July 1 2006... a day that will live in the history books: Dodge announces that the Challenger will enter production late in the the 2008 model year. A personal site & blog created and run by a no-commercial-interest Challenger enthusiast!
This new video illustrates an important point we've made on this blog about how future performance vehicles *must* change technologies - but *can* still increase performance and improve dynamics. The future is not at all dark for driving enthusiasts!
The video has the 1st-gen prototype of a Chrysler Corp electric vehicle, against an old-school and very traditional performance car. In a drag race held by the Los Angeles Times, the EV won.
The Challenger weighs well over 4000 pounds, and the EV is closer to a thousand less. The EV is a pre-production mule based on an adapted Lotus gasoline-engine product that isn't sold in this country. The 1st-gen Chrysler electronics will certainly improve before production and are ultimately limited by battery technology as with other electric vehicles. Battery technology is certainly the #1 investment area in automotive research these days.
Chrysler's strategy to show off it's three electric vehicles at this point in time is interesting. Whether it's to appeal to Nissan (a potential suitor, who itself hasn't shown much in the electric field - yet) or to the Government for bailout purposes, it's a smart move at this point in time.
We've added a couple dozen additional super high-res images to Challenger.DrivingEnthusiast.net (suggest <right click> and <open in new tab>). Look under the Production tab for images and text.
This makes a total of >100 high-res Challenger images, all typically 3000x2000 pixels in size (with more to come). Use them to examine features in the most exacting detail, make desktop backgrounds, or screensavers. Choose your features when you order your own Challenger, and save the images for the long term as documentation as this car becomes a classic.
All pages initially show the image in a 450-pixel thumbnail. Click on the image to go to the high-res image. Samples are below. Note that the Camaro and Mustang sections also have several dozen images of this size as well!
How many of the >10,000 pages and >15,000 images on DrivingEnthusiast.net have you seen? You'll find this kind of attention to detail only on the DrivingEnthusiast.net network!
Now available on http://www.Challenger.DrivingEnthusiast.net: 50 super high-res images of the SE, R/T and SRT8 models, along with full detailed specifications and other information. Follow the link to our Challenger site and then go to the "Production!" section from there.
2009 is the year the Challenger reaches it's stride: there is a heavily revised base V-8 Hemi in the R/T, a V-6 in the SE, and the SRT8 gets the 6-speed manual and limited slip diff it needed in 2008.
AutoWeek reports today that the 2009 V-6 (250 HP) Challenger SE will start at $21,995. Compare this against the 2008 base Mustang V-6 (210 HP) at $21,675.
Also announced is the new R/T model (370 HP) at $28,995 and the return of the SRT8 (425 HP) at $39,995.
This is a very favorable price for the entry level Challenger. Compared to the Mustang it offers a far more advanced suspension, a cleaner design, and a more modern platform. It's also got up to 500 pounds more weight for V-8 models, although it also has 70 more HP (R/T vs. GT).
V-8 Challengers now offer an optional Tremac TR6060 six-speed manual, which includes a mechanical limited slip differential.
