1 Bad Mirada

So, in the new MM, they have an article about the srt vehicles, and they have a piece about the challenger...

"though it is doubtful that the RT will see anything above the 5.7L Hemi, the arrival of the srt model is inevitable. DC announced that the challenger RT will feature the first six speed manual available with the hemi"...

i could live with a 5.7 if it was a stick.

Rob

Hmm...interesting. This has probably already been covered, but does anyone actually know when the 6.1 will be released in relation to the 5.7? Don't need to hear about other "rumored" power plants, as they are just that.


R

1 Bad Mirada

well, there have been comments that the 6.1 WILL be in challenger...

Rob

Oh...I know, but will it be released at the same time or will we have to wait 6 months???

blueshawk

How much hp will the 5.7L have? 340 hp like the Charger? How much will the Challenger weigh? If it weighs as much as the Charger (4000 lbs), then a slightly tuned-up Mustang GT (3400 lbs) will likely beat it.

1 Bad Mirada

the weight of the DETCHA concept car is 4160lbs, and you are right that a Mustang GT may very well beat a 5.7 powered challenger...based on the power to weight ratios, but let me run this by you...figure that a stock RT charger with the 340hp engine (345 with the performance exhaust that comes on the charger daytona) and that charger weighs 4300lbs with a driver, and the Mustang GT weighs 3700lbs with the driver. the power to weight ratio of the mustang is 12.3, and the power to weight ratio of the charger would be 12.46. based on those numbers, it comes down to a matter of who gets off the line better, but you also have to consider the fact that the charger has an automatic trans, so less whp than the mustang with a manual trans.

the real world numbers are that the Mustang Gt 5-speed runs a mid 13 second quarter mile, and the charger RT runs in the low 14s...so the Mustang GT has about a half second advantage over the charger...but thanks to the auto trans taking some of the difficulty of drag racing away, the mustang driver would need to be skilled, as the charger has the easier launch. keep in mind that racers use the equation that on the strip 100 lbs is equal to a tenth of a second in the quarter mile, so 500 pounds would be a half second difference.

however, keep in mind that DCX has confirmed that there will be a manual trans option, and if that is mated to the 5.7L hemi, it would allow the challenger to have a better whp than the charger RT, thus making it a more capable opponent for the mustang GT. however, the gearing of the challenger will have alot to do with it...if they go with the 6-spee tranny, it would allow them to offer a much steeper 1,2,and 3 gear...and gearing could close a .3 difference...

RLSH700

Actually (unless they detuned it for 07) the Daytona model of the Charger makes 350 hp. The manual will most likely make up the difference. I wonder what the gas mileage will be with the MDS and 6-speed put together. If they keep the same overall final drive ratio in top gear, that would extremely change the acceleration time. If the gearing ends up being taller, it could get close to 28mpg on the highway if not better.

1 Bad Mirada

my mistake, and thanks for catching it..


the trucks are 340hp..the RTs are 345, and the daytona RTs are 350.

RLSH700

You're welcome; however, I believe your still a little mixed up. The R/Ts are 340hp, the Ram is 345hp, and the Daytona R/Ts (and Road and Track R/Ts) are 350hp. I'm not going to bother listing the Durango or GC versions since those weren't discussed but those also have lower output. The 5.7L is very inconsistent from model-to-model. It seems odd to me though that the Ram has more hp with single exhaust than the R/Ts with a lower restriction exhaust, but the torque is higher by 15ft-lbs more than the Ram.

1 Bad Mirada

haha...sorry about that..i had a few beers when i posted that...