ORIGINAL: bored out
Both sides have made good points and have shown reasons why a 500 horse challenger should and will not ever get built. I think that the competition and market will help dodge make that decision. If gm and ford both have 500 horse muscle cars (which ford already does) then I can see dodge offering a beefed up 500 horse challenger to compete, maybe the srt-8 version. I believe that car would be expensive before dealer mark up.
Thinking outside of the box. Why would someone buy a Viper with 500 horse for 100,000 when they can buy a gt500 for 43,000 msrp or 50-60 grand after mark up? I'm sure dodge would rather have customers by a 500 horse chally instead of the gt500!
Either way, it is an interesting debate. I do not like the sema challenger myself, I love the concept and really only care about the street legal chally. I plan on buying the 425 horse version even if a bigger hemi is offered and I can't wait. The concept sounded great on the video when it was being driven off the truck!!!
Well it depends on what the customer wants. For one thing, the Viper is faster than the GT500 hands down, despite the similar hp numbers. The GT500 is nothing other than a heritage muscle car (I'm not saying that is a bad thing), meanwhile the Viper is a supercar. They are in completely different classes. From what I understand the Viper is around $85,000 here in the U.S.
ORIGINAL: 1 Bad Mirada
dodge has gotten too big for its britches with their pricing tables, and that is exactly why the GT500, dollar for dollar, will crush the challenger...but ill still take the challenger.
Okay, I'm confused wih what you are saying Patrick. Are you saying that despite the possibility that the Challenger might be a little cheaper than the GT500, the extra hp for the price will give the GT500 a big enough advantage to beat the Challenger? Or did you mean to say the "Viper" would be beat by the GT500 because although the GT500 is slower, it offers a lot more bang for your buck?
now, when it comes to the comparison of the 500hp viper (which does come with a warranty, by the way) to the Z06, for the money, i dont know why anyone buys the viper unless they REALLY love the look of it and the exclusivity. the Z06 is a beast, and considering that cost, is a deal.
It depends again on what the customer wants. I still do not consider the Vette and the Viper to be in the same class and therefore don't think they should be compared. There are some sources (Car and Driver, Motor Trend) that claim the Z06 is slightly faster, and there are other sources (Road and Track, Consumer Reports) who's times show the Viper is just a little faster in acceleration. In terms of bang for your buck, the Z06 wins hands down. The only thing is they compete in different categories.
Cars are judged by their base models. If you look at what happened to the image of the Chrysler 300C when it released the base model levels, it lost its luxury image. I remember that at first it was considered by some (Kelly's Blue Book and other sources that escape me right now) to be a luxury car until they were made aware of the base models, then it was dropped off that list. A Chrysler 300C SRT-8 can defeat a Cadillac STS-V in terms of bang for your buck (very close acceleration times with a huge price difference), but the 300C SRT-8 isn't considered a luxury car; therefore, it can't compete because it is from anyother car class.
The base model of the C6 is what prevents the Corvette from competing against the Viper in my mind. Also from what I have read, the Z06 has been having some problems when it is modified. If you add too much more power to it, the rear-end shreds. I can't remember who did this comparison (MT, C&D, or R&T) but they had a modified Z06 and it shredded it. The Viper is more expensive because it has heavier-duty parts standard. Correct me if I'