to my stable of cars.
It is a 2009 srt8 with the 6spd in Tored. Fully loaded but no sunroof. I like the cleaner look. This car is a diff beast than the A bodies or any early Mopar. In many ways, handling, ride, features etc of is much better. Fit of panels and paint is better than any US car I have ever seen! It runs very strong and out runs most anything you can buy. The handling to this car is world class as is the braking. it also is so close in person to the retro 70 car it is amazing. But it is NOT a 60s-70s muscle car. I thought I would put that out there so that even though this car with a few mods will run high 12s in the 1/4, 0-60 in about 4.4, and about 180 on the top end. It can no way do a 60 foot, 1/8, or 1/4 with my 64 dart or many of your cars. It is not that type of animal for me. Yes you can get into the 11s with many add ons etc.
Car is 4024, it is parked in my garage and all the comments I have heard about how big it is are not true. My 64 dart is longer by about 6". Yes it weighs more, but is 200 less than the 08 automatics. Has beefed up half shafts, full LSD rear end and much more. The Tremec 6 spd is a blast. Even at 80 in 5th at light throttle it pulls hard. Driving at 100-110 feels like 70 in most cars. It is pretty loud too, these cars have a deent exh system just resonators. Sound way diff than any auto cars you may have heard.
Well here is a right up I have posted on the Challenger board of my 1st impressions on the build of the car before I had a chance to put some miles on her. 8)
Just a few quick huh huh "funny me" comments on the car, and I have not even driven it 10 miles yet. I am an old school guy almost 50. I am not into the bling 24” and up rims, lowering etc. Not knocking those that are. I feel the ride height is perfect. I was expecting the car to sit higher from comments I read too. But I think it is just right at only about 5 ¾” from the door to the ground. I am blown away by the interior! I was not pumped after all the reads so I was not expecting too much from the inside, but I got to say it is way more than I was expecting and am very impressed. I even like the steering wheel too, seems it matches the floor pedals with the brushed inserts, the HID lights .. Wow amazing and really help an old fart like me with poor night vision!
The Kicker stereo is decent but I would say lacks some clarity for me. You have to understand I have more $$ in my home stereo / theatre system than this car. But I have heard Vette’s, Caddie’s, BMW’s etc and they have that clean crisp sound. Bass is OK, but an upgrade not for the boom but to make the bass a little tighter would be nice. I am sure I can tweak the crossovers to the speakers to clean up the sound on the top end too without changing the speakers etc. Overall sound system is nice, but was expecting a little bit more. Maybe just me but this is my feelings on it.
I do not feel the car is BIG as people say it is. I have my 64 Dart in the 2nd bay and the Dart is about ½ foot longer than the Challenger. I recall back in the day you had A bodies, B bodies were much bigger and then the E bodies were shorter in length than a B body but wider and still a good size car. Heck than you had the monsters like a Monaco, New Ports etc. I think the large car comments come from today’s smaller cars most folks own. My opinion and observation. Hell I drive a 4x4 crew cab so everything looks small lol! So this car is about 370 lbs more than a 383 RT 70 was.
Car had the weight on the labels and shipping paper work at 4027 lbs Not 4100 or 4200 I had read. EPA came in much better too at 14 & 22 so that was surprise and the gas tax was less than I was expecting! Some more great news, recall all the EPA discussion threads on this EDIT I got 21.8 on 1st trip in the mountains of Wy and MT at 5500-7500 feet. Very good handling on turns is unreal too!
I am going to most likely put a few hundred miles on the car in the next 2 days. Then Sat. morning while the wife is at work I will install the CAI, skip shift and a few other odds and ends to start with. This will give me a before and after reference point of perception. I have done the same thing with my Harley’s. I like to know just how much each item adds to the performance one part at a time. Sure if you are a shop that has done many a ride then you just do the upgrades and are done with it. But this part by part upgrade for me is part of the enjoyment and overall process of appreciation and learning experience. You only do it once, so do it right and take
It is a 2009 srt8 with the 6spd in Tored. Fully loaded but no sunroof. I like the cleaner look. This car is a diff beast than the A bodies or any early Mopar. In many ways, handling, ride, features etc of is much better. Fit of panels and paint is better than any US car I have ever seen! It runs very strong and out runs most anything you can buy. The handling to this car is world class as is the braking. it also is so close in person to the retro 70 car it is amazing. But it is NOT a 60s-70s muscle car. I thought I would put that out there so that even though this car with a few mods will run high 12s in the 1/4, 0-60 in about 4.4, and about 180 on the top end. It can no way do a 60 foot, 1/8, or 1/4 with my 64 dart or many of your cars. It is not that type of animal for me. Yes you can get into the 11s with many add ons etc.
Car is 4024, it is parked in my garage and all the comments I have heard about how big it is are not true. My 64 dart is longer by about 6". Yes it weighs more, but is 200 less than the 08 automatics. Has beefed up half shafts, full LSD rear end and much more. The Tremec 6 spd is a blast. Even at 80 in 5th at light throttle it pulls hard. Driving at 100-110 feels like 70 in most cars. It is pretty loud too, these cars have a deent exh system just resonators. Sound way diff than any auto cars you may have heard.
Well here is a right up I have posted on the Challenger board of my 1st impressions on the build of the car before I had a chance to put some miles on her. 8)
Just a few quick huh huh "funny me" comments on the car, and I have not even driven it 10 miles yet. I am an old school guy almost 50. I am not into the bling 24” and up rims, lowering etc. Not knocking those that are. I feel the ride height is perfect. I was expecting the car to sit higher from comments I read too. But I think it is just right at only about 5 ¾” from the door to the ground. I am blown away by the interior! I was not pumped after all the reads so I was not expecting too much from the inside, but I got to say it is way more than I was expecting and am very impressed. I even like the steering wheel too, seems it matches the floor pedals with the brushed inserts, the HID lights .. Wow amazing and really help an old fart like me with poor night vision!
The Kicker stereo is decent but I would say lacks some clarity for me. You have to understand I have more $$ in my home stereo / theatre system than this car. But I have heard Vette’s, Caddie’s, BMW’s etc and they have that clean crisp sound. Bass is OK, but an upgrade not for the boom but to make the bass a little tighter would be nice. I am sure I can tweak the crossovers to the speakers to clean up the sound on the top end too without changing the speakers etc. Overall sound system is nice, but was expecting a little bit more. Maybe just me but this is my feelings on it.
I do not feel the car is BIG as people say it is. I have my 64 Dart in the 2nd bay and the Dart is about ½ foot longer than the Challenger. I recall back in the day you had A bodies, B bodies were much bigger and then the E bodies were shorter in length than a B body but wider and still a good size car. Heck than you had the monsters like a Monaco, New Ports etc. I think the large car comments come from today’s smaller cars most folks own. My opinion and observation. Hell I drive a 4x4 crew cab so everything looks small lol! So this car is about 370 lbs more than a 383 RT 70 was.
Car had the weight on the labels and shipping paper work at 4027 lbs Not 4100 or 4200 I had read. EPA came in much better too at 14 & 22 so that was surprise and the gas tax was less than I was expecting! Some more great news, recall all the EPA discussion threads on this EDIT I got 21.8 on 1st trip in the mountains of Wy and MT at 5500-7500 feet. Very good handling on turns is unreal too!
I am going to most likely put a few hundred miles on the car in the next 2 days. Then Sat. morning while the wife is at work I will install the CAI, skip shift and a few other odds and ends to start with. This will give me a before and after reference point of perception. I have done the same thing with my Harley’s. I like to know just how much each item adds to the performance one part at a time. Sure if you are a shop that has done many a ride then you just do the upgrades and are done with it. But this part by part upgrade for me is part of the enjoyment and overall process of appreciation and learning experience. You only do it once, so do it right and take
