AM/FM radio with cassette and CD decks plus equalizer.
1999 DODGE DAKOTA R/T TRUCK
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| Vehicle Specifications: |
| 1999 DODGE DAKOTA RT Specs |
| Description: |
Mid-size 2-door pickup truck |
| Model Options: |
Mid-size 2-door pickup truck |
| Wheelbase: |
Regular Cab: 111.9 inches
Club Cab: 131.0 inches |
| Overall Length: |
Regular Cab:`195.8 inches
Club Cab: 214.8 inches
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| Engine Size: |
OHV 5.9-L V8
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| Transmission: |
Auto/4 |
| Drive: |
Rear |
| Braking: |
Power disc/drum/ABS |
| Airbags: |
2 |
| Gas Mileage: |
12/16 mpg |
| Price: |
$ 19,500 to $ 26,000 |
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