Challenge of 2009 Dodge Challenger: Resist the 'whee!'
— -- What can you say? The car was ready to go just as the bottom fell out from under the auto industry.
Can't sit on a new car, keep it tucked away. Got to jump and go, sell as many as you can. So here comes Dodge with the Challenger, a modern take on its 1970s muscle car of the same name.
A pretty convincing take, too. Some folks asked if it was a restoration and were delighted when told it was a brand-new model.
The only current rival is the Ford Mustang. The Chevrolet Camaro, promised by General Motors in 2010, would be a competitor.
Challenger is as impractical and aggravating to use as it is fun to drive. That conclusion is based on drive time in three regular-production test cars: SE V-6 automatic transmission, R/T Hemi V-8s with automatic and a six-speed manual.
Biggest attractions:
•Styling. It properly evokes the 1970-74 original and improves proportions and details. Designers say the long-hood, short-rear-deck look is the ultimate. It's why the Mustang looks terrific. Why Jaguar's XKE of yore ravished the eye and is in The Museum of Modern Art in New York. And why Challenger arrests the gaze.
The psychology behind that look: It gives the impression a car has a big, powerful engine that needs acres of hood to cover it. The appearance of a token trunk (Challenger's is actually ample) makes a car seem aimed at free-wheeling, free spirits who'll jump and go without much thought to packing.
Chrysler Vice President Larry Lyons is happy to note that small details from the original are recaptured for 2009, such as a character line that runs across the rear edge of the trunk lid (though, sadly, it is hidden by the trunk spoiler if you get the Hemi V-8 engine). And the sunken-headlight look.
•Drivetrain. The base V-6 is a spirited engine with a more-than-sufficient 250 horsepower. And the SE weighs about 220 pounds less than the R/T.
Thus, you might find the base car satisfying enough to stop right there. In its favor, the SE doesn't come with a trunk-lid air spoiler, as the R/T does, giving the SE a much cleaner, classier look.
