Hard to do, I just took an SXT plus for a test drive with my checkbook in hand. The interior of the car was dreadful and the performance about on par with my bathtub.
I desperately wanted to like this car, I didn't even buy return airfare home (I had to fly 500 miles to a dealership), but I couldn't drop 32k on what turned out to be ...rubbish. While on the test drive, I realized I felt nothing, no joy or excitement, just a desire to go back to the dealership so I could get out of this awful terminally boring lump of a car. One whose interior styling had all the grace and refinement of a school bus. I'm no Ford fan but my brothers 2005 Mustang is vastly superior to this in every way EXCEPT exterior styling. I am still attracted to the exterior of Challenger, why did the rest of the car have to be so crummy?
If you like the car, buy it. The interior isn't "rubbish". And although it is the oldest of the group, it isnt that old compared to years past. Most people do not realize the MANY updates that have occurred inside the Challenger from 2012 and beyond.
Good luck,
Mike
The ocean of hard black plastic that makes up Challengers interior just doesn't cut it. MUSTANG also was full of plastic but at least tried to break up the colors a bit. My brother drove me the last 300km to the dealership in his new MKZ. An engine with less rated power than challengers. When you matted the MKZ you could feel the acceleration. Challengers old 5 speed doesn't have the gearing necessary to utilize its torque and get challenger moving. Outdated interior and tranny not good.
As for V6 performance, with new Camry's turning in 5.8 0-60, well what can I say? When mom's grocery getter has more street cred than your muscle car, it's time to back to the drawing board.
I think there is hope though. A lighter Fiat platform with the 3.6 and zf 8 speed, some attempt at an interior, and Barracuda might be worth the money.
The ocean of hard black plastic that makes up Challengers interior just doesn't cut it. MUSTANG also was full of plastic but at least tried to break up the colors a bit. My brother drove me the last 300km to the dealership in his new MKZ. An engine with less rated power than challengers. When you matted the MKZ you could feel the acceleration. Challengers old 5 speed doesn't have the gearing necessary to utilize its torque and get challenger moving. Outdated interior and tranny not good.
As for V6 performance, with new Camry's turning in 5.8 0-60, well what can I say? When mom's grocery getter has more street cred than your muscle car, it's time to back to the drawing board.
I think there is hope though. A lighter Fiat platform with the 3.6 and zf 8 speed, some attempt at an interior, and Barracuda might be worth the money.
The V6 is a touring car, not a muscle car. What did you expect????
The majority of the dash and the door panels are all soft touch. Obviously you didn't touch it. One color does not mean all one material.
This car isnt for you, please go buy something else.
Mike
Because Daimler forced it to be so.
When stacked up against the other refreshed models like the 300 and the Charger - heck, even the 200 and Avenger - the Challenger's interior really is starting to show it's age.
Age is one thing. Making assumptions on what the material used is quite another.
For instance, when the pics of the dash were first shown on autoblog the posters and writers assumed it was all hard plastic because it was all one color. If people would actually go feel and touch instead of assuming they would find the materials are much better than the internet perceives them to be.
Mike
Thinner seats? Redesigned trunk with compact spare? Just throwing ideas out.
If you don't like Challenger, get a Charger. Superior interior, superior transmission, superior acceleration and gas mileage, more space.
As for Mustang vs Challenger, yes, I'd say it's a tossup for the interior, which is why Camaro's doing so well!
The Camaro's retro dash is popular, the materials are not better by any means. It's too bad only the owners of the early cars appreciate the many subtle changes and upgrades that occurred to the Challenger interior that have nothing to do with the steering wheel.
Compact spare? Yuck. Well mine didn't have a spare anyway.
Mike
Edited by Mike V., June 8, 2012 at 01:08 pm.
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