We have a lot of really fast cars any more..but some honestly just don't appeal to me. What would you pass on for something else if given the chance? The rules are it has to have been made in the last 4 years, have more than 350HP, and be RWD.

1. Trailblazer SS - The interior kills it. If I had to have a 400HP SUV, I would get a part time job to pay for a Grand Cherokee SRT8 before I got one. (FWIW I have owned 3 regular TB's)

2. Challenger - This is just a Charger in mom's old party clothes. That means it has everything I hate about the Charger like the cheesy interior and big car tippy feel. While the Hemi is a great motor...I prefer the linear power of an LSX to the low end grunt/top end flatness of a Hemi...(unless we are talking in the GC SRT8)

3. Viper - This car was cool when I was in high school..but now it is more or less a afterthought because of how far the Corvette has come. I mean..some people will love it for what it is...but there is no way you can live with one like you can even a Z06 or ZR1.

 

Tbss

 

Charger/ 300.

I dont consider them Muscle cars and was disapointed that all the magazines would put them against the GTO in tests and declair the Mopar the winner because it's more plush and has easier rear seat access ....(We're talking about Muscle cars here right) And forget about the $10K+ price difference that seems non existant

To me, they are far too heavy and bulky to be considered anything other then a large heavy high powered sedan!

 

Agree with TBSS and Challenger for you exact reasoning.

TBSS is a great idea in a too old package, ESPECIALLY the interior.

Challenger just doesnt tug at my heartstrings, although my feelings on overly retro modern car styling is well documented here.

I have to disagree on Viper... I like it, though I will admit the current gen styling didnt do as much for me as the original 'clown shoe' styling did.

 

Mazda RX-8

It is a RWD coupe with a crappy motor. Too bad it didn't have Fords Turbo I6

 

I'd pass on most of them for one reason or another.

 

I like them all. That doesn't mean I want to buy them all, but the more variety on our automotive landscape, the better.

 

That is a good statement there, because I like them all too, and would love to drive all of them for certain reasons... It's just that the 2 I mentioned, I probably would not buy, though I did come close to a TBSS a few years ago.

 

That would have been a fun car.

 

I strongly disagree with the notion that the Charger isn't a muscle car, but I'll save that conversation for another day.

Branden, it sounds like you meant to ask which Performance Vehicles excite you the least.

The Dodge Viper is a sports car, while the Trailblazer SS is an SUV. A very, very quick SUV, but still an SUV.

Keeping with only muscle cars (...an RX8??? Come on, guys!! ), I really like them all. Most of them are underneath the Chrysler roof, though.

By the traditional definition of at least a midsized, and even a large car with a very powerful engine, the Charger & Challenger R/T and SRT, the Chrysler 300SRT, the Impala SS, the G8 GT & GXP, even the Cadillac STSv and CTSv all fall under that banner. If you want to bend the rules, because cars are smaller today, you can even make the case that both the new Camaro SS and the Mustang GT (especially the GT500) are muscle cars.

Out of that group, the one that excites me the least is the STSv. Next up is the Impala SS, then the 300SRT. All are exceptionally good "Muscle", and I wouldn't turn one down if someone gave it to me. But they don't top my enthusiasm about the others.


If the question is which performance vehicle I find least exciting I'd say the new WRX. They may be phenominal performers, but they don't do a thing for me.

 

Probably not.

 

I wasn't aware that a TBSS was a modern muscle car.

 

What is the cut off for very powerful

The new V6 Camaro is going to be faster than just about everything GM from the 70's-80's except a Grand National or ZR1

 

Good point. 400hp would rule out a lot of cars mentioned. Personally, I call 400+hp "very powerful" and 350-400hp "powerful". Thus, to me, the current Mustang GT is certainly not powerful enough to be classified as a Muscle Car.

I would classify the following cars as Muscle Cars, and this is of course just my opinion:

Charger SRT8
300C SRT8
Challenger SRT8
Charger R/T (with new Hemi only)
Challenger R/T (with new Hemi only)
Camaro SS
Mustang GT500
Pontiac GTO (2005 & 2006 only)
Pontiac G8 GXP

Of those, I would say the least exciting to me is the Chargers due to the styling. It just does nothing for me. Especially when I can get the same performance in a more exciting Challenger or even 300C.

 

So then basically no muscle car excised until the 2004 CTS-V. Everything in the 60's was SAE gross horsepower, most not even 400HP by even those standards.

My personal definition is RWD, seats 4, 300+ torque. The LT1 Camaro would be a muscle car in my book.