just wait til 2008....

 

i loved it at the detroit auto show but how much of it is going to make it into production??????????????????????????

 

is that the new challenger!!!SIIIIIIIIIICK!!!!

 

if dodge was smart...

...there would have been an srt-4 neon coupe
...they wouldnt have stopped making the srt-4 neon sedan
...the charger would have been a coupe, like the original, instead of a tacky marketing move
...they wouldnt charger 43,000 dollars for a charger that is only competitive with the 25,000 Mustang GT


also, i havent seen them "running around town"...i saw several of them parked in front of the HQ, across from chelsea.

oh, and


and if anyone wants legit info about the Challenger production, I have spoken to some DCX sources which i cannot say who, but unlike alot of the rumors at some sites, my insight doesnt come from some blue collar supplier or line worker...

http://www.dodgechallenger.com/forums/m_3643/tm.htm

 

Dodge neon SRT4 coupe? Would have only worked as the Dodge Razor, and at the time who would they market it against? Dodge only planned on producing 5k SRT4s, they ended moving over 25 thousand of them, so i think it has devolped quite a following similar to the Grand National.

I dont see how the Charger SRT8 competes with the Mustang GT, when I have never seen a bone stock Mustang GT run a 12.6 second 1/4 time, or even a low 13 on street tires. and carry 5, 6' adults in comfort.

The reason why the Charger wasnt a coupe was to make room for the Challenger, you should know this better than anyone. And let us not forget the original charger was NEVER a pony car the thing was BIG. Im more shamed to see the GTO turned into an Aussie 2+2, something the original was never.

Muscle cars were BIG, in dimesions, they couldnt handle and could accelerate well in a straight line, the Charger is passing the torch.

Sorry my repsonses are out of order, but why shouldnt they have stopped making a car which chassis was more than 11 years old? I mean the Neon was DATED to say the least, now we have a new platform, with more power, and around the same price with more options. Its a win win.

However patrick sadly these are all things we arent going to agree on. I think dodge made the best move by making the Charger a 4 door, canceling the Neon SRT4 and making the Caliber SRT4 with 300hp and 22k dollars. lol

 

i think that the age of the chassis has nothing to do with doing away with the neon. Dodge has gotten this bug up their *** about being a "luxury brand" which they just are not.

dodge lost alot of sales due to the sedan...i know ALOT of people who modded 1st gen coupes instead of buying srt4, because they didnt want a sedan.

while the charger wasnt a pony car, it also wasnt a family sedan. i dont care that they put a "hemi" in the new charger, or that it has a ton of power, its over priced for what it is, and it turned ALOT of people off to REAL mopar enthusiasts, and now we will be forced to pay 45k+ for a car that wont keep pace with the 40k gt500 or the 42k C6.

there are guys at MF who are damn near stock, working with a tune, who are getting into the 12s.

and from what ive read, the new calibers are pigs...the only torch dodge is passing on the is "severely over weight" torch...

 

I stand by what I say, there simply would have been ZERO market for a 2 door Charger, when they NEEDED a replacement for the aging and useless Intrepid the Charger was an obvious no brainer.Afterall I dont hear anyone complaining that the 300C is a 4 door, when the original was a 2 door. The Charger SRT8 may be 43k fully optioned out with a market adjusted price, but it starts at 35k dollars, so Its no where near the price of a C6 Vette which will usually fetch 46k dollars after everything is said and done.

And please dont compare a 3300 lb Corvette to a 4300 lb sedan. Even though they run similar times at the track, they are meant for 2 totally different purposes. Please just wait for the Gen II SRT Hemi Challenger to compare ANYTHING from the Mopar stable to the almighty GT500 which JUST came out, and Dodge hasnt had the oppritunuty to answer.

The Caliber may be a "pig" but they are selling like hotcakes, which in the grand scheme of things is ultimatley what is going to drive a manufacture to build something in the first place, just be happy they are giving it the SRT treatment, and at 300hp and a clean crisp 6speed trans, it should be one hell of a quick "pig"

Dodge may have lost a lot of sales from the 2 door neon, to the people you know of, but if you look at the Neon sales AS A WHOLE, what sold more? The coupe or the sedan? Simply put there was NO market for the coupe, sadly there isnt enough of the people who mod 1st gen coupes to have enticed chrysler to offer a coupe version of the Neon SRT4.

The very reason why the Challenger is even being considered is because of the need for it in the market; the Mustang, there needs to be a market for something in order for any manufacture to build it. Its hit or miss, but there needs to be a need for something, if Dodge didnt generate any kind of positive reaction from the Viper in 1989, then none of these cars from Daimler Chrysler would be here today.

 

Starting price for a 2006 Charger SRT8 is $35,320

Starting price for a 2006 Corvette is $43,690.

no where near the 45k price you just pulled out of left field. Sure when they first came out, dealers were marking them up, but that period is over with. Z06's right now are going upwards of 80k...the prices will adjust once Chevy catches up with the demand.

AND ROFL ROFL ROFL @ 40k GT500, first it starts at 42k, but the real price for the next 6-8 months is going to be NO LESS than 62k dollars to pick up a new GT500.

 

im not counting dealership markup, and you cant use that for comparison...people paid WAY over sticker for the mustang GT when the S197 came out...

if you can get a charger srt-8 for 35,320, you should buy as MANY as possible, and go into the car sales business, because the listed base price on dodges site is 38,095. with the stainless exhaust (which comes in a package) youre up to around 42k..., so even if you sold them at MSRP, youd still be making almost 3 grand per unit.

i dont understand how people pull up the constant "apples to oranges" when the charger is compared to the mustang...DODGE pits the charger against the mustang in all of their early public market appearances...one was a "bullitt reinactment"...which Amazingly the Charger RT beat the Mustang GT. the comment that there "was no market for a charger coupe" is completely unfounded...thats why there was such a fuss when they released the pig of a sedan, and thats the same reason that there is SO much interest in the Challenger. if there is "no market for a charger coupe", a rwd, hemi powered, 2 door... then i guess that there is market for the mustang either. maybe it didnt make it to the import people, but there were alot of people who are mopar enthusiasts who were very turned off by the charger, as we were finally hoping to get something in which to compete with the mustang, and thats probably the reason that dodge pits the mustang agaisnt the charger in marketing campaigns. as for comparing the corvette to the charger, what other choice do i have? the $80,000 viper? until the challenger actually hits the showroom, the ONLY choice mopar enthusiasts have is to buy a "performance sedan"...no one cared when the 300C came out as a sedan because it wasnt hyped up for a year, and the 300 wasnt a "famed muscle car"..hell, most people dont know anything about old 300s...

the bottom line is that if someone is a performance minded mopar enthusiast, they have the choice of:
1. driving an entry level hatchback with a 8,000 drivetrain upgrade, much like buying a 13,000 neon with a 7,000 drivetrain upgrade...

2. driving an overweight, atx sedan (and paying mid 30s to mid 40s)

3. forking out 85,000 for a viper that is hard pressed to keep up with the 65,000 Z06...

and people who host mopar events are wondering why there are so few new models showing up? i know a Bunch of people (in person, i didnt read it in a magazine) who are long time mopar fans...and who own vintage mopar muscle cars, who have gone out and purchased a GTO or Mustang GT, because they want a powerful sport coupe...and as glorious as the Challenger will likely be (supposing it doesnt end up as a truck or a minivan )..the expected retail price of the srt-8, as quoted by a few DCX sources, is going to be around 45,000...thats with the 425hp, 6.1L...and at 4160lbs, it will also have a hard time keeping up with the GT500, although the GT500 is also a pig, and the few real world reviews have not been very good. its quite a bit heavier than the terminators, so the extra power is only moving the extra weight, but once again, dodge could miss the boat, so to speak, with pricing the challenger so high in the market that it will be the worst 'bang for buck" car in the pony car/muscle car market...and god forbid that the LS7 should find its way into that new camaro....as dodge will be nipping at the heels of its competitors...again.

 

Damn, such a pesimissitc person.

Ok if your not going to talk dealer markups, Mustangs are going for 29-30k on car lots. No where near the 25k dollar base price you threw out. I threw out the base price of the Charger for the same reason you did to the Mustang. Look All your friends who hate the Charger, are ultimatley not in charge of building the car. And the fact is there is NO BETTER american sedan than the LX vehicles, and it leaves room for a 2 door V8 RWD coupe, the Challenger.

if anyone has a problem with this 4 door, they need their eyes and their pulse checked. its SEXY



And those choices are alot less slim over at Ford with the Mustang. You have a choice of driving a rebadged Mazda 6, a 29k dollar 300hp V8 coupe, which will get eaten alive by a 33k dollar 286hp Mistubishi, or the GT500, which wont sell for under 65k dollars until next year.

Or would you rather drive a FWD 5.3V8 Impala from GM? Or a 205hp Cobalt?

Look SRT is doing a DAMN GOOD job putting out some amazing vehicles. Im sorry but the DCX sources are suppose to tell you the SRT8 version is coming with the 6.1liter Hemi, because they have yet to introduce the SRT-8 Challenger Concept with the GEN II Hemi. They are waiting to see how the GT500 does in the market before pulling off wraps of their 500hp Challenger.

Why put an SRT-8 badge on a car whose engine isnt going into an SRT vehicle? Look at the singifcance of a 392 SRT-8 Challenger. why put an R/T badge on your Challenger concept with the current 425hp 6.1 liter hemi? You will see Patrick, and you will eat crow once the SRT-8 6.4 liter Challenger becomes a reality.

and this just in *gasp* no 2007 Viper...its taking a hiatus, and Mclaren has been reported to help in devolpement of the 08 Viper. If you remember when the Viper first came out, its whole point of exsistence was to be the baddest car on the planet, and they have said over and over, they will always keep it on top.

Here is a pretty intresting quote:


"The biggest concern with the 2008 Viper will be keeping it street legal (half joking). Dodge doesn't make any money on the Viper -- it's there for image -- to be the baddest car on the road. Since the new C6 Z06 came out, it's on now."