ACJupiter

It's all about the product.
By Alex Taylor III
Type Size
JUNE 18, 2008, 8:20 AM
Dodge Challenger SRT8: catching the wave or sucked into the undertow?
As one of its opening acts under private ownership, Chrysler LLC introduces – ta dah! – the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8. If timing is everything in life, this car starts off on the wrong wheel.

With every ounce of its 4,140 pounds, the Challenger symbolizes what’s right – and what’s wrong — with the U.S. auto industry.

On the one hand, Detroit can be responsive to consumer tastes, aggressive in exploiting new market niches, and unabashed in appreciation for its own heritage. On the other, it often seems mired in the past, bereft of new ideas, and handcuffed by its quaint vehicular isolationism – building cars that can be sold nowhere except in North America.

For those who have missed the public relations blitz, the 2008 Challenger is the production version of the 2006 show car, which itself is based on the 1970 pony car that arrived on the market a few years before the first Arab oil embargo of 1973.

On its own terms, the Challenger is worthy of appreciation by that fraction of auto buyers whose decisions are made on the basis of nostalgia. All those characteristics that would have made you king of the high school parking lot – aggressive stance, noisy exhaust, ability to burn rubber – are here in abundance. The execution, inside and out, is direct, if unsophisticated. All that is missing is the fuzzy dice hanging from the rear-view mirror.

With its two-door body, Hemi V-8, and rear-wheel drive, the Challenger represents a vanishing species of the American passenger car. A couple of numbers explains why. One is the sticker price on the Orange Pearl Coat tester I drove: an imposing $41,310. The other is the EPA fuel economy estimate of 13 miles per gallon city, 18 miles per gallon highway. Future models will have smaller engines and price tags, and pass more gas stations, but they won’t feel as authentic.

One of the curses of the automobile business is that you have to figure out what the public wants four years or more before you are able to deliver it. The Challenger appears jinxed on several fronts.

Back in the summer of 2004, Chrysler was operating under the benevolent, if disengaged, ownership of Germany’s Daimler, and nobody was talking about $4 gasoline. But as the Challenger arrives in dealerships, it provides answers to none of the questions that the new Chrysler now confronts: How to reduce its dependence on gas-guzzling vehicles, how to develop a presence in small cars, and how to find some traction with overseas buyers.

That won’t stop some middle-aged enthusiasts from queuing up for the early production models, and some journalists in search of a story line from waxing nostalgic about Detroit’s past greatness. In response to those readers who wonder if I actually drove the vehicle - I did and here’s what I think: After spending a weekend behind the wheel, I found it extremely satisfying on its own terms: powerful on the straights and sticky in the turns.

But my guess is that Nardelli and Company would rather be introducing almost any other car in the summer of 2008 than the Challenger SRT8.

brucer41

An interesting article but I think a bit off. Yes the Challenger may be a gas hungry beast but it will do in sales for the 09 model year for Chrysler will be nothing short of astronomical. The reported numbers of Challengers ordered so far is amazing to say the least. I would venture a guess that the model run may be around the 40K or better mark by the end of the year. As for wishing they were not releasing the Challenger, I would beg to differ. Last night I was at a Chevrolet dealer (ick, I know) and they had just gotten in the RARE Z06 427 Corvette. 505 hp, and milage estimates worse than the Challenger, yet for the 505 of them going to be built, they are all spoken for already. As for Ford, the GT500's are flying off the lots, as are Roush prepped Mustangs and Saleens, all with milage estimates same or worse than the Challenger not to mention the cost is higher also. So, IMO, this article is a load of hooey. I, for one, will be tremendously overjoyed once my 09 Challenger is in my sweaty hands.

anthem SS

That magazine is good for showcasing people who have "made it', about to "make it" or who are on track to "make it".
Trends, money management and things to do with wealth or obtaining it. Last time i read that magazine (in the doctors office), every ad in their was Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi, Saab, Volvo and a masserati.
For wealth building and the like, i'll turn to them or Money magazine.
For auto related tests & spec, i'll turn to the trusted three: Motor Trend, Car & Driver, Road & Track.
Let fortune keep their heads in hedge funds and cars to the people who KNOW.

choodock

What is the problem with the MPG? I'm moving from a truck that got 12 mpg to a car that gets 18 mpg.

brucer41

I too have had to make the sacrifice for MPG. My trusty truck (06 Avalanche) was traded in last night because the 502 ci was killing me at the pump. This month alone I have poured $600 worth off gas in its gullet and that is since the 6th. I loved the power, reliability and all that but 11 MPG no matter street/highway just dont cut it any more. Especially since once I get my 09 Challenger I will be for sure putting enough gas through it!!!

superbleu

Dear Alex Taylor III
Back in the 70's a lot of people didn't get it either....We called them "Mamas Boys" (Or Worse) and paid no attention to them, as there thoughts and opinions were obviously skewed by their lack of oxygen at birth. I intend to give them the same respect now. I would remind you these are the same people who heralded the Pacer X as the performance car of the future.
Sincerely Bleu

Cuda340

You have to consider the source.

Fortune magazine caters to business people, not car enthusiasts.

In this day and age, especially in light of escalating gas prices, the purchase of a Challenger SRT is hard to understand for most people.

This car is our passion, our hobby, and our dream. Unless someone has MOPAR fluid running in their veins they will never comprehend.

Overpowered

The comparison is looking for either of 2 things to satisfy the readers of articles like these.

1) Investment/Asset - This car appreciating a lot or even at all is speculative and there are plenty of other extremely rare vehicles that may be better investments (will appreciate) Is it an asset? - NO - assets bring in money - car ownership is an outflow - liability
2) transportation - If a vehicle is justified for transportation, it is most desirable to get a car that has the cheapest cost of ownership and when you build up the cost of ownership of a Challenger (at least an RT or SRT8) the cost per mile is not competitive. This ownership cost also ties heavily into the environmental benefits/costs.)

Here is the reason for most (includes me) that the Challenger will be purchased.

3) Emotion - This car looks hot, it is hot, it brings our youth back (or relives the youth of the 70's some buying weren't even alive for), It is a thing to do, a thing to have, a thing to talk about, a thing to spend time and money on.

This car is bought on discretionary money of those who have it as well as by others fianancing every dollar they will ever have in order to live this dream that may never happen again.

How many of us missed the chance to buy these muscle cars the way we wanted them in the 70s? its the same excitement of availability. It's also the same writing on the walls regarding fuel prices and ending gas guzzler models. Get your hands on em while you have a choice - Chrysler just go make em.

People love to do many things on their leisure that would be judged absolutely rediculous if evaluated by people not sharing in this emotion like;

Is riding a $20,000 bicycle really better then a Walmart $100 - where are you going anyway?
Where are you going so fast in your $3 Million dollar cigarrette boat sucking down 200 gallons/fuel per hour
Skydiving - why you using all the fuel to fly you up so far just so you can jump out or a seemingly fine plane
etc., etc.

Eric

RoswellGrey

I like the way the guy (whose bio on the article notes that as an auto writer, lives in Manhattan and walks to work) casually dismisses the mileage of the SE and R/T. I haven't looked up the specs for the R/T, but the SE is listed at 18/city, 25/highway. That's the same as fueleconomy.gov lists my 2000 V-6 Mustang, and is actually better than the 2008 V-6 Mustang which is rated at 16/24. Especially when you see it in person, you quickly realize that the Challenger is indeed a big car. The mere fact that the SE gets that good mileage PLUS looks absolutely beautiful will, in my opinion, make it an incredibly popular car. Maybe someday I'll cruise through Manhattan with my SE and get a chance to honk at the writer as he trudges to his place of employment.

DSkippy

Superbleu, you're dead on.

Or lack of testosterone at puberty!