General DiscussionThis section contains general discussion about the new Dodge Challenger concept. If it does not fit into a more specific area, it probably belongs in here. (Dodge Challenger General Discussion)
Monday, April 14
Detroit Section Meeting Featuring the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8
Location: Cobo Center, Detroit MI Purchase Tickets
Join SAE Detroit Section for the special presentation of the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8. A social hour begins at 5:00 pm, followed by dinner at 6:00, and the feature presentation at 7:00. Engineers who played a key role in the development of the vehicles will lead the presentation. Bring along a friend or colleague and enjoy this opportunity to connect with other industry peers.
Make sure to bring a video camera - for all of us who can't be there !
Enjoy !!
__________________
2005 Mazda 6 GT MTX Sedan Black
1996 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra White
2004 Suzuki GSX R750 Blue/White
Guess I'm here for another toy hey !
So I'm going to this tonite. I got the video function on my Digital Camera ready to go. Didn't want to take my massive movie camera.
Anyone want me to ask any specific questions?
-phil
none of these are engineering per se but...
1. If the business/marketing types are present I'd be interested in how long they think the boomer muscle car trend will run and how long they plan to support the Challenger. Nothing lasts forever.
2. Any thoughts for other retro Mopar spinoffs - like umm, maybe a Roadrunner?
3. How do they view their competition - Mustang and Camaro.
4. Related to #1: How do they view the impact of rising fuel prices on the long term muscle car trend?
5. Any chance that buyers will ever be able to take delivery of their cars at the factory similar to how Porshe and other European buyers do?
Ok. I took lots o pictures and i got lots of low quality video from my little digital camera. I uploaded them to Youtube last nite. Most of the videos are of stuff we have seen, but there may be some things you don't already know.
During the socializing part, I wandered into the ballroom / reception hall where they were gonna be seating dinner and giving the presentation. They had the Challenger SRT 2009 up on the platform as well as the 2009 R/T and 2008 SRT out in the socializing room. They also had a Challenger T/A Six Pack on display over on the far side.
At this point, I was one of 4 people looking at the 2009 SRT on the stage and I happened to be standing next to two of the presenters, Chris Nowak - Lead Engineer & Kipp Owen - SRT Director. I introduced myself and talked to them for a little bit. They knew about the Dr. Z sweepstakes so they were pretty surprised to see 1 of the 3 winners there. It was a good ice breaker and they were very talkative. They both were pretty nice. And I got a few answers to some questions...
1. What was the rationale for shortening the front of the production from the prototype?
-They said they never did that. So i was a little surprised because I thought that was pretty well documented. Oh well. It looks shorter.
2. How long do you think this muscle car war is going to last?
-They hope that it will last a long long time.
3. The original only lasted 4 years. How long do you plan to support the new Challenger?
-They weren't really at liberty to talk about that, but they definitely gave the impression that this car will have a very very very good life cycle and that they are behind it 100%.
4. How will the rising gas prices impact a long term muscle car trend? -There is so much pent up desire for this car that initially they don't expect any problems at all. However, if gas starts going above $4 (which it will) they will definitely see some affect on sales. They think that most people will purchase the V6 model and then after market the hell out of it. (which is pretty much what I expected and planned to do before I got word of the R/T)
5. Are there any other plans for retro Mopar spinoffs?
-They were very mum about this. They were just nodding their heads, going Yeah, yea, yeah.... it's a possibility. Who knows. (this might be a good sign)
6. How do you view the competition?
-it will be tough, the Mustang and Camaro are great cars, but they are very confident they got a winner on their hands.
Most of the stuff they said, we pretty much knew already or were able to infer. They were very forthcoming and polite. As for how long the Challenger is around, how much gas prices will affect its cycle, and future Mopar spinoffs, its pretty safe to say that its whatever the market will bare. It all comes down to money and if they can keep turning a profit, they will keep producing it. There will always be a market for high performance vehicles in any type of economy. Below are a bunch of youtube videos of the SAE and a video I made of some fotos I took.
I too thank you for giving us these wonderful videos!! Great info to be found in these. A couple key things that stuck out to me:
1. At :24 in video 7 they make it pretty clear that those who had their heart set on Panther Pink can pretty much forget it.
2. In the same video at 1:59 - they list future upgrades and the slide lists "Guage Pod Kit" (cool!) , "768 watt Kicker upgrade" (ehhhh), and "functional hood". ALL of these are will be availiable to order when ordering the car.
3. The guy in video 5 ( Chris ***) needs to lay off the booze.
JFF
Last edited by JustForFun : 04-15-2008 at 12:57 PM.
Very cool thanks again. I was hoping to see something 'Cuda related down the road, especially in vid 7, ... Panther Pink Eh, not much of a seller then, even less now... Some of us will have to go aftermarket....
Either way, Thanks for the Ministry overlay on video 8 ..
Pretty much sums up why you either get it, or you dont... "Nobody with a good car needs to be justified."...
Last edited by RoostKing : 04-15-2008 at 03:09 PM.
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Re: SAE Detroit : SRT Challenger
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