firebird1999us

I was really hyped and it was the first car I went to see there

I did find it kind of odd that they had it up on the rotating stand yet I was able to sit in a number of $100k+ Mercedes, a C6 Z06, and the GT500 KR was on the floor of the show without any ropes (although it was locked). Anyways my fears were confirmed: it's a boat. Especially compared to the restored yellow 73/74 Challenger they had on the floor and the GT500KR. I'm quite dissapointed

RRUNNER

I hope to be sailing soon!

firebird1999us

Who knows -- maybe it will look better on the ground??

mopar2ya

Could make a difference, but you gotta remember this isn't a little mustang either. Challengers never were as small as the mustang... other than when the mustangs had thier really big years.

jockomikey

I didn't like the size and weight at first either. The bottom line is that to preserve the looks of the concept they had to go big. They can only do so many tricks to fool ones eyes. If the new Challenger was the same size as your grey Mustang with a different front and rear bumper it would not look right. With a few mods the Challenger will be a 12 sec street car..... Good enough for me.

firebird1999us

I didn't expect it to be as small as the GT500 -- but the GT500 only wieghs like 200 pounds less. So whatever Ford is doing to make a 3900 pound car look that much smaller is pretty amazing! But like I said, maybe seeing it on the ground and being able to stand next to it will make a difference. It actually looked larger than the Charger they had sitting on the floor too...and I know those are roughly the same size so maybe that is the difference???

I would much prefer it to be stripless too...those faux carbon Fiber stripes looked awful in person!!! I wish they had the RT on display, or at least something we could sit in. I'll have to drive one to know for sure if I like it though I guess

I will re-iterate that the 73/74 they had put it to shame in terms of appearance though

Justinec101

I was looking forward to see it there but I saw some pics online of it at the show and saw that it was on a 3 foot tall platform and it was only the srt. Pretty dissapointing. Especially since it's a production car not a concept. Guess I'll have to wait til they hit the lots.

1971cuda convert

I love the challenger and think they done a great job on building it . Im glad I can set in the back seat unlike the mustang witch is pretty much useless . I think the challenger will ride and drive much better then the mustang .Anybody who owns a cuda/challenger 70/74 then drives a 68/74 B body roadrunner/gtx can tell you how much the bigger cars ride and drive . I still love my old cuda but let me have to take a road trip and IM driveing a superbird or something like that .

WhiteHeat

I agree! I don't understand why so many people are suprised by the size and weight of the Challenger. It's not a little car. It competes with the Mustang, but it never was intended to be the same size as the Mustang. The Challenger is a bigger car than the Mustang, and that's exactly why I'm buying one. I've always liked the look of a sport coupe, but I'm too big and too old for a little car! Once upon a time there were Thunderbirds and Chargers and all sorts of large coupes to choose from. Nowadays coupes are little cars. I welcome the return of the large coupe! I can't wait to get one!

And I thought this was an interesting observation from firebird1999us:
So many people on this board bemoan the weight of the Challenger, but this quote takes a half-full view of the cup. The Challenger is noticeably larger than the Mustang, yet it's only 200 pounds heavier. Dodge should be applauded for making a larger car without adding a lot more weight than they did! The racers here wish the Challenger was lighter, but if it was both lighter and larger than the Mustang what kind of a tin can would it have to be??? Not one I'd want to drive!

RoswellGrey

Exactly. Having owned '85, '86 and '94 Thunderbirds, I think the new Challenger is the perfect size.