Rented a "new" Challenger RT last week...

Hey All:

I say "new" because of course, they're 4 years old now, and the one I got had clearly been put through the ringer.

I was on vacation last week. The rental place just happened to have a Challenger RT available.

I have to say that a lot of my initial reservations were overcome after spending a week with the car. Its definitely roomier than the Mustang or the Camaro. The trunk is downright useful.

The B-pillar blind spot is highly annoying when backing out of a parking spot, but the mirrors do a good job when you're actually driving it.

It was definitely soft in the power department compared to the other two brands, but I liked the car enough that I don't think it would really bother me.

I did get a best of 14.0 out of it, which is pretty good for bald tires on an unprepped track - and of course I wasn't really flogging it either, however, my daily driver FWD 08 taurus is only .1 slower....

The only dealbreaker left for me is that for some reason you don't get a limited slip (WTF!?) with your damn near 40K musclecar and the other, cheaper, faster, manufacturers do make with the posi. And its Mercedes parts, so getting that Getrag/Quaife unit is cha-ching $$$$

The drive by wire implementation is better than Ford typically does, but its still kind of stingy with the downshifts.

It was better than I thought it would be, and way way way better than the Monte Carlo or whatever other transportation appliance I would have ended up with otherwise.

A good effort on Dodge's part. Too bad it took them 30 years to get back into it.