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Rob @ May 3rd 2008 9:02PM
I'm curious as to how much weight they had stripped out of it. The SRT-8 is a *genuinely* heavy car, with a curb weight of 4140lbs.
The suspension may be reasonably well-sorted since a fair amount of it is augmented inherited Mercedes-Benz componentry which was designed for heavy vehicles, but when that gets away from you its carrying a lot of bloody momentum.
I still like it more than the Charger, but damned if you can get me to buy one until it's offered with A) a manual transmission, and B) until they can shave around 400lbs off of it. That puts it in late-model TransAm or Camaro SS territory with a better sorted chassis and suspension giving you something a lot more manageable for when you don't want to just cruise around in it. And it'd be an amusing contrast to my 3rd gen MX-5.
Chris72b9 @ May 3rd 2008 10:59PM
I agree.
The 4100 lb. curb weight is a bit disturbing to me as well. Imagine the performance numbers if it only weighed 3500 lbs.
:O
Franz @ May 3rd 2008 11:21PM
And people complain about the Nissan's pig GT-R being too heavy.
Now don't get me wrong, I love this car and It'll be difficult not to want one when the manual SRT8 comes out, but I don't know why it has to weigh this much. This thing would be virtually untouchable in it's class if it was about 500lbs lighter. I mean, a 300C SRT8 in base trim is actually lighter than this by a few pounds... what gives?
jake @ May 4th 2008 8:30AM
a few notes for rob- it is coming in a manual transmission... i believe they are debating producing a lightweight "race" version which shaves i believe 800lbs off... the late model camaro/TA weighs about 3400, and the new challenger weighs 4200 which is a huge difference...
the car is attractive, but i for one cannot get over the weight. make it below 3800 and i'll consider it. 3600 and i'm really happy
Rob @ May 4th 2008 1:55AM
Here's some food for thought...
A 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A weighed ~3800lbs on the nose. It had a 110 inch wheelbase and a total length of 191.3 inches.
The SRT-8 Charger, which weighs 4160lbs, has a 120 inch wheelbase and a total length of 200.1 inches.
Yet the SRT-8 Challenger, weighs 4140lbs and has a 116.7 inch wheelbase and a 197.7 inch length. It's also 1.2 inches wider than the Charger. If you shortened the current car to the size of the 1970 model, and assumed that "all weight is equal" you'd only shave off 135lbs. Moving to a manual transmission might get you another 70lbs.
Cripes. That's just a large, heavy car. Anyone have any idea of the suspension componentry? The front is derived from the MB W220 S-Class and the rear from the MB W210 E-Class. Beyond that you'd need to start replacing a fair amount of structure with aluminum to see any major weight reduction. Aluminum hood and boot lid would help. Without compromising its everyday feature set, you're looking at replacing a whole lot of steel.
CarbonBlack @ May 4th 2008 6:32AM
Rob,
Great analysis-I never had thought about it like you just did!
+1
TwinTurbo3000GT @ May 4th 2008 12:52PM
pure driver's error.
Gargamello @ May 4th 2008 4:28PM
They do make a smaller lighter more fun to drive and cheaper Challenger. It's called a Mazda 3.