FUNNY lear4406! Actually, I drove the 71 and the wife drove the 09 over the the elementry school my kids go to. After the we took the pictures, we took a little drive in the two around town.

lear4406, I had the same problem with trying to decide between the R/T and the SRT8. I never drove an SRT8, but I am happy with the performance of the R/T. I was only considering a manual in both. The kicker to me on paper was that the torque for the R/T manual was around 410 and 425 for the SRT8. That is the seat of the pants acceleration you use every day. I know there is about 45-50 more HP in the SRT8, but I doubt I would ever see it. If I decide at a later time I do need more HP, I will get a supercharger. Then, once I drove it, the R/T has more than enough to throw you back in your seat. I have only have about 400 miles on mine, so I have not driven it overly hard yet. You can feel when you hit the power band at around 2500 or so and it plants you back in your seat. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have the SRT8, but it was not worth the extra $10k-$12k over the deal on got on my R/T. And, the nice part is the lifetime power train warranty you get and, if you want an extended warranty, you can get a lifetime on that. The SRT8 extened warranties I looked at did not go over 7 years/100,000 miles. All in all, the 6-speed is a blast to drive. In my opinion, the shifting is smooth and responsive. It is forgiving enough as well that, if you are in gas saving mode for some reason, you can shift at realativley low RPMs and not have to ride the clutch. I do not care for the forced 1-4 shift it makes you do if you happen to shift at the right speed & RPM. Overall, I am extremely happy with my R/T and not at all disapponted in "settling" for the R/T. The way that I will be driving it in the everyday real world, I think it will be a perfect compromise. Plus, if you do really care about gas mileage, I got 23 mpg on my trip back home from the dealer on the freeway and going over a mountain pass. I hope this helps lear4406.

mopar2ya - When you sit in both cars, you can definately feel the difference in size. It is interesting that the rear quarter flares over the wheels are much more pronounced on the 09 verses the 71. But, the beltline and over wheel details are more pronouced on the 71. Overall, when you just sit and look at the two side by side, I am very pleased with how well the update the look and keeping with the original design ques without bastardizing it like GM did with the new Camaro in my opinion.

Thanks all for the welcome to the forum. I look forward to being an active member.