f13.net

2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 arrives at $37,995 (http://www.autoblog.com/2007/11/29/2008-dodge-challenger-srt8-to-start-at-37-995/)

Goddamn that car is so understatedly sexy....

(http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2007/11/challengerloulous.jpg)




KITT to played by a Mustang (http://www.autoblog.com/2007/11/29/shelby-gt500kr-confirmed-as-new-k-i-t-t/)

Everytime I see one of these GT500KR's, I just want to hump it in each exhaust pipe.

(http://www.uncrate.com/men/images/2007/04/shelby-gt500kr.jpg)

If I didn't think my wife would divorce me, I'd have a deposit on one right now.

Wait.....

The first pic, he looks like he's saying  :oh_i_see:

Uh, almost 40k for a Challenger. Boo. That's not in the spirit of the Duke boys. Hell, the new Vettes start around 45-46. They should have targeted the Mustang crowd. GT's start at like, what, 25-30?

[edit]

Almost looks like they took some cues from Joe Rogan's Sickfish (Cuda, same difference..)... Err, except that car kills just about everything.

(http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/2721/sickfishplymouthbarracuym2.jpg)

Edit: Ookii fixed your broke ass image

I picked up my 97 GT Mustang for $24k with most of the options. Obviously, I got it in manual because automatic sportscars are for pussys. I'd imagine a new model today would be about $30 with similar options.

As the proud former owner of an '82 Firechicken, I say that this is just fucking wrong.

Yeah, I have to agree.

You don't replace KITT with a Mustang, even if the Mustang is sharks with frickin' laser beams in their heads cool.

While the new Mustangs LOOK very nice, they handle like garbage.  I had the opportunity to drive one over the weekend on a recent work trip and it made me really appreciate my GTI.  Too sloppy into corners, sluggish out of them, and braking that made me cry.  Hell, I think my 69 mach I handled better.

That's odd.

Most magazines rated them very highly in the handling department, especially considering the old tech involved with them (live axle rear).  I think the live axle is what contributed to some of the slop you felt, along with the overall weight of the car (they are h e a v y). 

Totally different experience than wrong wheel drive and all independent suspension.  But then again, the Mustang was built more for straightline than the curves.

All I can say is that I felt a lot of understeer and plow as I came hard into corners and a loose rear as I came out of them.  It was as if someone had used marshmallows as bushings. The car has some power and looks/feels great on the highway.

I guess I am more of a rally-car kind of driver and prefer a tight and torque-y driving experience.  Perhaps the new mustangs just aren't for me. 

They're designed with alot of understeer, actually, mostly to help keep inexperienced drivers from spinning them around like tops.  They're a bit heavy on the nose.  It can still be done, just with a bit more liberal use of the throttle.  The 3v 4.6L V8 develops it's horsepower and torque at higher rpms than older V8s, and needs a bit more aggressive right foot to play around with.  But like I said, it's a totally different feel than what you're used to. 

You'd probably feel more at home in my Pontiac GTO than a Mustang, which incidentally wasn't built or designed by Pontiac.  It's a rebadged Holden Monaro from Australia.  Very BMW / Mercedes-ish feeling with a Corvette motor.  Also, a very heavy bitch (3,700 lb pig).

WTS: One wife, child, dog, soul.

WTB: 2009 Corvette ZR-1 (http://jalopnik.com/cars/detroit-auto-show/2009-chevrolet-corvette-zr1-revealed-officially-334923.php)

Freaking sex on wheels....

(http://jalopnik.com/cars/assets/resources/2007/12/2009%20Corvette%20ZR1%20Official.jpg)

Mmmmm.

Isn't 100hp per liter the limit?  Or am I thinking cylinder?

Neither.

My '03 Cobra dyno'd at 522 rwhp (or about 600ish at the crank removing parasitic losses) with a 4.6L V8.  Figure about 15 percent power lost due to accessories, tranny, etc.

My car has more than 100hp per liter.

So does the S2000.

S2000.  Nice car, if a bit odd looking, but too much like a garden variety Civic.  I need my cars to have some quirks, some personality.  Hondas/Acuras, whilst being very well built cars and very good at what they do, just have none.

I like my RSX Type-S. :| But then, I'm 25.

I was floored to know that a) they aren't making the challenger in a manual transmission and b) don't plan to release one with a manual for at least a couple of years.  WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT A MUSCLE CAR WITH A FUCKING AUTOMATIC? 

I don't get it.

People with boobs might.

Obese men?  You have a point. 

Quicker and more consistent at the drag strip usually, which is where you will see alot of these.

Manuals = bragging about dyno numbers...
Autos = bragging about e.t.'s... 

Edit:  Also, it's likely that development on that is a bit slow and they want to beat the Chevy Camaro and Pontiac GTO to the market.  That Challenger is priced waaaaay too high, though.  After the initial rush to buy one by the hardcore (read: old) Mopar fans, the next model year is going to sit on the lots and then be sold with deep discounts.  So, if you want one, wait a couple years and you'll be able to pick up a brand spanking new one for dirt fooking cheap.

Brand new 2006 GTO's that are sitting on the dealers lots are going for about 26K.  The tempation KILLS me every time I drive by and see the dark blueish grey one sitting all alone at the corner of the lot.

So gearhead = someone who likes cars but has no taste?

I like monstrously loud engines. That's all I know. And a civic will never do that for me -- ever -- don't give a fuck what anyone says or tries to show me.

Nah, that's just an ignorant assumption.


 ;D

Funny you guys mentioned the S2000 since that's what I was misremembering.  It was apparently right at the limit, whatever it was.  Long time ago, when I was actually looking for a nice car.

(http://www.webwombat.com.au/motoring/images/aston-martin-dbs-2-big.jpg)

Just a few notes...
The zo9 vettes rolling off the line for 09 are 125k to start
The picured Mustang is a Shelby GT500 not a GT they start at 67k
All told a hemi equiped challenger at 40k isnt a bad deal and if they follow the trend of all new mopars it will have a lifetime warranty.

Would help if they still made a firechicken... Blame GM

> 100hp per liter is rare in a naturally-aspirated street car engine. The Corvette is doing it with a supercharger.

Actually most drag cars run autos. My 96 gt has a PA C4 race tranny with a 2900 stall converter. Corse its got a 5.4 liter triton in it with a vortech huffin on it :)

Maybe I'm weird then.  When I drive a sports/muscle car I want to feel the car.  I'm more interested in actively driving the car than I am about perfect optimization.  The difference in feel driving a BMW, Porsche, or any of the muscle cars I've owned with an automatic just doesn't compare in pleasure to that of having a manual.  If that costs me a tenth of a second in the quarter, then I'm good with that. 

Nah, you're not weird.  I prefer a manual in 99.9 percent of the situations out there for pretty much the same reason.  But people that spend their time at the local dragstrip don't really care about that.  They just want to get from the staging lights to the trap as quickly as they can.

I was misremembering a legal limit on horsepower from some years back when I was investigating sports cars for purchase.  I will see about refinding that when I get some extra cycles.

If you're not doing it for a living, then you're doing it for fun.  If having an automatic do all the driving for them makes it fun... more power to them.  I'll still never understand it.  The joy of driving comes from the connection between man and machine.  You can never feel that when you have a computer doing the work for you.  Period.

Japan used to have a HP limit. Considering that the Bugatti Veyron has a 1000 HP engine that's not something that's generally limited in street-legal sports cars.

you can have the best of both worlds. The PA in my GT has a manual valve body. You shift it manually but no clutch petal to worry with. That and a line lock make for nice off the line times.

There's a not surprising number of people that are betting some serious cash on racing at the track I semi-frequent.  Everything from parts to cash to titles.  I saw one guy lose the keys to a near brand spanking new Z06 Corvette to a guy driving a '96 Mustang Cobra that sounded like a freaking jet when it cut loose...

Nevertheless, I agree with you.  There's infinitely more skill involved in launching a manual cleanly, even on a prepped track.  Every so often I get tired of shifting gears, but I'll probably never own a sports car with an automatic.

I prefer a manual myself for the reason Nebu gave, but driving a manual Ram pickup for a few years did bad things to my knee.  Now I don't feel so bad for driving automatics.

I'm generally against buying brand new vehicles but goddamn I want this (http://www.pontiac.com/g8/).  The GTO may be up for sale when this thing comes out....

I haven't wanted to buy a new car since they killed the Trans Am until I saw this guy.  Naturally I am probably going to stick with my 35 year old car, but it sure does make me think.  We are renting a G6 and the car is quite a step up from the junky crap Pontiac was putting out in the last 5-10 years in their mid-size car lines.  If I lived where winter ate my car, I might consider it (although a full framer would probably last longer).

Couple things to consider when looking at that G8...

It's actually an import, really.  It's a rebadged Holden Commodore (http://www.holden.com.au/www-holden/action/modeloverview?modelid=4006) from Australia.  My GTO is the same thing, imported and rebadged from the Holden Monaro (http://www.holden.co.nz/vehicle/monaro/). 

The goodies:
The engine in the G8 is a detuned LS2, the very same LS2 that was in '05-'07 Corvettes and '05-'06' GTOs.  Output was 400 horsepower.  The G8 has been detuned (and probably with a weaker cam) to use 87 octane fuel.  Still gets 361 hp.  So, a mild cam and a custom tune (or even a reflash) and you're in 400+ hp territory again.  Will need higher octane fuel.  In stock form, the LS2 in the G8 has a lower compression ratio than the more highly tuned ones, so it will make it very supercharger friendly.  Say goodbye to the rear tires  :rock_hard:   All the while maintaining a stock exhaust note, no loppy idle, and only a barely audible whistle or whine at idle or normal speeds.  And if some ricer asks what the noise is, tell him your power steering pump is going bad and to meet you at the track

Independent rear suspension.  My GTO rides like a dream.  It's truly not a muscle car, anyway, it's more of a grand tourer coupe.  So, if my GTO is any indication of how smooth the ride is in the G8, it will be wondermus. 

Interior of the GTO is spectacular, and from what I've seen of the G8, it looks even better.  Very unAmerican looking.  Very Euro-ish feeling in the switchgear, the leather, everything.  No wide seams between panels, no cheap feeling plastic.  Weak stereo though (Blaukerpunkt).  Big, legible gauges.  The very best way to descibe my GTO is a BMW 3 series coupe with a Corvette drivetrain.  The most comfortable seats I've ever sat in.  Even moreso than my wifes ML350.  Great A/C and heater.  Even the rear seats are comfortable, with plenty of legroom for full sized adults.  With rear A/C, in a two door coupe.

It's that good.  I fully expect the G8 to be something between a cross of a 3 series four door BMW and the 5 series, again, with the Corvette motor.  Which would be all kinds of win.

The bad:
The independent suspension needs work, if it folllows the GTO (which actually was a four door, they just 'removed' the two rear doors and made it a big two doored coupe, complete with rear A/C).  I expect axle hop to be a problem, a disconcerting 'whack!' if shifting gears VERY agressively from the rear antiroll bar hitting the frame as the rear end sinks on accel, some frame creakiness, and a little bit of slop after about 30,000 miles in the 2 piece driveshaft (that has rubber insulators that don't last very long).  It will probably have some odd electronics quirks to it - my speedo likes to go from 0 to 200 for no apparent reason every so often, as example.  Nothing earthshatteringly bad or unsafe, just enough to make you go 'huh?'.  The Aussies also tend to take being upside down in the world pretty seriously - the battery terminals are reversed, so you HAVE to get a replacement battery from a dealer - IF they have one in stock.  Since these cars are built in 'roo land and New Zealand, parts have to come from there as well.  So if you break something major, you'll have a wait.  The GTO was never really supported by Pontiac, so they never really kept many parts for it.  As example, I had to wait over a month just for a replacement bulb for a fog lamp.  It took 5 weeks to get a new door jam trigger light switch.  And if I need brakes, I have to order them 2-4 weeks in advance. 

Expect to pay a premium on go fast parts.  They just aren't cheap for LSx engines.  Never have been.  An HCI swap after the warranty ran out cost me right at $2,200, including a custom tune of the computer, and that was with me doing the labor of the install.  Heads, a cam, and an intake just shouldn't be that freakin' expensive.

Even with the bad, I love it.  Absolutely love it.  All is forgiven the minute the key is twisted, a good side step of the clutch, and two 150 foot long black marks are pasted on the pavement.  Or even just a good run from a merge lane onto the interstate.  It's comfortable, cozy.  It handles well, despite it's weight (fat 3800 lb pig), and always leaves a smile on my face.  And even if the G8 suffers the same quirks, I'll no doubt love it, too.  It's essentially a four door version of my GTO. 

The next person that offers to buy my GTO (and it happens often), is going to get taken up on it. 

How come the overseas guys and gals gets the true manual transmission and GM keeps shoving automatics down our throats...
But then again, it probably started when the military decided to ditch the manual transmission and buy only automatics (about 1979 or 1982?).  Hopefully Jeep (by jeep I mean the true jeep and not the other crap they make) and VW hold onto manual transmission.  Hopefully Jeep will have a diesel engine made by Cummins in its wranglers in 2009, and they get to make the jeep pickup that they keep testing with the same setup of Cummins diesel.   Both would be with the NSG 370 six-speed manual transmission (hey I would have rather have them kept the NV3500, NV4500, and NV5500...but it still is a decent mid sized transmission).

I still got my "last of the CJ's" torn apart in the barn.  I rescued a 1986 CJ 7, it was a beach mobile that had so many holes in the body the pope blessed it.  I should have it ready by spring, so I'll post some photo's of it eventually. 

Because US drivers demand automatics and Euro drivers demand manuals.

You can't suck down a quadriple latte while yakking on your cell phone and manipulate a manual.

Wanna bet :)

I really want to create a device that sends an audible obnoxious signal to anyone using a cellphone in a car.  I have two friends that are highway patrollmen and the stories they tell me about people with cellphones are too stupid to believe. 

That's why the Italians pull over to the side of the road when they need to do that (they need both hands free to talk on a phone).

Don't know how I missed this thread.

Here is my caddy that I'm in the middle of restoring.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60986452@N00/

Slog,

Can we see a full body shot?  I'd like to see the profile of the car.  How's the frame?

You will have to wait until spring for the full shot.  The car is WAY to big to get a shot of the whole thing in my garage.

Frame is in excellent shape.  Once I finish the fenders, I'll be filling in some other small holes and will be painting it.

Here are the factor specs on the car: http://100megsfree4.com/cadillac/cad1960/cad67d.htm

Yeah, the car has a great profile which is why I wanted to see the full Monty.  My question was more in terms of straightness.  Every time I've picked up a car from the late 50's and early 60's the frame has needed to be straightened even when it looked pretty good to the eye.  If you found a car that long with a straight frame, you've done very well for yourself. 

I need to upload the pictures of my '68 Mustang resto-mod, and others that I've done.  I used to take TONS of pictures as I took something apart so that I would have a visual reference of how it went back together.  The trick is going to be finding the disks...

I leave bodywork up to the professionals, though.  I've got no problems tearing an engine down and rebuilding, but have never really messed with bodywork.

I agree completely.  Fortunately for me, two dear friends from my childhood own/operate a bodyshop in my old neighborhood.  I let them use my projects to sometimes train new hires as long as they supervise.  They tend to do more meticulous work and my friends charge me almost nothing for labor as it's a good teaching tool.  Win win.

Oh yeah.  Friends in the business definately helps.

Short list on the '68:
331 ci stroker motor, with Vortech supercharger, fuel injected, custom tune by JSMchip.com, long tube headers, (put together, some in boxes, will go in car last)
Coil over suspension (done)
Baer brakes (sitting in boxes)
Body pulled off frame, frame reconditioned (done)
5 speed Tremec tranny, 4.10 gears for rebuilt rear end with 31 spline axles (done)
Massive amounts of body/frame strengthening, including 6 pt roll cage (will be done in progress)
Custom exhaust, Flowmaster mufflers (will go in once engine is dropped)
Custom interior (next to last, work in progress)
New gauges (in boxes)
A/C, if not too costly
Hood, spoiler, front splitter (in boxes, awaiting body finishing)
Recaro seats (in boxes), with racing harness
Fire supression system (in boxes)
Wheels/tires (done, mounted and balanced)

I figure I've got about 150 hours left in the vehicle total, if that.  Still deciding on a color, and researching putting an A/C system in it.  Once it gets a bit warmer, I'll send the body off for final prep and finishing.  I'm currently tack welding all the little holes for a clean look.  The only real hold up right now is the body.

Cant wait  :rock_hard:

My entire website is dedicated to the cars I've restored.  I finally sold the '67 Catalina wagon (for an actual profit) and am looking to downsize one more (probably the Grand Am).  I've got this major basketcase of a '75 Trans Am I am restoring right now (after finally finishing the motor in the '72 Lemans and certifying it "good for daily usage" once again).

THUNDERCHICKEN!!!

So I started to strip all the paint off after hitting too many bondo spots.  I know it's a little late, but here are some long shot pics.  (no fenders.  Since I took these I've stripped most of the paint off, thrown away that hood and put a new one on, etc.

http://img133.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mike003largebj5.jpg
http://img133.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mike001largeyw3.jpg
(http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/9177/mike008largean7.th.jpg) (http://img154.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mike008largean7.jpg)

That car is just BEGGING for this (http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=700+115+310209&D=310209). 

If I could find the damn cord for my digicam, I'd post a couple of the '68 Mustang.  Cleared off 80 percent of the list below (including paint), all that's needed to be done is the interior.  Ended up going Dark Shadow Grey from Ford.  Looks low, mean.

Custom tune yielded 423 horsepower / 468 lbft torque, with fuel ratio at 13.5 all the way through the range.  Not really happy with the cam; it's a bit too lopey/aggressive.  I'm looking to go with something a bit more mild, even if I sacrifice a few ponies.  The Halon fire suppression system is giving me fits.  Lots of tedious tube bends.  If the SCCA didn't require it, I wouldn't install it.  Alas, have to make the safety guys happy.

Painted the cady this weekend.  Still putting the chrome pieces back on.

(http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww67/daslog/Caddy/newpaintinsun002.jpg)

You should get some big brown baby seal eyes for head lights. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

Faux zebra-skin seat covers  :drillf:

The paint job is really nice, it's a great colour.

And it's on the steering wheel too. Sexy!

just placeholders until I can redo the interior.

I can't think of a single reason you'd ever want to do that.

Here's my new baby. 700km on the odometer so far!

(http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc110/jakonovski/fiatsivu-1.jpg)

It's a lovely, lovely little car. Only has a 100hp 1.4 liter engine, but the car weighs less than a ton! It's really eager on low gears and has a 6-speed manual with an "eco gear" as the sixth. Gives 40mpg on my everyday commute.

(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2565/3776002858_c203876938.jpg)

Wish I had money to mod it up right.