DionR
Well-Known Member
If a 15" BFG is too much money to drive 1500 miles the car never gets driven at all...like most of them including my neighbor that has 2 GTOs. These are like the "go get ice cream" cars.
Exactly.
But I'm just creating a scenario where someone could end up in a late model car instead of their muscle car. Not trying to put words in anyone's mouth or put them down for their choices.
The Challenger, especially the older ones are basically full size luxury cars with V8s anyway which somehow are incredibly small inside.
Funny thing is, overall a Challenger really isn't much bigger than a Duster. AMA specs for a '74 Duster are 71.8 x 196.9 (with bumper guards) while a 2015 Challenger is listed as 75.7 (without mirrors) x 197.9. The Duster is narrower and shorter, but not a bunch and the Challenger is much smaller than a 1970 Charger at 76.6 x 208.5. This doesn't change the perception that the Challenger is larger, I understand that. Add that dumping the bumper guards on the Duster saves almost 3".
I wouldn't want to own any LX car made before 2015 at this point anyway, the ones after that are much better so I'm suprised its $20k for a 2010 SRT-8 to begin with. Its kind of like the C5 Corvette of Modern Mopars, I didn't think it was too wanted anymore.
I went and looked that 2010 SRT8 up again and it is down to $18K now. Found a 2011 SRT8 6.4 for $23K (I think?) as well. I think prices are falling, but I also suspect that when the EV push tanks people will be picking these up and spending way too much money on them.
I don't get the allure of them outside of anything 392/Hellcat/Demon honestly. The Mustang and Camaro are much better performing all around cars if you're going to have something everyone else has anyway.
Certainly comes down personal preference. Bang for the buck, I would bet a Camaro would be hard to argue against. But I sat in one and hated looking out of it, so that would be a hard no for me. I know the Mustang is going to be cheaper for sure, and fast and probably could be made to handle better, but they are kind of everywhere to me. Plus I honestly don't like the interiors as much, and the 2015+ bodystyle doesn't do anything for me. But a 2105+ R/T 6M or better is kind of the goldilocks for me. To each their own.
You put suspension on the Duster and it handles better than those. If it hooks it would be signifigantly faster with the same engine. And you can be proud of it because its built differently than everyone else's and you weren't just writing checks.
No argument, completely agree.
Not going to lie, when I get discouraged about the build, it is easy to look at pushing the easy button. But so far I haven't pulled the trigger. And part of the reason I went this route instead of buying a Scat Pack is because I realized that if I had to chose between a 5.7/T56 Duster and an SP, I wanted the Duster more. I just have to revisit the question once in a while when I get frustrated.
I still have a 1965 unrebuilt 3.23 sure-grip 742 center section. 2.97:1 1st gear transmission so its like having a 3.6:1 axle with an A-833. Totally fine.
Funny thing is, mine is built around how my 2015 ran. So with a 275/35R18 tire, a 3.55 gear works, but if I bump up to a 275/40R18, I need to change the gear to a 3.73. In both cases, the rpm's for each gear are a match for how my Challenger was. The T56 Magnum I bought has the exact same ratio's as the TR6060 my Challenger had. And I should be able to cruise at 1500 rpm at 65 mph just like the factory intended the 5.7 to do.