CONFESSION OF A SRT TEST DRIVER! – PART ONE

I wise man once told me “Don’t make a career out of your passions and hobbies, you’ll end up hating them.” That’s true in many cases and if we’re blessed to work in a profession we love and be an integral part of an industry we’re passionate and obsessive about, we walk that fine line between burnout, flaming out, and checking out. But if you went from playing with Hot Wheels as a child, then growing up developing, engineering, and driving some of the fastest, over-the-top muscle cars ever to emerge from an automaker, then every day is an adventure. It’s like a trip to the amusement park with no lines to ride the baddest roller coasters while having unlimited cotton candy. For SRT Engineer Jim Wilder, he has the honor not only being part of a team of dedicated engineers striving to exceed the performance car buyer’s needs while blowing the competition out of the water but also strapping into these early production prototypes and engineering “mules” and running them flat out down the drag strip. This soft-spoken, mild manner 50-something has been an engineer at Chrysler for over two decades. Wilder looks more like a high school algebra teacher than someone that dons a fire suit, full-face helmet, gloves, and Hans’ device. He hops in a 1000-horsepower Challenger SRT Demon 170 that’s never been flogged or hammered and goes about his business. Wilder pushes these test cars to their limits with the goal of shattering the driveline or having the engine puke its guts out on the track. The blood trail of this wounded animal can consist of synthetic oil with shiny bits of aluminum chunks mixed in is a good indicator to head back to the drawing board and dyno cells to improve the breed. Wilder may not be like Chuck Yeager trying to break the sound barrier but is a hero of sorts to the dedicated followers of the Dodge and SRT brands whose religion evolves around the horsepower Gods. It’s these same folks that name their pets “HEMI” and get tattoos of Hellcat or Demon logos along with Challengers and Chargers doing hellacious fiery burnouts. They get married at NHRA or NMCA drag races or car shows like the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals. They love their family, country, and Mopars. Wilder knows this all too well and it’s just one of his many missions not to let this group of diehard fans down when he and the team are developing these high-performance SRT machines.

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To understand Wilder, we need to look at his humble beginnings as a kid growing up in a suburb outside Detroit. His father was a drag racer and took to him to many races and car shows. When in high school, Wilder didn’t drive fast cars but rather hand-me-down beaters that included an AMC Gremlin. When he headed off to Lawrence Tech University in Southfield, Michigan, to pursue his degree in Mechanical Engineering Degree, he needed a car since he’d be commuting every day. He found a 1965 Plymouth Satellite with a big block and that’s what ignited him to modify the car and it became a father-and-son project.

Soon, Jim and his dad tore the Satellite apart and removed excessive weight. They updated the chassis and suspension, beefed up the trans, added a roll bar, and modified 440 cubic-inch big block with enough horsepower to make the 3600-pound Plymouth run in the faster ET brackets. Eventually, Wilder would race it in the NMCA Nostalgia Super Stock Class and run the 11 and 10 second index. He loved the competition, the camaraderie, and had great success during his time racing is consistent Plymouth.

After graduating, Wilder set off down the path of various engineering jobs at numerous companies before ending up at Chrysler. “After finishing up my degree in Mechanical Engineering, I was hired by the Lear Corporation and worked in seating systems for the Ford Windstar minivan. Less than a year later, I was working at Cosworth Engineering on a Ford SVO Escort powered by a turn four-cylinder engine. It never made it into production but by 1995, I was hired by Chrysler and worked on the GEN 1 and GEN 2 Neon exhaust systems,” said Wilder. Around 1999, there was a movement afoot at Chrysler to create a specialized group of diehard and passionate, “car people” within the corporation. It was known as Performance Vehicle Operations, better known as PVO. “I got wind of PVO and learn of a plan to install a turbo 2.4L four-cylinder engine in a Neon ‘mule’ for evaluation. I was recruited by this group and was responsible for fuel, exhaust, and cooling systems. I also became the ‘intercooler guy’ and after much testing and validation, we created the Neon SRT4 and launched this very fast sport compact in 2003,” noted Wilder. Jim would also work on the Caliber SRT4, but things would soon change as the new line of rear-wheel drive HEMI V8 performance cars was about to shake up the auto industry and Wilder was already slated to have a starring role in a team that would be known as Street and Racing Technology or simply, SRT.

Coming up in part two, we’ll discuss the birth of the Charger and Magnum SRT8, the 6.1L HEMI V8, how the new Challenger SRT spawned the Demon, and Wilder’s role in creating these awesome cars that forever changed the image of the Dodge brand! Check it out, only in Dodge Garage!

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