MT Technical Director Frank Markus tests the three 2009 Dodge Challenger variants - SE
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MotorTranscript
00:00 I'm Frank Marcus with Motor Trend and I'm sitting in the newest Dodge Challenger to
00:08 hit the roads, the V6 automatic car.
00:11 $21,995 buys you 250 horsepower, 250 pound feet of torque.
00:15 How does it compare with the V8s?
00:19 Best way to find out is a drag race.
00:22 [Music]
00:30 Countdown for three, four, three, two, one.
00:35 [Music]
01:04 Of course, these cars aren't all about acceleration.
01:09 There's also handling and braking to be considered.
01:12 So, we're taking a spin on the Motor Trend figure eight course to assess the transitional
01:17 behavior, max lateral grip and the acceleration and braking into and out of turns.
01:23 This is a big car for 250 horsepower and 250 pound feet of torque.
01:29 So, accelerating out of the turns is a lot less traumatic than we're going to find in
01:35 the V8s, I believe.
01:36 Sure enough, you can smoke the tires with the RT.
01:38 Shaves about a second off of the figure eight time, but the ESP system can't be turned off
01:43 completely.
01:44 Of course, the SRT8 does allow you to turn ESP off completely and smoke the tires like
01:48 a drift king.
01:49 If you stick to the program, though, you can shave another second off of the RT's already
01:53 great figure eight time.
01:54 So, basically, we're finding that you do get what you pay for, saving about eight grand
01:59 or so for the base car over the RT.
02:03 You get a car that doesn't handle nearly as sharply and crisply.
02:06 [Music]
02:10 Well, we've driven all three Challengers.
02:11 What did we learn?
02:12 Well, for 22 grand, the base car buys you all the retro styling, the stairs on the road,
02:17 the best fuel economy of the bunch, but kind of poor performance.
02:20 You have to pay 20,000 more almost for this SRT8, and you do get tremendous sound, the
02:25 best tire smoking, but you pay a lot at the pump.
02:28 That's why we think the best bet is the RT.
02:30 For only 8,000 over the base car, you get terrific performance, all that great sound,
02:35 and only one MPG on the city down on the performance.
02:38 So, that's our favorite, the Dodge Challenger RT.
02:41 [Music]
02:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]