You know, we give Autoblog a lot of grief for being the auto industry's bitch. And deservedly so. But every now and then the website of record gets a sudden rush of testosterone that makes us proud to share the autoblogosphere. Today's Detroit Free Press carries a boilerplate auto show story involving one former Toyota Prez (Jim Press) and one rear wheel-drive muscle car (Dodge Challenger SRT8). Price, waiting list, Mustang throwdown ("We'd rather run like a thoroughbred than ride like a pony"), yada yada yada. And then Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press has his say. And then Autoblog's Damon Lavrinc takes the Chrysler exec to the woodshed. "Press expounded on the Challenger's virtues, saying that the SRT8 has a higher top speed (170 mph) than BMW's M5. Kind of a misnomer considering that the M5's speed limiter keeps the BMW sedan below 155 mph – unleashed, it has the potential of doing 205 mph. The Freep also quoted Press as saying that the Challenger has more torque than the Porsche 911 Turbo. Ummm… no. The 6.1-liter Hemi V8 produces 420 lb.-ft. of twist compared to the 911 Turbo's 460 lb.-ft….'When you sit inside, it makes you feel younger and richer than you are.' Younger? Maybe. Richer? Not quite Mr. Press. We've seen the interior and it's hardly what you'd call luxurious, let alone exciting." You go boy!
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Well at least he’s finally fibbing for an American company. And I see his previous employer is still damn good at it without Jim’s help.
‘When you sit inside, it makes you feel younger and richer than you are.’
I.e. if you buy one, you’re an poor, old fart who’s going through his midlife crisis and lives and dies based on the C&D and R&T datasheets of the car.
Great way to market a vehicle, Jim!
I guess we know why Toyota didn’t shed any tears when he left.
wow… how did you find/get posted that raw footage?
(“We’d rather run like a thoroughbred than ride like a pony”),
Five years too late.
Wow. Autoblog starting to bake things up extra crispy. Much tastier.
LOL at it being faster than an M5…this thing is being advertised in the 13s, and M5 can cut twelves stock.
an M5 can reach 205mph? right…
Not surprising that the Motor Trend and Edmunds first drives would not be mentioned. They both gushed over the car and both thought the interior was more than adequate and an improvement to the LX line.
As far as the M5, if you want to spend 95K so that you can get a coffee maker and leather dash to go with your 205MPH (LOL) car, be my guest. I would rather spend 40K on a Challenger any day and twice on Sundays.
And SRT8 300Cs and Chargers can do 12s stock, if you’d like a video, let me know. I do not think Challenger will have any problem doing the same.
Allow me to once again beat the dead horse.
Given the trend with concerns on mpg, perhaps instead of comparing performance that means nothing outside of a track or autobahn, these guys would build some cars that are simply fun to drive without having loads of legally useless power? Pony cars are already yesterday. I wish it were not so. What the market is aching for is someone to bring back cars with the soul of cars like the 2002 and 240Z.
The miata was a hit because the only thing wrong with the old MG and Fiat convertibles was reliability. You can make a hoon mobile with 125 to 150 HP, decent torque, and some nice looks. It CAN be done. Maybe the guy who pushed the Miata through is still around somewhere?
There are cars that are close, and they are selling. But the homerun has yet to be hit. The Fit is a stand up triple. Make something close with better looks and you have a winner.
I agree with landcrusher.
One of the most fun cars I’ve owned was a 1991 Integra, with 140 bhp. Tossable, quick enough, and great gas mileage.
Virtual Insanity :
LOL at it being faster than an M5…this thing is being advertised in the 13s, and M5 can cut twelves stock.
The M5 is fine if you to spend over $75k and deal with that nefarious I-Drive.
Gentlemen, I don't think the point of Mr. Lavrinc's post was that the M5 is a better car than the Challenger. He was simply pointing out that the extremely well-paid Jim Press is factually-challenged.
M5. Over rated. Over priced.
I don’t think the point of Mr. Lavrinc’s post was that the M5 is a better car than the Challenger. He was simply pointing out that the extremely well-paid Jim Press doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
That’s a lot more generous than I would have been. I was just assuming that Mr. Press is a liar, and is ethically challenged enough to willingly make public statements that are easily shown to be inaccurate.
If you haven’t read Landcrusher’s comment above, scroll up and read it. Right on target.
RF: Great numbers!
‘When you sit inside, it makes you feel younger and richer than you are.’
Yes, and with a truly large, hard great communicator that makes women break out in dithyrambs
1971 – HemiCuda
2008(?) – HemiChallenger
Same concept, same inept timing. (And no, the HemiChallenger will never be worth 7 figures)
Landcrusher has it right. The car exec’s have simply got to realize that old performance measures are increasingly invalid, and that the market isn’t going for vehicles such as “The Challenger” – it’s an elephant at a horse race.
Performance used to be “take a lot of energy and convert it into instant acceleration to multiples of the speed limit.”
It’s going to be: “Take a decent serving of energy and convert it into as many miles as possible. within the speed limit.”
Landcrusher :
The miata was a hit because the only thing wrong with the old MG and Fiat convertibles was reliability. You can make a hoon mobile with 125 to 150 HP, decent torque, and some nice looks. It CAN be done.
Indeed it CAN. My 1993 Miata was a great car, and only had 116 HP. I put nearly 140K on it in 10 years’ time. It was my emergency backup car when I drove a Vette.
The fact that I NEEDED an emergency backup car was my first clue that the Vette wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
The Miata never needed an emergency backup…
‘When you sit inside, it makes you feel younger and richer than you are.’
I think I would feel poorer given the price they are asking. I’ll take a Mustang to get a dose of nostalgia and more speed than I really need for less $$, and I’m not even a big Ford fan. In reality, if I wanted just a fun car, I would either get a true classic from the 60’s or earlier or a Mazda Miata with the hard top or, if I had the money, a Honda S2000. I thought the Challenger concept looked great, but not $40k great.