I never knew 710HP could be so dull....

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tlmiller
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I never knew 710HP could be so dull....

Post by tlmiller »

Test drove a Rousch Stage 3 mustang today. 5.0L supercharged V-8 producing 710 hp, with a 6-speed manual.

Wow...it was...underwhelming. Like, not just a little. I didn't giggle once driving it. I FLOORED it through 1st & 2nd gears, and was just "oh, that's fast, but...meh." Most powerful car I've ever driven (by over 150 HP), and I'm very sad that I didn't even really ENJOY myself to be honest. Like, I could probably have had more fun watching a movie with my wife than test driving it. It was really that dull and underwhelming.
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crosscourt
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Re: I never knew 710HP could be so dull....

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A friend of mine has a Lotus Elise and it has far fewer horsepower but is much lighter and is an amazingly fun car to drive. Very responsive, stable handling, excellent acceleration given the engine and amazing road feel. Horsepower in an of itself is meaningless in terms of having an exciting ride.
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Re: I never knew 710HP could be so dull....

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I think the big thing that got me was it was basically just a GT. A GT that they bolted exhaust and a Supercharger to. They didn't do interior upgrades, it was just a stock GT interior. They didn't do body kits, it was just a badge and some stripes. They didn't do a front splitter or rear spoiler. They didn't do brakes past the GT Performance package. Just a supercharger and exhaust, and charged $35,000 for that.

Comparitively, the GT350 which has 'only' 525 HP, is one of the most amazing cars I've ever driven. I absolutely adored it. Lots of custom bits on the exterior, big spoiler, front chin splitter, different hood. Custom ULTRA oversized brakes with cross-drilled & slotted rotors front and rear. Custom racing seats inside. Mechanical seats (I think that was awesome, I love mechanical seats), just a truly wonderful car.

But the Rousch...it was just boring. A GT with extra power and a MASSIVE upgrade on price.
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Re: I never knew 710HP could be so dull....

Post by crosscourt »

Ive never been a Ford guy, Dodge was more my cup of tea. Id love to own a new Challenger just to reminisce a bit but the original Charger I still love.
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Re: I never knew 710HP could be so dull....

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I like the old Mopars. The new Charger & Challenger are a bit too heavy for my tastes. But classics, I'm a big bow-tie guy. I LOVE my C3 Vettes, my early split bumper 2nd gen Camaro's, 1st gen camaro's.
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Re: I never knew 710HP could be so dull....

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The new Challenger looks great to me and in my opinion the best of the modern remakes like the Charger,Mustang and Camaro really dont do it for me.
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Re: I never knew 710HP could be so dull....

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I love the shifter on the new Challenger M/T. It's really cool, although VERY few made with a M/T. But the cars are REALLY heavy, and SLOW at the same price points as the Mustang and Camaro. I drove the 5.7 RT Challenger, and it's slower than the 4-turbo Mustang or V-6 Camaro that are $10,000 cheaper due to how heavy it is. I like the new Mustangs, I like the 5th gen frontend WAY more, but the back end is really good looking. Plus IRS, I'd love to have that on mine. The 5th gen Camaro was AWFUL. I HATED them. The 6th gen is...ok. I wouldn't consider paying the price for one, but they're not horrible anymore.
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crosscourt
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Re: I never knew 710HP could be so dull....

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The speed differential with the Challenger is meaningless to me. Unless youre going to race/hit the track it comes down to the look and feel and its fast enough to have some fun. Very few places in my area where you can throttle up unless you want to drive a distance to get on some back roads.
Ive driven and been in quite a few Challengers recently and its a great experirnce. The handling was far better than I expected but the overall driving experience I really enjoyed. If you drove or liked older Mopars youll love the new Challenger.
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tlmiller
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Re: I never knew 710HP could be so dull....

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crosscourt wrote: Sun Jan 27, 2019 3:43 pm The speed differential with the Challenger is meaningless to me. Unless youre going to race/hit the track it comes down to the look and feel and its fast enough to have some fun. Very few places in my area where you can throttle up unless you want to drive a distance to get on some back roads.
Ive driven and been in quite a few Challengers recently and its a great experirnce. The handling was far better than I expected but the overall driving experience I really enjoyed. If you drove or liked older Mopars youll love the new Challenger.
I disagree with that. I think the classics are wonderful, but the new ones are slow, heavy, don't handle well compared to their competition, and overpriced compared to their competition. Not that the classics weren't heavy, but ALL the cars were extremely heavy back then.

While top speed may not be important, when I'm attempting to merge into rush hour traffic, I like to know I can get up to speed without getting hit. In the Mustangs and Camaro's of today, I can do that. In the Challenger V-6, that's not happening. While the 5.7 V-8 is certainly fast enough to do so, is it worth the $10k premium for it over the 4-turbo Mustang IMO which is also quicker, and corners better due to being lighter, and gets better gas mileage? Not a chance.
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Re: I never knew 710HP could be so dull....

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Give me a break Im driving a Hyundai Accent most of the time, so the Challenger has a huge speed advantage over that and the only Challengers I drove were the V-8s. On top of that I never said Id buy one, I just prefer the Challenger lookwise over the others. Those who like Mopar would spend the $10k to get a car thats closer to what they want. Youre looking for logic from fans of a particular brand of car?

To each his own but for me its a moot point as those days are long over. Im into gas mileage, lower cost for the car and my insurance, thats it.

Our perspectives are hugely different.
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