In the lastest issue of Motor Trend, there were two articles discussing Ford and Chevy's plans to produce 500+ pony cars.

In May/June 2010, Ford will have available for sale a limited edition Shelby GT 350. It has a supercharged engine with 11.0:1 compression that will produce an estimated 515-556 hp. It won't be for everyone, however. The cost will be $63,000.

For 2011, Chevy is countering with the Z-28 Camaro. It will have the LSA supercharged engine. It will produce 556 hp and be available as a convertible.

The only mention of Dodge was the 2010 Charger that will be available with the new Pentastar V6 engine, a 5.7, and the long-awaited 6.4.

Also, the all-new Viper will be coming out in 2012.

There was no mention of the Challenger in the Dodge update!

Unless the 6.4 eventually comes out in a special supercharged version, Dodge will have a hard time keeping up with these premier muscle cars.

 

I'm beginning to think that it would be a wise idea for Chrysler to consider making a limited production SRT-10 version of the Challenger to compete against this. The advantage of doing this are the following:

1. The engine is already in production: Other than mounting it in the engine compartment, I don't see that it will need any other serious investment that the only other alternative would require (supercharging).

2. Fuel economy (no, I'm serious): It might seem strange using the argument of a fuel economy advantage with the words more efficient and 8.4L V10 in the same sentence, but based on the information we have on hand, it appears as though it could be this way. In the Viper, the V10 gets 22 mpg which is the same mileage that the SRT-8 gets when equipped with the manual transmission. Even though I have little doubt that the 6.4L being equipped with VCT will help the fuel economy, if you look at the results for GM, the elephant sized engine is more efficient. The ZR-1 only gets 20 mpg on the highway. In the case of Ford, Allan Mulally (the new Iaccoca) has managed to get the GT500 to match the Viper, but previously the 08 Viper was leading against the previous GT500. Regardless, there is little evidence taking into account the displacement of the 6.4L is larger than either GM or Ford engines that it will be any better than what the naturally aspired V10 can do.

3. Weight (again, I'm serious): I recently read an article that the V10 being made of aluminum actually weighs less than the Hemi V8. Adding a supercharger would add more weight to the Challenger's already considerable weight.

4. Economies of scale: If Chrysler were to sell the V10 engine in more than one model, it would allow them to sell more and thusly spread out the individual percentage of the fixed cost in this engine and would help justify it.

5. Untapped Power Potential: There was a showdown between modified a modified Challenger, Mustang, and Camaro in either a MT or C&D magazine and the interesting fact was that the modified Mustang was no faster in acceleration than the normal GT500 despite having a higher output. By using forced air induction from the factory, it limits or at least reduces the impact that easy aftermarket upgrades add. In comparison, take a look at the Hennessey Viper made a few years ago, twin-turbos boosted the at the time 500hp engine to 1100hp. Having a larger engine like this to make more natural power leaves a wider opening for potential in the aftermarket, than using these tactics in the stock form.

6. Distinguishing Itself: One of the things that Dodge has normally been successful is when they try to distinguish themselves against the established models, hence to the marketing themselves in the 90s as "Different." Just think about it, what has greater bragging rights. "I have supercharged 6.2L/5.4L V8 in my Camaro/Mustang." Or "I have a 8.4L V10 in my Challenger." I'm going with the 8.4L V10 as no one else has an engine that size in the sub $100K market (and based on what I can see, no one has an engine that size in any conventional brand above $100K for that matter); whereas, there are plenty of supercharged V8s in the market.

7. Engine output: As long as the output is the same, the V10 trumps the Camaro and Mustang in having 600hp & 560 ft-lbs of tq to their ~555hp.

The only disadvantages I can see is it could hurt the excusiveness of the Viper (though that didn't seem to bother the management from two staffs ago with the SRT-10 Ram), but I'm hardly afraid that it will hurt the sales of a car that has recently been increased in sales to 500 units, besides this, my first priority is the survival of Chrysler and not the exclusiveness of the Viper. The other issue might be the cost depending on how much the V10 engine costs per unit.

I doubt this will happen, but these are just my observations and dreams. I see the V10 has being the modern potential trump card that the 426 Hemi once was back in the muscle car era.

 

I'd like to see in V-10 in a Challenger but it would really be a limited production car. They would tack on a hefty surcharge for the aluminum V-10 in an SRT.

http://www.thecarconnection.com/mart...lenger-concept