kramtrah

This is great sound advice. While I do not plan to do this with the Challenger, as it will be the first I saved to pay cash for, my last three vehicles were all used. a 93 Dakota in '95, a '97 Chrysler LHS in '98, and then an '04 Durango in '04. You save considerable change in buying used and I would recommend to do it again, as I will when we replace the Durango in another 4-5 years. I intend to run the Dakota as long as it will last since it only has 108k miles.

MrKrisSullivan

only 108k miles? wow! What work have you done on it? Besides regular matinence.
My Ram only has 65k miles so im def. going to try to wait on a used challenger to pop up somewhere then i'll go get it.
My prediction for the R/T is 5.1. Hope im right

RLSH700

The point though MrKrisSullivan is that they use something different whether it is the exhaust, intake, or who knows what than the Ram; therefore, the output will not be the same. The horsepower might be similar but if this past generation is an indication of anything it is that the torque should be quite different, unless they change things and use the same components between both models.

Jeremiah, I'm not sure how common SRT-8 versions of the Challenger will be on rental lots. They probably won't be as common as say Chargers are currently are, and I doubt many rental companies are going to have manual equipped cars. I admit I'm not from a very wealthy area so I don't know if places like where your from have more exclusive rental cars, but in this area you won't find anything that exclusive being rented out. Also, it has been my observation that rental cars get extremely abused and are not worth owning afterwards due to constant need of repairs. I'm buying either new or used by someone that treated it well.

kramtrah, how many miles do you have on the LHS and Durango? If nothing unusual happens, you should have that Dakota for quite a long time. I know lots of people that have been able to get over 200K with those things without breaking a sweat. Which engine do you have in that anyways?

Jeremiah 29:11

I am sure they probably will but is not cheap. Look at what Hertz was renting back in the day and recently with the new Mustang GT.

[IMG]local://upfiles/17/3DA3CA2FE3BA4697831CF68F7A2DFB3C.jpg[/IMG]

RLSH700

Well, a GT-H and an SRT-8 are two very different models. I won't doubt a few places might have Challengers, but I doubt they will be common and very many SRTs at that. Do the GT-Hs have autos or manuals?

Jeremiah 29:11

I think the rental price was $175/day. Ouch!

1 Bad Mirada

a few things to keep in mind. the challenger is going to weight 4140, as stated by dodge. lets assume thats a track weight minus a driver, and when you tack on the weight of a 200lb driver, you have 4340. the 6.1L engine is stated to make 425 crank hp, but several tests have proven that to be low, and with the actual number to be around 450-460. i believe that motor trend got something like 458. so lets assume 450 at the crank and 4340lbs. assuming sound traction (which could definately be a problem) and assuming a drivetrain loss of 20%, that gives you 360 whp and 4340lbs, and that would yield roughly a 13.3 at 103mph. that comes from a track calculator that has showed accurate results for a few of my vehicles..and for this test, im using an hp number that i consider to be pretty conservative...it will likely make more than 360whp...but i would expect at least mid 13s with the 6.1, if the car can hook.

you can also look at is this way...an srt8 charger traps around 105mph, i believe...and using that, and the track weight of 4300lbs, that gives you around 388whp. 388whp in a 4340lb car gives you 13.0 at 105mph...i believe that chrysler quoted the car at 13 flat. i have seen srt8 cars run into the 1270s with good tires and a hard launch...with the only other mods, i believe were CAI and catback...very mild power adders.

then again, a slightly shorter wheelbase from the lx will technically yield more whp...

i figure that the average person who is going to pay a top dollar for the first run of auto challengers will be lucky to see the 12s, as they arent going to spend much time learning how to launch, or spend the money on tires that will only last a few months.

when people like me get their hands on them, we will spend some time cleaning up the reputation of car show queens that the first wave of challengers and most of the higher end chargers have laid upon others with high performance mopars. its disappointing how awful the rep of "mopar guys" has become on the non-mopar sites, and that is about 95% due to the attitude of srt4 and the lx owners.

MrKrisSullivan

I agree totally. What's your prediction? Come on 5.1 it's gotta be, for the R/T.
Car and Driver reported 4.7 for the SRT. Which would be more accurate with a 450 horsepower rating seeing the GT500 has about that much, and the history mopar cars have under-rating the hp numbers.
Well I hope they did under-rate them again.

1 Bad Mirada

i dont concern myself with the 0-60, honestly...but for the 1/4 mile, i would expect an auto model with some practice, in stock form, to be able to get into the 12s...as for the manual models, they should be into the 12s with little problem, but that stands to be proven...who knows how much of a difference the manual transmission will make...

RLSH700

I can't remember whether it was C&D or MT but one of the two of them found 467 for the 6.1L and I believe that was a test between the Magnum SRT-8 and a MB AMG wagon of some sort. It's been a couple years, so my memory might be mistaken on a few facts, but 467hp I remember for certain.

I actually anticipate there to be a significant difference between the auto and manual. That MB automatic does not optimize the power of the engines its in for one thing. If you look at the LX cars where Chrysler keeps going back and forth between the MB transmission and the 42RLE, there is no difference between either transmission and the only thing that the 42RLE has that the MB doesn't as far as I'm aware is VLP. Even then, we all know Chrysler's 4-speed automatics are hardly the most efficient automatics on the market even for 4-speeds. If they were using a GM unit, I would say you would have a point as the difference between their 4-speed and the manual on the GTO was very small, but that's because GM's automatics are extremely efficient. Also take into account that was with the old T-56 Tremec, and this is using the newer TR-6060 which is supposed to be more efficient and easier to use. We have a top of the line manual that has just been redone vs. auto whose design is over ten years old that barely matches a 4-speed that was originally designed for FWD use back in 93 on the LH platform. I expect there to be a noteworthy improvement.

$175 per day for a Mustang anything is insane. Maybe not on a true classic, but a dressed up GT with Shelby's signature on it, forget it. I can drive a GT for free anytime I want to if I am willing to ignore the salesman trying to get me interested in the car.