More Rumors

[BANANA2387]

Yes - I read that regarding the 1st year production, since I'm a member of that forum. Personally, I would also wait until after all the hype is over and not pay a premium for it.

[Cuda340]

There are a lot of rumors flying around about the Challenger. Here are some posts from chargerforums:

Rumor #1: Several hundred 3.5 & 4.0 (with MDS) Challengers have already been paid for by some dealers and will be the first to ship out. There is also a 5.7 and 6.1 SRT.

Rumor #2: Only SRT Challengers will be built in 2008.

Rumor #3: There will be 1,500 SRTs.

Rumor #4: There will be 5,000 SRTs.

Rumor #5: The 2008 SRT 6.1 Challengers will have only 3 options: navigation, stripes, and a sunroof.

Rumor #6: There will be five speed manual and automatics (no six speed). A 6-speed manual may be an option but a 5 speed manual will be produced.

Rumor#7: The 2009 SRT will have a 6.4.

What can you believe??

[xs29j8]

Rumors from the ChallengerForums:

Challenger launches in Spring 08. Everyone knows that by now.

Initial launch includes the V-6. It will be priced below the comparably powered Mustang.

One other engine available at launch: 6.1L Hemi with 435HP (not a typo - that's a 10HP rating jump over the current SRT-8).

Price of the 6.1L Hemi will be under the price of a convertible Mustang GT.

The "Big Engine" will be "available in '09."

Confirmed colors at launch are:

B-5 Blue
Hemi Orange
Sublime Green

All information guaranteed!

From a new member, but in fairly good agreement with what I was recently told...

XS

[XJameson]

Originally Posted by xs29j8

Rumors from the ChallengerForums:



From a new member, but in fairly good agreement with what I was recently told...

XS

this is EXCELLENT news. Thank you!

[bobio1080]

This is great news man. Thanks for posting. I take it the "Big Engine" for '09 is the 6.4L or something....

[xs29j8]

Originally Posted by bobio1080

This is great news man. Thanks for posting. I take it the "Big Engine" for '09 is the 6.4L or something....

Yes, its good news... IF true. Until officially announced by Chrysler, it is still just a rumor. I wasn't told anything on pricing, other than it would be "very competitive" with the Mustang & Camaro. Also, my source said the 4.0L V6 would not be part of the initial vehicle launch, but would be available soon after. I was also told that the annual production would be "up to 100,000" units.

Once again, it is just a rumor!!!

Another tidbit from a thread on another forum by a forum member working at a Chrysler vendor on interior parts:

Said they need to be making parts by October.

One odd thing is they said the rear qtr trim panels were symetrical. Said these are the only symetrical parts they can remember doing.

Said the rear armrests are padded black. Didn't get to see what the interior colors are if there are more than one.

Also:

You guys should SEE the dash, the dash upgrade options and the interior colors and seat options. The dash has the coolest [edited out] never thought I'd see those on a PRODUCTION car. You can even hook your [edited out].

The guy had posted copies of related paperwork, but quickly removed them when others suggested that could put his job at risk...

XS

[firstmethod]

This sounds like good news. I hope they have at least 4 interior colors to choose from. Six would be fabulous.

[sniper226]

The dash has the coolest [edited out] never thought I'd see those on a PRODUCTION car. You can even hook your [edited out].

I hope that means radio. IMOHO, car manufacturers have been behind the curve in terms of flexibility of hooking up digital players. I think a really cool feature with be a card reader slot as well which you can simply plug your compact flash card in. There may be some radios that do this now but none that I know of. It can't be that hard to incorporate a card reader and don't understand why nobody has already done it...
Maybe I should and patent it...

[Cuda340]

This article appeared in the on-line Car and Driver:

"Dodge Challenger and Chrysler Imperial, but not ’Cuda, are slated for production.

BY ALISA PRIDDLE, PHOTOGRAPHY BY PATRICK CARRAHER FOR BRENDA PRIDDY & COMPANY
June 2007

That thing has a Hemi—making it hard for our spy photographer to get anything but a rear shot of the speeding 2008 Dodge Challenger caught testing.

Camo aside, we didn’t expect to see much deviation from the Challenger concept that first bowed at the 2006 North American International Auto Show. Chrysler then kept us hanging until the announcement a year ago confirming it would make the retro muscle car, but we’re supposed to wait until February 6—next year’s Chicago auto show—for the production car’s public debut.

Word on the street is that the R/T versions already are spoken for. We’re not surprised. Last July’s news the car had the green light caused a traffic jam on the Chrysler website, with a spokesman reporting 268,000 web clicks on the Challenger the day of the announcement.

Chrysler will build the muscle car at its Brampton, Ontario, Canada, plant as the two-door muscle car shares the rear-wheel-drive LX platform that underpins the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Dodge Magnum. The Challenger is to launch in April 2008 as an ’08 model—not an ’09—for reasons the automaker has not yet disclosed. That might mean it technically will ride on the next-gen LY rear-drive architecture.

The Canadian plant also is expected to build a production model of the frighteningly styled Chrysler Imperial, also shown at the 2006 Detroit auto show, which some called a poor-mans’ Rolls-Royce Phantom. The low-volume Imperial would be positioned as a premium vehicle above the Chrysler 300 and serve as the brand flagship.

Canadian Auto Union workers agreed to workplace concessions earlier this year to secure the Imperial contract and the automaker plans to spend about $660 million prior to the start of production in summer 2009. The Imperial would ride on a stretched version of the LX/LY architecture—as opposed to the modifications for the 300C Walter P. Chrysler Executive Series long-wheelbase livery vehicle.

Meanwhile, the Challenger likely will be offered with a choice of three powertrains: a V-6 (current generation at least initially as the new Phoenix V-6 family does not go into production until 2009), as well as a choice of the 5.7-liter or 6.1-liter Hemi V-8. That roughly mimics the mix of V-6 and V-8 power offered by its competitors, the Ford Mustang and the 2009 Chevy Camaro.

Chrysler has not said if the Challenger will be offered with a manual transmission, and Eric Ridenour, Chrysler chief operating officer, has said no convertible is planned.

But a Street and Racing Technology version of the Challenger is very possible, and the automaker could decide to launch a Challenger SRT-8 simultaneously with the conventional version.

The business case for the Challenger pegs it as a niche vehicle with a short lifecycle, but Chrysler officials have said they are open to the possibility of a mid-cycle refresh or second generation, if warranted.

As for rumors of the return of the ’Cuda from the same platform (presumably as a Chrysler now that Plymouth is defunct), Ralph Gilles, vice president of Jeep, truck, and component design, was not hot on the idea in a recent conversation with Car and Driver.

“I can see it being done as aftermarket, but not something we would do lightly as a production model,” Gilles says, for a number of reasons. One: You don’t mess with history. Secondly, the hot designer thinks, in many ways, that the Challenger was a better design than the ’Cuda. Third, and probably most importantly, he wants the new Challenger to have its day in the sun—unfettered."

Source: http://www.caranddriver.com/carnews/...hallenger.html

[georgejetson]

Originally Posted by Cuda340

There are a lot of rumors flying around about the Challenger. Here are some posts from chargerforums:

Rumor #1: Several hundred 3.5 & 4.0 (with MDS) Challengers have already been paid for by some dealers and will be the first to ship out.

Completely false, or so I hear. Don't believe it unless a dealer principal tells you otherwise. V6 Challengers will have the 3.5 HO, at least at first. No 4.0. And I haven't heard anything definite, but I would bet heavily that the VERY first cars off the line will be Hemi-powered, not V6s.

Rumor #2: Only SRT Challengers will be built in 2008.

For model year 08, which is going to last about three months, all cars will supposedly be 6.1s with automatic transmission. They will probably be called R/Ts, not SRTs, and are unlikely to have SRT-type aggressive suspensions, Brembos, etc. They will also not have SRT price tags, and should start around $31k.

Rumor #3: There will be 1,500 SRTs.

Rumor #4: There will be 5,000 SRTs.

I expect them to build to meet demand, whatever that turns out to be. I automatically assume that anyone saying they'll be "limited" or "collectors items" is either a dealer trying to scare people into coughing up deposits or somebody who got his info from a guy like that. There's a guy in the Vette community who is (or should be) notorious for this... all the rumors about the Blue Devil being "limited" and "one year only" trace back to him, and he sells Vettes for a living... but I digress.

Just as with the SRT Chargers, if you want one and are willing to wait, you'll get one... but you might have to wait a while.

Rumor #5: The 2008 SRT 6.1 Challengers will have only 3 options: navigation, stripes, and a sunroof.

Hadn't heard that, but I believe it. I have heard they'll all be auto trans, as noted above, and that colors will be limited (but will include B-5, Sublime, and Hemi Orange, and possibly others.)

Rumor #6: There will be five speed manual and automatics (no six speed). A 6-speed manual may be an option but a 5 speed manual will be produced.

What I heard is that a 6spd will be made available on the 6.1s only starting with the MY09s, about three months into production. (The five-speed rumor apparently traces to a mistake by a clueless reporter a while back.)

Rumor#7: The 2009 SRT will have a 6.4.

The SRT, when it arrives, will have a Hemi bigger than 6.1, and it will apparently arrive during calendar year 09, model year 2010. Look for it to debut at the 09 NAIAS (along with the convertible). The engine might be the 6.4, might be something else, but whatever it is will be potent.