Dodgy Geezer's new Dodge...
Discussion
hi all after a suitable name change, following a new car purchase I thought I'd start a new "Reader's Cars" thread here. My old Yank thread is below (on the off-chance anyone wants to read about my lovely [#notbiasedatall] SS Camaro
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I guess that the first thing to say is that the Camaro is, eventually, on the way out not because it's a bad car (it's actually bloody good) or a slow one (it's actually quicker than its replacement) or even that I'm bored with it (I'm not); the problem for me is that I promised myself a Challenger for my 50th (that ship has sailed!) and a few financial bumps prevented that from happening. I guess in one regard I'm lucky that my dream car isn't something exotic costing £100k plus, my dream-cars are in all honesty 'blue collar American heroes' - aka muscle and/or pony cars.
For the past 13 years or so I've wanted a Challenger and just when I thought I could get one the goal posts changed... twice! Firstly redundancy struck aged 48 and again 2 weeks after my 50th then Dodge introduced a facelift for the Challenger when it went from being merely very good looking to (IMO) totally desirable, to the point I honestly can't think of much (anything?) this side side of £100k that I would prefer. That's not to say that there is nothing from a performance perspective that could totally piss on my chips without even trying (there are LOADS of cars out there that could do that and at a far lesser price!), but for me that would be to miss the point. And my point was I wanted something to looked very different to most European stuff on the road, I wanted big comfy seats and some "point and squirtability".
So without any further ado,,, my 2019 Challenger R/T Shaker
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I guess that the first thing to say is that the Camaro is, eventually, on the way out not because it's a bad car (it's actually bloody good) or a slow one (it's actually quicker than its replacement) or even that I'm bored with it (I'm not); the problem for me is that I promised myself a Challenger for my 50th (that ship has sailed!) and a few financial bumps prevented that from happening. I guess in one regard I'm lucky that my dream car isn't something exotic costing £100k plus, my dream-cars are in all honesty 'blue collar American heroes' - aka muscle and/or pony cars.
For the past 13 years or so I've wanted a Challenger and just when I thought I could get one the goal posts changed... twice! Firstly redundancy struck aged 48 and again 2 weeks after my 50th then Dodge introduced a facelift for the Challenger when it went from being merely very good looking to (IMO) totally desirable, to the point I honestly can't think of much (anything?) this side side of £100k that I would prefer. That's not to say that there is nothing from a performance perspective that could totally piss on my chips without even trying (there are LOADS of cars out there that could do that and at a far lesser price!), but for me that would be to miss the point. And my point was I wanted something to looked very different to most European stuff on the road, I wanted big comfy seats and some "point and squirtability".
So without any further ado,,, my 2019 Challenger R/T Shaker
GappySmeg said:
finlo said:
What does the sticky out of bonnet bit do as the air filter is in the engine bay?
I second this question! Your photo shows an air filter (CAI style) so what's the sticky out bit actually do?
does the extra intake actually do anything (except looking pretty funky) - not really (though people are still arguing about that) but, again, I'm a big kid and it's a pretty damn cool tribute to the '70s.
As an aside, you can't really see that well but both inner headlights are actually air-tunnels.
Edited by DodgyGeezer on Saturday 29th May 22:02
croyde said:
Very nice. Did you import it?
no, was thinking about it but despite the dollar going in our favour the values of used cars in the US seems to be going mad so I could have saved some by importing but not enough to make me consider the risk and delay worthwhile. Funnily enough it ended up being one of the shortest trips I've ever made to buy a car 
hemidom said:
Saw you on the facebook group, you've definitely chosen the right colour (although they look amazing in all the different options!). Enjoy it 
Here's mine https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=19...
very nice indeed! I'll admit that I was tempted to look for an SRT rather than 'just' a standard Hemi but I couldn't justify (or indeed afford) the extra cost. The options list for this was the clincher in the end, I'll try and dig it out laterHere's mine https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=19...
Just a quick update here. Took a relaxing little drive out on Saturday decided to take it easy (60-70mph) and was (pleasantly) surprised to find out I was chugging along at c.36mpg.
I know that you don't buy a 'muscle car's with a (relatively) large engine and heavy (over 2,000kg) and expect stellar fuel economy but that was a genuinely pleasant surprise - what's even better is the car currently has 1,900miles and so the engine still has a bit more to give
I know that you don't buy a 'muscle car's with a (relatively) large engine and heavy (over 2,000kg) and expect stellar fuel economy but that was a genuinely pleasant surprise - what's even better is the car currently has 1,900miles and so the engine still has a bit more to give
croyde said:
I'd hate to think what an old school Challenger from the 60s/70s would do 
There are 2 issues with the old-school cars:- lack of 4 speed (in some cases even 3 speed!!) gearboxes (only talking autos here)
- carbs rather than EFI
They're never going to be great but, I think, those 2 changes (as a 'sympathetic' modification) would make a HUGE difference.
why can't we have adverts like this? Talk about making your product (even more) desirable
https://youtu.be/RdFng9W_tek
https://youtu.be/RdFng9W_tek
well it's been a year and I'm ashamed to say I didn't drive it as much as I should have done these last 12 months (about 2300 miles) partly due to the then insurance policy (3,000 miles per annum), partly not as much opportunity (working and having 2 other cars to use) and partly/weirdly it felt too nice to put miles on it. Well it's semi change this year. Now being retired there's a lot more opportunity to use it (albeit petrol prices are currently wince inducing!) and the 3rd car may well be turfed out as not really needed.
I've put a few little personalised 'accents' on the Challenger, not a whole lot (as you can see below) and in a week or so the the exhaust will get a minor tweak. Other than that I'm likely going to leave as is (can't afford to change the alloys at this point and I'm happy enough with the power output, even though it's only 372hp)
As was:
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As was:
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As was:
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I've put a few little personalised 'accents' on the Challenger, not a whole lot (as you can see below) and in a week or so the the exhaust will get a minor tweak. Other than that I'm likely going to leave as is (can't afford to change the alloys at this point and I'm happy enough with the power output, even though it's only 372hp)
As was:
Now:
As was:
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As was:
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As was:
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I know it's kinda missing the point but had a (roughly) 200 mile journey today, including some horrible traffic near Heathrow and returned the below:
On the face of it not too much to write home about - but then convert thst to imperial and you're looking at over 38mpg. Not too shabby imo
On the face of it not too much to write home about - but then convert thst to imperial and you're looking at over 38mpg. Not too shabby imo
Well here's a real shocker for me relating to mpgs, and an addendum to the preciously posted economy pic.... recently came back from Cheshire and decided I'd take it easy (seriously CBA) and so stuck to roughly 57mph for the entire trip and was amazingly lucky to hit very little traffic (A50/M1/A14/M11/M25/A12).
Even if the measurements were in imperial it would be impressive...
I suppose it's travelling down the country, going up would mean the engine working more
Even if the measurements were in imperial it would be impressive...
I suppose it's travelling down the country, going up would mean the engine working more
RazerSauber said:
My full on dream car is one of these. I'd be happy with any V8 version. I'm after the "budget" end ones with the 5.7 V8, or the 6.1 if something pops up. Having just bought a house though, it's a long way away from happening.
This looks stunning. With 42mpg, I could even convince the other half that it'll save me money
Just tell her that that's US gallons... This looks stunning. With 42mpg, I could even convince the other half that it'll save me money
rix said:
I've always thought these are the best resolved version of the retro styled muscle car. Stunning! How is it living with LHD?
in all honesty, as probably all Yank owners will attest, most people will be fine with LHD after the first 5 mins (if you've ever driven in France/Europe you'll know what I mean). There are some irritations obviously, things like ticket kiosks but (especially for a fun/weekend car) these are liveable - one thing that may cause people to baulk is that it's a smidge over 5m long and fewer insurance companies are interested.Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff