ORIGINAL: Albeeno
I never said that the Mustang GT is better / faster than the SRT8 Challenger. NEVER! In fact, I seem to recall acknowledging in this very thread that the Challenger bests the GT in every performance category imaginable. But, the GT is close...and I'm willing to bet that it's certainly a helluva lot closer than many of us originally thought! In your comparison of the Cobra R to the Shelby GT500 all I have to say is this: The Cobra R stickered at $56-$57K back in 2000...it has no backseat, no radio, no soundproofing under the hood, etc.! It was built for two purposes - 1) To impress your buddies on Cruise Nights and 2) To be run on the track. Sorry, but it's not a street car. I would further argue that it weighs significantly less than the GT500. As for the `03 and `04 "terminator" Cobras...those things rule! No bout a doubt it. Personally, I'd love to see one go toe-to-toe with a GT500. My money would still be on the GT500.
Albeeno, you have hit on many good logical points in your post, but some of this might hit into the range of perspective and a person's point of view, so on some things we are going to have to agree to disagree. My criticism about the GT vs. Challenger comparison is to explain that whether or not they are or are not close they simply are not a logical match up. The issue is that although is some categories, the Challenger and the GT might be a little close, they still are farther away from each other than the GT500 and the Challenger. The Challenger on paper still out does the GT in so many categories that you can't logically compare the two when there is a better Mustang offering that is in the Challenger's price range.
The example of the Cobra R to me is a bench mark for the Mustang in performance. To me between the two nameplates, and considering the weight of the influence of Shelby, I expect more out of a car named GT500 between the Cobra R or the "Terminator" Cobra. Although I know that the weight is an issue with this, this does not excuse in my mind the fact that the Shelby influenced GT500 cannot destroy the "Terminator" Cobra, after the fact that the GT model not only beats the previous GT in the acceleration times by around a half second despite only having a 40hp increase and 13ft-lbs of tq increase, but it also manages to match if not beat the slightly more powerful NA Cobra/Mach1 (depending on the the article) which produced slightly more rated hp and tq (305-320hp & 317ft-lbs to 320ft-lbs of tq) despite the weight gain. The only explanation I can figure out is the VCT and a transmission improvements. Why then can't the GT500 that has a professional group working on it fail to blow the Terminator and Cobra R out of the water when they have 110-115hp and 90-95ft-lbs of tq advantage which is close to double the percentage improvement in hp over the previous models, an improved transmission, etc. over the other two models while costing close to $5-10K more than the Terminator. To me this is disgraceful.
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On another note - I've been spending some time reflecting these past several days and have reached a very simple conclusion.
People are going to buy a Challenger because they specifically want a Challenger. I know that sounds pretty elementary, but here's my point: You're not buying this car because it's a better value than a Mustang...it's certianly not a better "bang for your buck" either! You're not buying a Challenger because you want to own a new player in the muscle car segment and this looks like a good option. Again, you're buying a Challenger because this is the car you want...the car you have dreamed about taking your first road trip in since it debuted way back in January 2006...the car you've spent endless hours of your employer's time researching and chatting on line about; the car that even your closest buddies now joke you are addicted to (and they're scared); the car that somehow finds