Hi Everyone,

This is my very first post so here goes!

I live in Inverness which is in the Scottish Highlands. The new Challenger will have to be an import as no official cars will be coming to the U.K. However, there is a local Dodge dealer (Mercedes garage) so servicing and upkeep should be fairly straight forward. I understand that the warranty will be upheld over here too.

I love the idea of owning a 2009 SRT8 with manual transmission but I have a reservation which I need help with.

The SRT8 is some 130 pounds heavier than the R/T?

I am lucky to live in an area that has some of the best driving roads in the U.K. but alas none of them are straight!

My question is would a Saleen 570TM based on a R/T Classic special edition be a better option for me? I am assuming that the R/T model will be a better balanced handling car because of the greatly reduced weight at the front. With the addition of the supercharger outputting 500 HP (allegedly), the 570TM should be a much faster real world proposition than a SRT8?

My other option is to go for the SRT8 and spend the cash on uprating the suspension and brakes to achieve the required result.

I have to be careful not to make a dreadful mistake as the cost of importing a car to the U.K and making it road legal over here will set me back in the region of $80,000.

All help and advice will be greatly appreciated.


All the best,


Warren

Great Forum by the way!

 

SRT8 model is actually more performance tuned, so that will be better on the streets. SRT stands for Street and Race Technology. So even though it may be a tad heavier, it's from the added performance parts that will help make it be more fun

 

Stick with stock product, it starts it runs it goes fast.

 

by the time they add the supercharger any weight loss would be gone. the performance and handling of the srt8 will be plenty for the streets you have trust me

 

The supercharger will account for some of the weight. Hard to be sure if that will account for all of the difference, but you should not look at it as just an R/T that magically added 100+HP. I'm not sure if they're adding an intercooler or not, which would be more weight, further forward. The SRT has a sportier suspension from the factory, although the Saleen will receive "Chassis, wheel and interior upgrades" as well. (Autoweek 5/26/08 page 8). Autoweek also reports that the SMS will start in the mid to high 50,000's range, so at least 10-15K over an SRT-8.

Handling is an open question at this point. Early reviews of the SRT are very positive about the handling, so I would not fear that the SRT will be lacking in handling. Tuner specials like the Saleen often push the boundaries of street car suspension tuning with lower ride heights, stiffer springs, bigger anti-roll bars, higher damping rates etc. So the SMS *could* handle better. But with no driving impressions, and no cars actually built, it's all just guesswork.

As purnrg implied, reliability is more a question with a tuner car with forced induction than on a stock motor, although Saleen has an excellent reputation.

I do not think you will make a terrible mistake either way, but I would wait to read some driving impressions on the SMS before committing to that option. Maybe a magazine will even do a comparison test and make life easier for you.

 

Anyone planning on spending big bucks for a 500+ hp car, which would you prefer and why, a Saleen Challenger or an HXC 'Cuda?

HXC article and photo:

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/c...2009-hxc-cuda/

 

Many thanks for the advice guys!

I think I will play safe and go for the SRT8. Probably too risky trying to import a heavily modded car anyway. My local dealer might turn round and say that they wouldn't touch it with a barge pole if anything went wrong.

Who is most highly recommended to supply suspension upgrades? Any companies that I should keep well clear of?

 

I have looked into the HXC performance Cuda package and after seeing the pricing difference between the Saleen and the HXC it appears that HXC is asking for 20K+ more. Granted this is due to the body panel changes and paint needed to convert it to the Cuda, but for pure performance, I would go with the Saleen if 500hp were all you are looking for.