The turkey’s been eaten, the football games have been shown, and all hands have tired of their close friends and relations by now. Around here, it’s generally accepted that laundry and family start to smell if they hang around for more than three days.
But never mind that. With Thanksgiving in the rear-view mirror, what car manufacturer are you most thankful for this year?
Mine’s easy, and not likely to surprise any reader in this audience. I’m most thankful for a company that continues to churn out boldly painted copies of cars and trucks with way too much horsepower.
There’s no doubt a good chunk of FCA’s portfolio is showing its age and that all these colors and outrageous outputs are a clever distraction. You won’t hear me complaining. Our 2012 Charger — a car which stands largely unchanged from brand new Chargers sitting in showrooms today, by the way — is every bit as reliable as any Camry or Accord. There’s nothing to indicate new versions are any different. There’s something to be said for an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it add more power” philosophy.
Family sedans with more horsepower than Lambos and Ferraris, not to mention the over-the-top go-faster stripes that surely adds 5 hp. Those stripes show up on big SUVs, too — SUVs with physics-defying levels of acceleration, some with SUPERCHARGED badges along their flanks.
FCA has the bonkers chapter of the aftermarket taken care of, too. Where else can hot-rodders browse a catalog for the part number of a 1,000 hp motor with the name Hellephant?
I’d wager more than a few of us, writers and readers alike, are emerging from this turkey-laden weekend with a bit more of wide body than just a few days ago. That’s alright — for this model year, FCA’s got a few widebody models of their own.
[Images: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]
Agree completely. FCA is the only maker shunning the cookie cutter habits of the rest of the industry.
Our 2012 Challenger R/T (Header Orange) is still doing fine at almost 100K, but I might be persuaded to trade it for the 392 with a shaker hood, wide body and go-fast stripes.
I agree, FCA is the only place where you can still find an oddball vehicle, too bad beside being odd they can be kind of crappy
Don’t get the FCA love. My car makes ~270 crank HP. Where are people deploying 2-3x more on the street? Silly willy waving.
I’m thankful for Honda. Their cars are usably fast, while getting great fuel economy, being able to turn a corner, offering stickshifts with the big engines, and being (mostly) reliable. In real life that actually matters. If I want an overpowered pig I can build and drive one in Forza. Gets old fast
Open test nights offered every Wednesday and Friday. It hasn’t gotten old yet.
But even beyond that, at least around where I live, there are way more places I can “use” 300+hp over places where I can “use” BRZ-style handling.
Regularly dipping into even a SRT 392’s power (let alone a Hellcat or more) or exploring the limits of grip of a BRZ = dick moves on the street
A run of the mill Honda/VW/Mazda can be fun without having to put the general public at risk.
You can get a Hellcat Challenger with a manual. Engines don’t get much bigger than that.
It’s not a dick move to use horsepower on an empty 4 lane road. There are still some of those left out there, at least on my commute. The only risk is to myself, a risk I gladly accepted when I bought a high horsepower car.
And I challenge anyone to tell me they can have the same kind of fun in a 200 hp family sedan as in a 600+ hp sport/muscle car, especially one with a 6-speed.
A Mazda6 or an Accord with three pedals on a twisty road can be surprisingly, surprisingly fun.
I have spent a ton of time behind the wheel of a Challenger SRT. I will tell you 100 percent that the 197 HP in my Fiesta ST is way more fun on any road and it isn’t close.
I’ve certainly enjoyed the Fiesta ST in my limited experience with driving one. To be fair, I’d hardly call it comparable to a “run of the mill Honda/VW/Mazda” which is what I was originally replying to.
That said, straight or twisty road, nothing I’ve ever driven brings a smile to my face like my 640 hp Viper. To each their own I suppose.
“To each their own I suppose.”
Yea. I know some people really love the Fiesta ST or 500 Abarth, but that kind of firecracker just isn’t what I’m into.
The FiST would be a very cramped car for four on a road trip.
There’s this misbelief out there that Chargers/Challengers can’t go around a corner. You talk about useful horsepower on the streets but that really isn’t any different than useful handling. My RT will run any corner at least 50% over the posted speed limit for the corner. They offer stick shifts through the hellcat. My RT has 50k miles and has had 0 trips to the dealer except for oil and the manual is solid and strong as ever (not always the case with Honda). I’ll give you mileage, but in “real life” your talking out your ass.
They go around a corner great…if you have never actually driven a car that is good at going around a corner.
There are those who judge “good” at going around a corner by other measures than just a stopwatch. HiPp Challengers can drift an onramp with the best of them, even if they do so at half the speed of a FiST staying properly glued.
What will be these cars replacements? FCA is not all that capable of in-house engineering anymore.
They are capable, they just have deployed alot of their capability to trucks and suvs. They also have the Giulia platform which is modular. FCA owns Ferrari and Maserati. I’m sure they have some engineering they can tap somewhere if they choose to.
I really wanted to have a 392 or a Road and Track package. I just got back from the local auto show. I sat in one and then I realized that because of the narrowness of the seat bottoms, ( and no, I am not 290lbs) I can fit in those seats. My legs would fall asleep after about 10-15 minutes of driving. I would have to yank out those seats and install some from the V6. I mean those seats have real narrow bottoms due to the side bolsters. Narrower than Civic Si, narrower than Camaro Z28, narrower than Toyobarus. Crazy for such a big car
Assuming you went to the show in Orlando, I think FCA only had the optional Alcantra seats on the floor. The base cloth seats offered in the 392 are more forgiving.
That said, my Stinger’s seats are more comfortable than what I’ve experienced in any Charger.
Yes Ajla, I did. And you are right, I sat in the Stinger as well. While there wasn’t much room for my head in the back seat, the fronts were very comfortable. A lot more so than whatever Charger had on the floor.
I’m big, built like a Gorilla, and had/have no problem with the seats in my ’08 Charger R/T, Challenger R/T, and my present ’18 Scatpack. Comfortable for hours.
Can I be thankful for hp in general?
When I was in elementary school a Corvette made 200 hp and all anyone could talk about was handling on a road course. Now I drive a 6 cyl CUV that makes 260+ hp and puts it to the ground via all 4 wheels.
Heck even my wife’s 4 cyl Terrain comes within spitting distance of the power output of the old “Don’t-Fire” injected Corvette V8.
This…so much. My freaking Fiesta is as fast as the king of the hill in my High School years Mustang GT andd will actually go around a corner and not kill me should I exit said corner. To get the capability of my F150 back then I’d have to get a 3/4 ton with a 460 which would still be slower and return saingle digit MPG as well.
We are in the golden age (well, not styling wise). I am afraid 1974 is right around the corner though.
That’s my fear as well.
The death of the non luxury sedan is enough to put me into a “malaise.”
I believe that you can have lots of motoring fun without gobs of horsepower.
To me the best example would be the Superkart racing class. 250cc/62 HP. Of course many other kart classes would outperform and out run a 400+ HP sport/muscle car. The 62 HP kart class specs are 0-60 < 3 secs top speed 155 mph.
For me it is how fast the car feels. I realize that is entirely subjective but no one should be engaging in contests of speed outside of the track.
Two muscle cars I have owned were a 1972 W108 MBZ 4.5l SEL sedan and a 1989 5.0 Fox body Mustang.
The Mercedes was heavier and had less horsepower. All the performance numbers for the Mustang were better but to me the Mercedes felt faster and more competent over most driving condition.
Ford. My Fiesta ST is the most fun I’ve ever had behind the wheel.
I’ve always thought that pushing the limits of ANY modern car on the street was an unsafe idea. My “need for speed” has always been satisfied in the air. I go 500mph for a living. I own ½ a share of a Pitts S2B. My car choices have reflected that for a long time, with cars that are lively enough to be entertaining, but not necessarily “fast”. Acura RSX-S, Accord 6MT. Key words, precision, reliability. But then a funny thing happened. A few weeks ago, the Executive aisle at National had a Challenger 5.7L sitting next to the usual choices. What the heck, give it a shot, right? Holy juvenile, tail happy fun, Batgirl. I found myself flappy paddling down through the gears just to listen to the ‘Murricha exhaust note. I definitely wasn’t approaching the car’s limits, but was certainly have a lot of Gun, Glide, Giggle fun. The seats were surprisingly comfortable, as was the highway ride. I probably wouldn’t want to drive one on the Tail of the Dragon, but where I live, the roads are all arrow straight for miles. The closest I ever get to a curvy road is the onramp to I95. When my wife saw me build and pricing a 392 Widebody, I got the raised eyebrow “Seriously, Dude?” look she usually saves for Fishing with Luiza videos. I dragged her along for a test drive. After some parking lot maneuvering and low speed roads, all she had to say was “It feels like it weighs 1000 pounds more than the Honda.” “Uh, more like 1200 actually, but you need to get it on the highway” Which is when another funny thing happened. Gun, Glide, Giggle hit her right between the eyes. “This thing is ridiculous.” “Yeah, that’s kind of the point.” “No, I mean it’s just so….American. So blatant. So poke in the eye.” “Precisely.” “No socially redeeming qualities whatsoever.” “Then why are you smiling so much?” More Gun Glide Giggle. More eye rolls and head shakes from her. After a few silent, post drive laps around it, she looked at me and the sales person and proclaimed “This is the Anti Prius.” A belly laugh and a “Yes, Ma’am” from the sales guy, followed by a finger point and a stare from her. “Destroyer Gray, Widebody, Six speed.” Another “Yes, Ma’am” from sales guy. Happy Thanksgiving, y’all.
Congrats! Nice choice. I’d go for B5 blue or plum crazy.
See, this guy gets it.
Enjoy your car.
You’ll love it. Most fun car I’ve ever had. I like a little pop, color wise:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/921/gW9jDY.jpg
Narrow body for me, I don’t like the way they did the flares at all on the widebody at all.
This is a golden age of horsepower – something I thought would never come back after growing up in the 1970s/1980s. Now I drive a V6 Mustang that would put a lot (but not all!) of those older muscle and sports cars to shame; where you can buy a V6 Camry or turbocharged Accord that comes close too
The Mustang GT is a whole ‘nother beast and will be my next car; unless a Dodge Challenger 392 comes my way.
I never dreamed that power would even equal the old muscle days, let alone exceed it, but here we are. And unlike back in 1970-71, I was in a position to get exactly the car I wanted, an ’18 Challenger R/T Scatpack. I love the damn thing. Just driving it makes me happy. The only negative about it is the HK stereo does not, IMHO, sound good at all. It’s got great bass, but IMHO, the “Sound Group II” stereo sounds better all around, except the bass. I’m probably going to change out the dash speakers to the same JL ones I had in my ’10 R/T and see if that helps.
A friend of mine bought an SRT Challenger in ’14, thinking his wife would want to drive the ’14 Mustang GT he had just bought and didn’t like much. He was wrong, and she almost immediately took over the Challenger, leaving him in the Mustang. That will change soon, the Mustang is about to be traded for a Challenger Scatpack Widebody. If he ends up ordering it, it will be Mango, but if he finds one on the lot equipped correctly, he will take a PCP, Torred, Yellow Jacket, or Octane Red one. I would bet he ends up with one by Monday night, probably from the dealer my car came from, who seems to know how to option a Challenger, unlike the dealers around here, who only option a car right if it’s silver, white, or black.