With almost any other vehicle, new would be considered improved.
However, where the Dodge Challenger is concerned, you really hope they don't change too much about it.
If you think of the current domestic pony-car lineup as being a bit like Riverdale, then the Mustang is Archie, the newly designed Camaro is Reggie, and the Challenger is Moose. It's big, it's not very bright, but dang does it pack a wallop.
The other two rear-drive, V-8-powered machines from the big three have developed into legitimate sports cars, with track-bred specials made as much for tackling corners as for the straight-line dash. The Challenger, on the other hand, has a pair of horns for a halo model with the ridiculous 707 horsepower (!) Hellcat, and is decidedly old school in its purpose.
This is a proper muscle car, the last of its breed, really. My tester came with the 6.4-litre V-8 of the Scat Pack and a manual transmission. It's big, it's scarlet, it growls. Basically, it's the car version of Clifford the Big Red Dog.
Design
The Challenger first burst onto the scene several years ago, and of all the retro-styled machines available at the time, it easily looked the best. Last year's styling tweaks furrowed the big car's brows lower over its quad headlights and tucked everything lower.
If you park the new Challenger in the vicinity of one of the originals, you can see where the retro design hasn't quite captured the sheer aircraft-carrier dimensions of the 1970s version. The problem is mostly the height of the new one, which detracts from its width, especially out back.
However, drive the Challenger around in modern traffic, and there's no denying that this thing has presence like few other vehicles. This particular version comes with the protruding snout of the shaker hood, a throwback to when the air-cleaner for a carburettor used to stick right out of the hood. While not adding any extra power, this shakes around every time you jab the throttle - a nice piece of theatre in a car designed to put a grin on your face.
Environment
While nominally a four-seater, the Challenger's rear buckets are a tad on the small side. Getting a child seat fitted was a bit of a squeeze, even with those refrigerator-long doors. However, there's a very good reason why you should go out of your way to put a kid seat in here - and more on that later.
The rest of the Challenger's interior benefitted from the same upgrades its four-door Charger cousin received last year. The overall look manages to be both as retro as the exterior, yet at the same time very functional for the modern age. The seats have a surprising amount of lateral bolstering, and with a red suede finish, you won't slide around in them much. There's far more space in here than you'd get in a Corvette, but despite the large size of the Challenger's exterior, the interior volume isn't particularly vast. Chrysler's Uconnect system remains one of the easiest infotainment systems to use, particularly the voice command system. This latter allows you to be a bit lazy about how you enter commands, so tuning to a radio station doesn't require speaking the exact pass phrase.
However, if you'd prefer not to use touchscreen or voice commands, then the Challenger comes with some good old fashioned goodies like actual knobs for tuning and volume. And never mind the radio and stereo performance, because there's 6.4 litres of V-8 orchestra just ahead.
Performance
Some folks will miss the pistol-grip shifter of the previous manual transmission, but those who opt for the automatic will get a great muscle car experience. Now fitted with an eight-speed auto, the Challenger actually gets decent highway mileage in all its trims, and even the fire-breathing Hellcat can have its thirst reined in if you're gently cruising.
However, that's not why you buy a car like this, and anyway, this one's got the stick. No slick-shifting close-ratio gearbox, this six-speed manual is like a railway switch, or possibly the type of lever used to move girders around. It feels industrial-grade. While slightly overshadowed by the supercharged insanity of the Hellcat, the normally aspirated Challengers are all still plenty fierce. If you like the rumble, then the 5.7-litre option is a great entry-level way to go; if you prefer a more fully loaded musclecar experience, then the full SRT392 package gives you a host of luxury features to go with a bigger engine.
Alternatively, you can go with this Scat Pack variant, which might be the sweet spot in the range. It adds the largest 485 h.p. 6.4-litre Hemi V-8, upgraded wheels, tires and brakes, and you even get a few old-school SuperBee badges. Driving this big horse hard takes absolutely no finesse whatsoever. The Mustang and the Camaro prefer the backroad waltz, and they're set up to appeal to the type of driver who regularly throws a helmet in the trunk for track day practice. The Challenger is for the dude or dudette who always faintly smells of burnt rubber, and who has the satellite radio permanently glued to 1970s rock.
It actually corners surprisingly well, thanks to the sheer grip of sticky rubber - while rapid transitions can upset the Challenger, sweeping constant-radius turns are a strength. The real strength, however, is flicking the traction control to sport mode and getting on the throttle a little early out of the turn. Clifford, as it turns out, just loves to wag his tail, and with that land yacht wheelbase, he does so in a friendly manner.
The Shaker hood wobbles away, and the engine roars, and the gearshift goes *clonk* into third, and the nose lifts like a passenger aircraft approaching liftoff. Best of all, all these antics happen at relatively approachable speeds, so while the 'Stang and the Camaro squabble it out over Nürburgring lap times, the Challenger is just about having fun.
And, with a kid seat in the back, all this noise and rumbling really lights up a little face, even when you're taking it suitably easy. The Challenger is a full-sized Hot Wheels, and it doesn't care how old you actually are: it's for the kid in all of us.
Features
My Scat Pack tester started off at $46,995 and then climbed to a little more than $56K with the addition of premium sound, navigation, those matte finish 20-inch alloys, and some performance upgrades to the interior.
Official fuel economy figures for the largest 6.4-litre V-8 are 10.4 litres/100 kilometres on the highway for manual-equipped cars, and 16.8 l/100 km in the city. That ain't great, but it's not exactly supposed to be a fuel-sipper of a machine. While the fun of the manual has to be recommended, I'll point out that the automatic loses little of the experience, and has a couple of extra-tall top gears for maximum highway cruising efficiency.
Green light
V-8 power; V-8 rumble; V-8 everything; classic looks inside and out; solid infotainment.
Stop sign
Not as roomy on the inside as you'd think; so-so visibility; could use slightly bigger brakes.
The checkered flag
Big, friendly, fast, and fun.
Competition
Chevrolet Camaro ($30,845): The new Mustang's been out for a year or so, and while the automatic transmission is a bit of a bummer, the 5.0-litre and stick-shift version makes a great pairing. However, if you heard the rumbling on the horizon, the new Camaro is about to change the rules.
Now based on the lighter Alpha platform (shared with the sharp-handling Cadillac ATS), the new V-8-powered Camaro SS is a genuine rocket. Testing results are showing figures just tenths of a second off those of the current Corvette. Muscle and poise? Sounds like an athlete is on the way.
