Don't ask where I got this from, but here is fact...

1) Dealers will be able to order Challengers 3/08 as '09 models.
2) The first 3 months of production will be nothing but SRT-8 spec, approx. $40k vehicles. No options, limited colors.
3) Once the full '09 model year comes online in late '08, engine availability will open up to include a 5.7 and a 4.7 (all new this year with 300hp approx).
4) If all goes well, Dodge wants to mirror the Mustang and the Camaro and offer a V6 version as well...this is a variable though, as they want to see what the response is before they commit to the V6 model. Likely, the V6 model will not hit until MY10.

Just thought I'd pass this along...its gonna get REALLY interesting. I wonder what volume its gonna take for Chrysler to approve FOUR engine offerings...hell, the Camaro with 100k a year is getting, what, 4 if we're lucky???

BTW, Kudos to Chrysler for making the MID LEVEL ENGINE A V8 , assuming there is a V6. The 4.7, if priced right, will sell very well IMO...

 

I thought Challenger was supposed to be a lower volume, high-content car? This sounds like Dodge is going for a lot more than the assumed 30,000 cars a year or so. Wonder how the business case changed so dramatically.

 

Sorry, I gotta disagree w/ the 4.7. Isn't it more expensive to make than the 5.7 Hemi? Isn't it bad on gas mileage for its output? Wouldn't you just rather have a 5.7?

 

Having seen the Camaro and Challenger concepts side-by-side at a car show, I think the Challenger is going to live up to its name, big time.

 

Well, Chrysler was just spun off. I do believe that includes Dodge, Jeep, etc. with it. The change in business could be because of a change in ownership.

 

Honestly I am more impressed by an older challenger than a carbon copy. Side y side, Camaro wins in my book.

 

Will it be offered in a stick?

 

The 4.7 is being completely revamped and getting MDS...it will be better on gas than the 5.7, and at 300hp will at least be competitive with a 300hp V6 Camaro, so long as the weight isn't too awful...which could be a key problem. Then again, the higher torque output of the new 4.7 could allow it to keep up with the mid-level Camaro.

 

1. The Challenger isn't being "fast-tracked"; it has been on this timetable for months -- at least since fall of 2006.

2. If you understand that the real business case for Challenger has a lot to do with it being a test of certain flex manufacturing procedures, the reasoning behind the slow ramp-up to full production and the availability of multiple powertrain combos starts to make sense.

3. The debut model will actually be called "R/T", not SRT, though it will include the 6.1. The real SRT-8 Challenger will come later, and it will be significantly more powerful than the current generation of SRT-8s. (I have heard that the goal for the Challenger SRT is for it to fall, performance-wise, about halfway between the GT500 and the Z06. Take that any way you like. Those of you who have driven an SRT Charger will understand why I don't think it's completely ridiculous.)

4. Yes, a manual transmission will be available.

5. I hadn't heard about the 4.7 but I'm not surprised. They want 'em all to sound (and go) like musclecars.

6. V6 will only be offered if they need to boost volume -- overall LX program volume, that is -- with a low-end model. The OVERALL program goals are to validate the new flex stuff at Brampton and to keep Brampton working three shifts with a mix of RWD product. They will make Challenger until it doesn't sell, at which point they'll make something else.

 

Could this 4.7 be the new Phoenix V8 that was rumored over on Allpar?

 

Chrysler will get more of my money if the SRT has a 6.4 (392) Hemi, a six speed manual and a curb weight of less than 3800 lbs.

 

It will be interesting to see how a 3800 lbs coupe is accepted as the GTO (3700) and GT500 (3700-3900) are both consider pigs, and some people are swearing not to buy a NG Camaro unless it is under 3500 lbs.

 

No, it's just an updated version of the OHC 4.7 developed in the 1990s.

 

The GT500, in its lightest form, is 3920 lbs. It's a pig (fast pig, perhaps, but still a pig).

I don't know if I'd call the GTO (at 3725 lbs) a 'pig' or not, but it is certainly much heavier than I would want, and its weight is one of the reasons I didn't seriously consider the car when I was in the market back in Sep of 04.

"Rumor" that gets passed around says the Challenger will come in over 2 tons. Don't care how much HP it has - that's pigdom in my eyes. 3800 would be too, but just like there are some of us that won't buy a car that heavy, there are plenty of others that will, for a number of reasons.

Same reasoning could be applied to the new Camaro, depending upon where its weight finally ends up.

Bob

 

@ "pigdom"