Challenger? Jim Press Barely Knows Her
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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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."