GT-500 = Boat

It's all relative... Somewhere along the way, over the past 10 years, as performance has entered another "golden era", people have forgotten that these "overweight, overcontented, plush, cushy pigs" make a 1970 Hemi Cuda look like a VW Rabbit with bad brakes.

We're having our cake, and eating it too. Sure, if you pulled out all the a/c and soundproofing and rear seat and stereo, you'd go faster. But why bother when you can modify it a bit to make it so fast you can't hook it up anyhow, AND you can stay icy-cool inside, AND you can rock your favorite CD's, AND drive 85 mph and hold a nice quiet conversation??

Realize how good we've got it with these cars, and remember how difficult un-fun it is to deal with a decontented loud beast on a daily basis. For occassional fun, I LOVE the loud crude beasts. But for daily driving? Forget it, why put up with all that when I don't have to, and can still go like stink?
 
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3,500 pound Challenger?? And who'll be driving it down the dragstrip, the tooth fairy or Santa Claus?? ;) :D

And the Camaro is scheduled for early 2009. Ford's got plenty of time and product to roll out to stay ahead of that game. I guarantee that Ford won't still be schlocking the same GT500 with the same output as a 2010 model. The Boss 302 could be a pretty potent machine, and hit that 3,500 lb mark with reasonable certainty.

But let's not get caught up in pie-in-the-sky. You have no idea what Ford may unleash in anticipation of the "other-guy's" upcoming products. They won't roll over and play dead.
 
The Dodge Magnum weighs in at 4295lbs. I am sure that the Charger is close to that. I can't see the Challenger or the Camaro weighing much less, if any, than the Shelby.

As I have said before, the only thing that the Shelby needs is better gear ratios and maybe a twin screw like the GT. It already has a better hp to weight ratio than the 'Vette, it just needs better ratios in it's first four gears.

:nice: :flag:
 
351CJ said:
An you're dreaming if you think either a 400+ HP Camaro of Challenger will go for $30K.

30-35k, that's my prediction. Top of the line Charger SRT-8 is 35k with 6.1 Hemi and 425 HP, I think it's a safe bet to say the Challenger would be at least in that price range, don't u?
 
I thought one of the benefits of a Eaton supercharger was having all that low end grunt. Having a lower gear ratio would allow most of that power to be used up too soon. The SC will pull like a tractor through out the engines rpm range with the stock gear ratio. Ford did their home work in this area. I say leave the rearend gears stock. You'll have trouble smoking the rubber off the rear tires the way it is.
 
RICKS said:
3,500 pound Challenger?? And who'll be driving it down the dragstrip, the tooth fairy or Santa Claus?? ;) :D

And the Camaro is scheduled for early 2009. Ford's got plenty of time and product to roll out to stay ahead of that game. I guarantee that Ford won't still be schlocking the same GT500 with the same output as a 2010 model. The Boss 302 could be a pretty potent machine, and hit that 3,500 lb mark with reasonable certainty.

But let's not get caught up in pie-in-the-sky. You have no idea what Ford may unleash in anticipation of the "other-guy's" upcoming products. They won't roll over and play dead.

All valid points, and it's worth mentioning the GT500 should have an established performance aftermarket by the time the Challenger and Camaro hit the showrooms. Hell, I'm waiting to see the results of tuning the Silver Oak processor (not to mention changing pulleys). I'm curious as to how much "free" horsepower the GT500 has.
 
CatmanJJ said:
30-35k, that's my prediction. Top of the line Charger SRT-8 is 35k with 6.1 Hemi and 425 HP, I think it's a safe bet to say the Challenger would be at least in that price range, don't u?

The SRT-8 is simply a version of a car already in production that sells a fair # of units.

The Challenger is going to be limited production. Just to pay for the body tooling they will have to charge more since there will be fewer units to amortize the tooling cost over.
 
That price seems low for a Charger SRT8. I am looking at C&D's long-term Magnum RT test and it was priced at $36,915 with the stock Hemi in 2005.

As for the gear ratios, I would think that changing to a lower gear would liven it up just like the Terminators. 4000lb isn't easy to get going. Plus, the Roots blower loses out to the Twin Screw above 3500 rpm. Cooler charge, less parasitic drag, more HP. If the Roots style was better, then Ford would have put one on the GT. It just ain't so.

:nice: :flag:
 
RICKS said:
3,500 pound Challenger?? And who'll be driving it down the dragstrip, the tooth fairy or Santa Claus?? ;) :D

And the Camaro is scheduled for early 2009. Ford's got plenty of time and product to roll out to stay ahead of that game. I guarantee that Ford won't still be schlocking the same GT500 with the same output as a 2010 model. The Boss 302 could be a pretty potent machine, and hit that 3,500 lb mark with reasonable certainty.

But let's not get caught up in pie-in-the-sky. You have no idea what Ford may unleash in anticipation of the "other-guy's" upcoming products. They won't roll over and play dead.

Why not, they did with the SN95. It took them until 2002 to come up with a car faster than a Camaro SS and my guess is that had the Camaro continued, it would have got the LS6 or LS2. The point is it's not just performance, it's packaging and marketing. After all, the Camaro didn't do Mustang sales any harm even if the Camaro was the better car.

You also have to remember that Ford can try and up the ante all it likes but GM have a 500hp 7.0 small block sitting in the wings and perhaps this time won't be afraid to use it. I suspect the Z06 won't be hanging round the 500hp stall for too long watching the Europeans pumping out 600hp cars.

Nevertheless, whilst cars are getting heavier, they can be made lighter and smaller to win the performance war decisively. Porsche have been selling less for more for a long time now in the shape of the GT3s. Ford are showing little grasp of this concept. The lighter the car, the lighter you can make the suspension components, the smaller the brakes, the lower the production costs, the more profit etc.
 
Number of SRT8 Chargers

351CJ said:
The SRT-8 is simply a version of a car already in production that sells a fair # of units.

The Challenger is going to be limited production. Just to pay for the body tooling they will have to charge more since there will be fewer units to amortize the tooling cost over.


The number of SRT8 Chargers was and will be 4,000 units per year according to several knowing sources, so I would say that is a very low number of units.
 
budoinst said:
The number of SRT8 Chargers was and will be 4,000 units per year according to several knowing sources, so I would say that is a very low number of units.

You missed my point.

What I was saying was that Chrysler sells 100,000+ 300s per year.
The 300C SRT 8 is just a 300 with some parts added on.

The Challenger will be much lower volume, most likely less than 30,000 / year and it will be sold for fewer years than the 300. That means to turn a profit on a Challenger you have to add in a lot more tooling & engineering costs than you do on a 300. That says the Challenger will have to be more expensive than a 300 (unless DCX wants to sell tham at a loss).
 
the challenger so far is looking to cost around 40k. this is the same price tag that the other SRT-8 models carry. other than it's charm as a retro modelI dont see any advantages that it will have over the other LX platforms in DCX's fleet as they are all based off the same chassis.
 
stangonline said:
Roboto - if you have something that says so - post it up. Until then, I still believe otherwise. I've been doing this for a while and that's the first I've heard of the Lightning thing. Hey, I could be wrong - post it up.

The 93-95 Lightnings used the 4x2 plow frame which is thicker gauge then the standard 4x2 frame. However still a common production piece.
 
Thank you! I told someone in this forum that the 93-95 lightning had a heavier gauge frame and I was called a liar by some guy. I couldn't prove it but I know that it was stated in my brochure when I bought my lightning new.
 
I Love my BOAT

I love my boat, I wouldn't trade my boat (or my pig) for anything in the world. Anybody know what BOAT stands for?

BUST OUT ANOTHER THOUSAND (for more hi-perf mods that is)...

Damn I wish they would hurry up with that Intake for my boat, I'm goin nuts here just dreamin about it. :flag: