Depends on what the car is to be used for. For family transportation/company car I'll take the FWD over RWD every time, thanks.

If I want to have a nice fair-weather car as a toy, I'll take RWD.

 

The Charger RT is going to be mustang GT competeition, not GTO. The Charger srt8 will be a GTO and Hipo mustang(cobra or whatever the next one is) competitior.

 

yes, I agree, well at least the enthusiast, but we were talking about the ChargerSRT-8 and the GTO..


if the 300c SRT-8 is going to be around 40k at least, the only way the Charger SRT-8 would be about $33k, is if they stripped $7k worth of stuff out of it.. to bring it down to the GTO's price, of $33kish, while still having a nice interior like the GTO....

I bet you, the Charger will cost the same as the SRT-8..


but then again, unless they radically change the looks of the Charger, there's no way you can convince me, that its a coupe.. its a 4 door sedan..


About a DoD V8 vs V6 in the Impala SS.. I view this as GM using the V8 because they don't have a competative HO V6 for this car.. Thats just fine.. But bumping the price up some more, would make it too pricey... My thinking is, the enthusiast isn't really going to care for it, since its FWD.. and the avg buyer is going to look at cheaper alternatives, thats just a 30 hp shy, but with the same or better quality build and ride..

Where's that new platform for GM?

 

Yeah, but this thread is about Impala SS vs Charger R/T....not SRT-8 vs GTO.

 

And in many areas of the country, this is what matters most. Pacer, I could not have said it myself.

So who would buy an Impala or Monte SS over a Charger R/T? Me, actually. We're talking a 45 HP deficit, however the 5.3 already makes 15 HP more than my LT1, which is faster than what I need anyway! There is one factor everyone is forgetting...

WEIGHT. Charger should be around 4,200 lbs...the 300 is spot on that number. With the 5.3 being lighter than the S/C 3800, the Impala should be no more than 3,600 lbs. Same chassis as a GP, and my '01 GP weighs in at 3,475 lbs by comparison with a boat-anchor 3800. What does this mean??

12.17 lbs/HP for the Charger, 12 lbs/HP for the Impala

True, torque management will be an issue, but to what degree we do not know. This is going to be closer than anyone thinks, I believe. GXP Grand Prixs are running 0-60 under 6 flat, per GM's claims. Hemis are what, 5.5-5.7 or so?

I'll sacrifice 2 tenths 0-60 for superior gas mileage, a better appearance IMO, a TWO DOOR with the MC, and gee...I can drive it in the snow!!!!

There's your "enthusiast's" answer as to why the Impala should win the comparo in the showroom. I don't really care what the mags say. Never have, never really will.

 

I believe it also.

 

Actually, the Charger will weigh around conservatively 3900 pounds (the 300C is 4046#). The current V6 Impala SS weighs 3606. The new Impala will be slightly heavier than the current one while the Charger will be slightly lighter than the 300, so optimistically, it seems to be about 250# difference in weight max.

GXPs aren't running under 6 seconds. GM claims 6.5 seconds, and the quickest stock is around 6.2. The slowest published time for the 300C is 6.2, but once broken in seem to be running consistantly in the mid 5s (not mentioning C&D's 5.3 run). The Charger will have a different computer program, different exhaust, and likely different gearing as well being slightly lighter than the 300C.

I like the looks of the new Impala over the Charger myself. But even if I lived back in Pennsylvania, snow is on the ground only 3 months out of 12, and even then 95% of the time I could drive my old RWD cars very easily in the snow (I learned to drive before everyone got brainwashed with "Buy-FWD-or-you'll-die-a-horrible-death-when-it-snows-or-rains" propaganda of the 80s & 90s).

Add modern traction control, and FWD becomes irrelevent to 99% of US drivers, even in the winter. If snow actually influences a decision between FWD & RWD, you'd be better off with looking at an AWD vehicle or an SUV.

No doubt the Impala SS will have better gas mileage (GM's specialty as far as powertrains ) But given a choice between the Impala SS 5.3 and the Charger R/T, I'd pick a GTO. If I had no other choices, Charger R/T hands down.

RWD always over FWD, and the more horsepower & torque, the better.

 

Torque management only comes into play for drag racers. 95%+ of these family sedans will never be raced. 80% of the owners will proabably never do a burn out. (these are Sedan people, not sports car people )

For the bulk of the people buying these car torque management will be a non-issue. Both cars even come with only automatics.


You must live in the snow belt or North East

 

Pontiac claims the GXP will run 0-60 in "approximately" 6.0. Are you sure you're not thinking about the GTP?

Chris

 

1. The Impala should have superior fuel economy, but there again, GM cuts alot of corners for the sake fuel economy. Personally, I don't really care all that much about fuel economy. I'd willingly pay the $7K premium for a SRT-8 just to avoid the future maintainence headaches of the 300C/RT's cylinder deactivation system.

2. The Charger sure looks a whole heck of a lot more modern than the "new" Impala. The aero "jellybean" look is getting old. I'm not sure I like the high beltline of the LX cars, but I'm certain that I don't like GM's dated W-body ("Mid-Lux"?) products.

3. With relatively narrom tires and stability control, the Charger RT might just be better in the snow that Chevy's Wimpala SS.

4. Like I've said before, the 2006 Impala will be a great USED car in a few months. A buyer with an Aveo sized budget should wait 12-18 months for a low mileage 2006 Impala SS. These cars will be great values for the SECOND owner.

The bottom line is that the '06 Impy/MC duo are artifacts from GM's past and the 2006 Charger RT is just a hint of even better things to come at Daimler-Chrysler.

 

Hey, goofball...

You coming out to MI for the NAIAS?

If so, schedule a day for you and I to meet for dinner. I'm buying.




PS - I hope it snows like it did last night. If so, I'm gonna give ya some FWD vs. RWD in the snow learnin'....

 

I think that it's one boat or the other. Either you want a FWD hauler so you can have the "benefit" of bad weather performance. Personally, on a modern RWD car with traction control, the advantage is minimal IMO. My current car doesn't feel any more stable in the rain than my Camaro did. But all of that aside, if someone's primary concern is bad weather safety, then they won't be looking at a high powered model of a certain car. If someone's concern is performance, they won't be looking at a FWD car. If people were really concerned about driving in the snow they'd go opt for the AWD car and leave FWD and RWD entirely. Which raises the good point, considering Magnum already has an AWD model, you can be pretty much certain that Charger will get AWD as an option as well.

Magnum RT AWD: $32,695

Figuring Charger to be $1-2K less, that should place it within $1000 or so of the new Impala SS.

So, a FWD 300hp Impala SS for $29,995, assuming the more complex DoD V8 didn't raise the price, or the larger, roomier, AWD, higher horsepower Charger RT AWD for around the same price?

Sorry, I don't see where Impala wins this comparison. Even with your limited "Well the high performance buyer who also needs to haul his family in the snow would pick Impala!" the DCX cars are offering better options at a comparable price. Why opt for FWD over RWD for performance? Why get FWD over AWD for safety? Why get the smaller car on the more dated platform for the same price?

Impala SS does not stack up to the competition. MC is available as a coupe? I'm sure there are a few drivers who would take a FWD lower hp coupe just because it has 2 doors, but not enough to make a significant impact. Impala SS is a big time miss. If you want a great example of how much the pricing is a miss, it's priced within $700 of the CTS.

 

and threads never go off topic here either, huh?

 

Michigan.

I'd love to have had all the RWD guys on I-75 this morning... about 8 inches last night, with a little freezing rain thrown in for good measure.

I learned to drive with a Chevrolet Monza hatch and my second car was a 1978 Grand Prix, so I'm no stranger where RWD and snow are concerned.



Nobody in Michigan slows down for rain.

 

Who wants to place bets?

I am willing to bet just about anything that the 2006 Impala will outsell the 2006 Charger.