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Just bought my NEW Challenger! - opinions here

3K views 25 replies 23 participants last post by  justindo 
#1 ·
Hi all. After 7 hours of negotiating for a R/T with the chrome rims I finally made the deal. Got it for $7,000 off MSRP. Drove home in my new Challenger R/T today! Orange with black hood stripes. 6-speed manual. This car is so much fun to drive it's addicting. Unlike many other sports cars I've owned (including a '07 Corvette) this car is not stiff, it is so comfortable to drive you can use it to commute or as a daily driver. And with 400 horses to play with and a 6-speed manual, I'm having too much fun. Burning out at red lights and ripping up the road. Unfortunately I'm getting around 11mpg on the gas. I get comments everywhere I go. Glad I chose the 6-speed man... an auto would completely take the fun away.

Just a few cons I'd like to point out:

1. Biggest of them all...parking brake isn't a lever but a foot pedal. That sucks. Too many pedals down there with a manual. Plus my foot rubs the sidewall of the car. It would be much easier to have a lever.

2. Radio - too basic. No satelite available on the R/T (but is on other models???). Could have better audio system/stereo. Stereo is same size as other models I don't know why no satelite??? Why is radio so cheesey?

3. No LED lights. Most new high end cars, especially from overseas, now have LED tail lights. That tail light assembly would be killer if it was all LEDs.

4. Instrument cluster is same as all other Chryslers. Should be different and like years past should have volts and oil pressure guages. I guess it's cheaper to have idiot lights instead of gauges and put the same instrument cluster in all the cars.
 
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#4 ·
I have satellite radio and Nav in my R/T
 
#7 ·
sounds like you are already enjoying your car... cool.!

1. Biggest of them all...parking brake isn't a lever but a foot pedal. That sucks. Too many pedals down there with a manual. Plus my foot rubs the sidewall of the car. It would be much easier to have a lever.
Not enough room on the center console for it I guess


2. Radio - too basic. No satelite available on the R/T (but is on other models???). Could have better audio system/stereo. Stereo is same size as other models I don't know why no satelite??? Why is radio so cheesey?
All radios come with SAT... dealer has to activate it


3. No LED lights. Most new high end cars, especially from overseas, now have LED tail lights. That tail light assembly would be killer if it was all LEDs
For 2011 the tail lights are LED on the Charger. I don't think they got around to changing it on the Challenger yet. I am sure they will for 2012.

4. Instrument cluster is same as all other Chryslers. Should be different and like years past should have volts and oil pressure guages. I guess it's cheaper to have idiot lights instead of gauges and put the same instrument cluster in all the cars.
Cost savings and simplier to design as the Challenger and Charger share the platform and alot of parts.
 
#8 ·
Congrats on the car! I've had my 6 speed R/T for almost a year and never get tired of driving it. You're right about the driveability. I've driven mine to Colorado, Texas, and Arkansas and the car is a pleasure even on 2500+ mile trips.

Need to post some pics of the car!
 
#10 ·
grats on the new ride. sounds like you're really enjoying it
with the Challenger the +'s FAR outweigh any -'s I have
 
#11 ·
Well done on the price. It's definitely dealing time with the '11's coming. I hope others take note and don't overpay. Different in different cities/states.

6th speed is your mileage gear. You can get close to 26 mpg if you cruise at 70mph or so and light on the pedal, but hey....that's not what you bought it for. 11mpg??? That's getting close to the single digits I can see when I'm all blower scaring farm animals ;-) You clearly like the go pedal...

HemiSam
 
#13 ·
Congrats on joining the rockstar club. Sounds like you didn't investigate the options much. The higher sound group options are very nice. The missing gauges are available on the EVIC if you got one. Sorry, but it sounds like you bought a stripped R/T and upset a little that it's not loaded. Don't worry, you got all the performance without the fluff and saved a bunch of coin. You an do your own aftermarket audio and add a Trinity and still have some bucks for other mods.

As for mileage, you can't brag about burnoose and complain about mileage at the same time! You should get 25 or so on the hwy and that's just awesome!
 
#14 ·
Congrats on the car and welcome. You could have gotten up to a RER MYGIG Nav Radio/Uconnect/ Sat. with 7 speakers. That's what my RT has. It depends on what kinda radio you got on how hard it would be to upgrade. There's alot of people that get stripped down SEs and upgrade everything. I'm sure you can find upgrade instructions under search or post a thread and some one like SS Dodge(Tony) will help you out. He's done about all mods.
 
#17 ·
:burnout:Congrats and that's some dealing! That new grin you got won't ever come off your face! I've had mine 7 months and still rarely have the stereo on. It's just too much fun listening to it when I'm running her through the gears. Mine's a 27F package, just about as "stripper" as you can get and it's just what I wanted.
 
#19 ·
I've had LEDs in mine for about a year and a half with no problems. I wish that I didn't have that ugly satellite antenna on my roof either. Welcome.
 
#20 ·
Glad I chose the 6-speed man... an auto would completely take the fun away.
....it's all a matter of preference. I felt the same way about the STP - Super Track Pack. I wouldn't have bought an R/T without it.

Just a few cons I'd like to point out:

1. Biggest of them all...parking brake isn't a lever but a foot pedal. That sucks. Too many pedals down there with a manual. Plus my foot rubs the sidewall of the car. It would be much easier to have a lever.
I don't mind the foot brake so much but I wish it would auto-release like some other makes/models.

2. Radio - too basic. No satelite available on the R/T (but is on other models???). Could have better audio system/stereo. Stereo is same size as other models I don't know why no satelite??? Why is radio so cheesey?
....like BayouTiger mentioned, it sounds like you may not have been informed about all of the available options. There's the RER (CD/DVD/HDD/Nav/Sat/UConnect), HID headlamps, sound group package, EVIC, the STP I mentioned, etc. ....I have pretty much all of the options with the exception of the sunroof.

3. No LED lights. Most new high end cars, especially from overseas, now have LED tail lights. That tail light assembly would be killer if it was all LEDs.
....I guess it depends on what you consider "high end". LED tail lamps can be found on cars of varying cost these days. Depending on how it was done, I can see how it would look pretty cool.

4. Instrument cluster is same as all other Chryslers. Should be different and like years past should have volts and oil pressure guages. I guess it's cheaper to have idiot lights instead of gauges and put the same instrument cluster in all the cars.
If you have the EVIC, you have the ability to check tire pressures, oil pressure, oil temp, water temp, volts and a few other things.

Congrats on the purchase and I'm glad you're enjoying the car so far.
 
#23 ·
I don't need the satelite radio. I'm canceling sirius anyway in a few months when howard stern retires. Heck, I find myself turning the radio off all the time just to hear that engine roar!

I'm getting a lot of compliments on the car too. And usually get challenged at red lights by pick up trucks and the 45 year old pizza delivery guy with the 1985 ford escort. Let's not even talo about what happens when a camaro or mustang pulls up next to me.
 
#25 ·
Congrats on your new car! I think my stereo/nav is killer! When I open the sunroof and turn up Sirius Hair Nation I feel like I'm 18 and my hair is down to my shoulders again! After 10 months I still grin like an idiot when I drive it.
 
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