[Strange Mud]

I had to travel for work recently so I rented (cheaper for the Boss/fun for Mud) I ended up getting a 2012 v6 Challenger and I figured I'll give my .02 on it. I remember someone doing this with a rental Camaro and liking the idea. I don't want to see/hear any slamming of some nit picks that is not my intention, although I know some of this stuff is minor but that doesn't mean it doesn't count. For those unwilling to read the Mustang is better. I ended up with it for a week and put just under 1k mils on it, enough to get some decent impressions on it, Yes it is slower than the Stang (mine with the V6 Perf Package) but it is by no means slow, however the all-season Michelin's broke free very early compared to the summer only Pirellis. It was an excellent hwy cruiser getting 30 mpg at a steady 71mph. The fuel tank was also huge compared to ours with me going 300 miles on 1/2 tank!!!! I will say that changing lanes involved me looking over my right shoulder and seeing "B" pillar, left shoulder "ditto" than I would go into old person mode, put on my blinker and slowly go into the other lane hoping that there was nobody in my blind spot (which was pretty much everything behind me) Twice I had to back up for 200 feet which was much worse than backing up in mine. I really appreciate the folding rear headrests. The trunk was bigger (not as deep) with a huge opening but also a huge reach over the bumper, I think it was about 12" of bumper. I like the front end with the nearly horizontal air dam (almost a splitter) and the rear end is (opinion) of the three Stang, Chally, Maro the best, they made it gorgeous, unlike the side view which I can only describe as being slab sided, with absolutely no detail. I was also impressed by the ventilation system, easier to use than the Stang with the controls laid out in a manner that made sense to me. It did have a 4 gauge panel which I liked until I noticed I couldn't see the temp or fuel gauge with my hands on the wheel. Random things: better glove box hinge, better interior finishing details, I love Fords spotter mirrors, it had a dash that was about 18" deep, I can normally figure out appliances w/o instructions but never figured out the dash displays. It came with key-less entry/start and I can see really liking that but I decided not to get used to it I am glad I rented it, although there was a touch of what if you like it better fear when I did. edit.....I did add paragraphs but they were eliminated by the computer Gods, lets see if they stay this time.

 

[Freelancer]

LOL -- yeah, paragraphs would have been good...

 

[bicketybam]

What is the hp in the V6 Challenger? How much heavier is it than the V6 'Stang?

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

[5.0PhilGT]

Challenger v6 is 305HP I believe. Curb weight is 3800+.

 

[old_goat]

How ironic I found this thread.

Yesterday I took a test drive in a manual Challenger SRT8.

I absolutely love the car, and the pistol grip shifter is beyond cool. The ride was great and it had all sorts of bells and whistles. I got good scratch through 2/3, but I limited the car to 60 mph to do being in heavy law enforcement area and the amount of traffic.

Among the late model muscle cars, I've always thought Dodge did a great job keeping the lines intact from the early 1970's models of the original Challenger.

I have yet to take a test drive in a fully loaded manual Mustang GT, so I can't weigh one against the other. I'm guessing performance goes to the Mustang GT by a bit, tie on bells and whistles between the cars, while the Challenger is a bit more eye candy. The Challenger is also a lot heavier car, and it drives heavy.

This Challenger SRT8 was fully loaded and priced around $55,000, and for that money, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Corvette Coupe over the Challenger and have a few thousand left over. It's just the wife and I so no back seat is needed.

Right now I'm hung at either a non premium Mustang GT (only option would be a 3.73 gear), out the door at <$30,000, or a Corvette Coupe also with just the basics for around $47,000. I'm waiting for November-February to see what kinds of rebates are being offered on the last year of this generation of Corvette. If there's a chance I can get the Corvette for $45,000 or less out the door, I will go that direction.

Right now, there is no doubt in my mind that the non premium Mustang GT is the best bang for the buck anywhere.

 

[stangy07]

How ironic I found this thread.

Yesterday I took a test drive in a manual Challenger SRT8.

I absolutely love the car, and the pistol grip shifter is beyond cool. The ride was great and it had all sorts of bells and whistles. I got good scratch through 2/3, but I limited the car to 60 mph to do being in heavy law enforcement area and the amount of traffic.

Among the late model muscle cars, I've always thought Dodge did a great job keeping the lines intact from the early 1970's models of the original Challenger.

I have yet to take a test drive in a fully loaded manual Mustang GT, so I can't weigh one against the other. I'm guessing performance goes to the Mustang GT by a bit, tie on bells and whistles between the cars, while the Challenger is a bit more eye candy. The Challenger is also a lot heavier car, and it drives heavy.

This Challenger SRT8 was fully loaded and priced around $55,000, and for that money, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Corvette Coupe over the Challenger and have a few thousand left over. It's just the wife and I so no back seat is needed.

Right now I'm hung at either a non premium Mustang GT (only option would be a 3.73 gear), out the door at <$30,000, or a Corvette Coupe also with just the basics for around $47,000. I'm waiting for November-February to see what kinds of rebates are being offered on the last year of this generation of Corvette. If there's a chance I can get the Corvette for $45,000 or less out the door, I will go that direction.

Right now, there is no doubt in my mind that the non premium Mustang GT is the best bang for the buck anywhere.

55k for one of these? There are so many other better cars for that kind of money. I do agree they look sharp though. I had no idea they cost that much.

 

[davecast09]

For $55k it must of had every option or sold in Canada, I believe they start at 41k for the srt8 or around there

 

[Freelancer]

I test drove a 2012 CHALLENGER R/T CLASSIC -- 375 HP, and "pistol grip" 6-speed manual shifter... Price was $33,500

The car LOOKS cool. It has 5 seatbelts. But I really didn't like how it drives, and I HATED the "pistol grip" shifter... When in neutral, it's at a 45-degree angle towards the steering wheel -- WTF?

The Mustang is a much better car.

 

[412horses]

I've driven a couple of Challengers myself and think they are quite nice drivers and lookers. Yes, there are drawbacks to being a bit bigger and heavier, but the seats are far more comfortable than ours. The layout and feel of the interior is excellent too but I'd admit I wasn't there long enough to notice if the controls were weird or hard to figure out. I was able to really push the V6 a bit as it belonged to a friend and it was smooth and lots of fun to toss around.

You folks know I love my Mustang but I'd almost (almost I said!) consider the Challenger a viable alternative except for the following:

• The supply is spotty so the dealers don't have much incentive to deal nor much to choose from
• Who owns Chrysler this year? (sarcasm)
• Why can I only get a light gray interior? (maybe that's changed by now)
• Why can I only get the cool colors on the models that cost as much as Corvettes?
• Why the hell are colors like Hemi-Orange, Petty Blue, and Sublime not regular offerings? That styling in classic Mopar Muscle Colors available on all models would probably boost sales by 50%... if they'd send the dealers a few cars that is.

Of course the biggest advantage for Challenger: It's not an ugly Camaro. :laugh:

 

[GM Convert]

Challenger v6 is 305HP I believe. Curb weight is 3800+.

Curb weight is 3,950 lbs. Just a tank of gas shy of 2 tons.

 

[Mohnkee]

Coming from a challenger rt, I will say I loved the look, the push to start, keyless entry and go, and console. But the dam thing was just so heavy!! Even with 370 hp I felt so slllloowwwww, maybe a tune would have help release some more torque but guess what....dodge decided to lock out the pcu on the 2012!! So no dam tune available.

After I test drove my gt it felt like I use to be 300 pounds and I lost 200 of it!! Sounds weird to say cause its a muscle car but I felt "sportier".

I really wished ford would have put the keyless entry and go though. Oh well......GT FTW!!

 

[Freelancer]

Coming from a challenger rt, I will say I loved the look, the push to start...

Hey -- I have a "push to start" on my Mustang. It's an easy mod!

Just do it!

 

[glock22357]

The issue with trying to relate a car experience from renting one, is that rental vehicles are not the same as normal production ones. Many bits, parts and pieces on rental cars are different (read CHEAPER) than regular production cars.

Plus...yeah...paragraphs woulda been nice.

 

[RodgerJerney]

If the Challenger was the same size and weight as the Mustang, I might have bought one. They're just bigger and heavier than what I want.

Years ago, when I had 2 small boys, we drove an 89 Cougar. Low, wide, independant rear suspention, leather, digi dash. What a nice car. All our friends were driving mini vans. Never did get the mini van thing. If I had kids again, I'd get the Challenger.

Chrysler sales were way up again last quarter, something like 12%, I think. Ford was down about 5%. Chrysler makes good stuff.

 

[Strange Mud]

its had been 2/3 years since the last time I drove a Chrysler (jeep patriot) I was still in the Enterprise lot when I was saying "I would never buy one of these" man, did that engine sound like poo.

 

[J Orbit]

I know I'm the minority here but the Challenger has always looked like a turd to me (yes even the original). It's just another overweight slab-sided land yacht. The orignal mustang and even camaro have always looked good to me but I've never been a fan of Dodge's designs. It boggles my mind that people are buying them, especially since most I see are the 250hp V6 version.

 

[daytripperflstn]

I think the Callenger is the best looking of the 3 new era muscle cars . That being said , It has too much going against it to buy one . Heavy, expensive , will they still be in business while your warranry is in effect . I dont see too many on the road, that is a plus to me . Where I live about every third car is some kind of Mustang . I also am not happy that Ford doesnt have any exclusive colors . I went to a lot Sunday to look at Race red ,and Candy red to see in person . 1/2 the trucks, cars and whatever were these colors . I would have liked a color unique to my Shelby GT500 . The Challenger doesnt have 662 HP .

 

[Yadkin]

I've never been a Mopar fan until I needed to replace my wife's sedan due to a simple repair that, due to the FWD layout with an AWD option, would have been extremely expensive. Since the 300/ Charger is RWD with an AWD option I test drove one and immediately fell in love. The chassis is actually a Daimler design with IRS and the car rides like an expensive European sedan.

I need hauling capacity so bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee which uses a variation on that chassis. So far its been my favorite vehicle of all time.

I recently found out that the Challenger uses a variation on the Charger chassis with RWD-IRS. So it's definitely worth a look.

As mentioned the SRT8 is a monster with a 6.4L V8. They also have a 5.7L V8. Both of these are "Hemi" motors. I put the word in quotes because they are not "real" hemis like the old school 60's cars. The hemispherical combustion chamber is terrible with regards to emissions, so they've had to highly modify it with a center ridge and two spark plugs per cylinder. I'm not that familiar with the larger motor, but the 5.7L version is a pushrod motor with a single cam in the block, so the performance potential of twin variable valve timing that is used in Ford's new 5.0 just aren't possible. On top of that they've got this system that turns off 4 of the cylinders during highway cruise that doesn't thrill me in the least.

My Jeep has the Pentastar V6 which is a 60 degree DOHC 24 valve engine with twin VVT and is an excellent 21st century design. This is the base engine in the Challenger, tweaked a bit for a few more horses to put it on par with the Mustang V6.

I'm love the true-to-form style of the Challenger, and with the IRS and the truly modern V6 engine it would definitely be worth my consideration.

 

[RickAKATed10]

I test drove a 2011 Challenger SE Rallye with SS/E package. Honestly, it was a damn nice car. Great place to be, but it was just so big. I couldn't see myself driving that thing every day.

Looked just like an RT without the emblem in the grill.

 

[Strange Mud]

^^^^looks nice tho