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Automotive News & Views Daimler's abuse of the Dodge Charger legacy.
659 messages, Last post on Jun 21, 2006 at 2:03 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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like to buy old ex-police cars, so there has always been a demand for both sides of the law wanting the same car! When I used to deliver pizzas in my '89 Gran Fury ex-sheriff's car, you'd be surprised at how many teenage kids were actually lusting over something more square than the box their playstations came in! I think some of them like the idea of taking something that was once used for law enforcement, and suddenly having their own control over it. |
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Replying to: seminole_kev (Jan 19, 2005 7:40 am) If the 350HP wasn't "hairy" enough the 400HP certainly should be. The Charger Hemi is 340HP and heavier so I doubt it will feel very hairy. I concider an automatic 4 door sedan a wannabe muscle car even if it has a V8. It wants to be too many things to too many people which immediately makes it a compromise. It will likely sell more(especially to the police) but it is a pretender. |
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| my use of the word "hairy" was more in regards to feel rather than the actual power. The GTO I drove sure would scoot, but it didn't feel wild and rowdy. It was a real nice GT that's for sure though. Although I do realize it is a muscle car in the modern sense. They are just more refined these days. | |
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cars of today are just too sophisticated for their own good sometimes, and I think that takes some of the excitement and adventure out of them. One of my co-workers has a 300C Hemi. When you hear it run, it's actually kind of depressing. There's a bit of whine in one of the pulleys that detracts from it, and overall it just doesn't SOUND all that powerful. If I want to hear a sound like that, all I have to do is fire up my '85 Silverado's 305! And one of the dumbest things they do with the new Hemi, is put a huge shroud over it! Now the first thing everyone wants to see is that "big" V-8, but you pop the hood and all you see is this big shroud that says "5.7 HEMI" on it. And since OHC heads are so prevalent these days, even those massive Hemi heads have lost a bit of their mistyque. Well, that, and the fact that physically the new Hemi is pretty dainty compared to the old 426 Hemi of days gone by, or the old Dodge Red Ram, DeSoto Firedome, or Chrysler Firepower Hemis of the 50's. Maybe they cover up the engine because the designers of the new car get "head envy" when they get a look at those massive, beefy, thick heads that the old cars had, so they feel a bit inadquate in comparison and are ashamed to show theirs off? 
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| ...that engine shroud on the 300C Hemi can be easily lifted off (without tools) and kept off if you so desire! | |
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| ...what is the point of those shrouds anyway? I don't get why looking at the engine is such a sin. Only thing the shroud does is that it one more thing to remove to work on the engine. Maybe it cuts down on complaints since people can't see if a valve cover seal is leaking or something like that? I've never really got the point of these things (plus I think they're ugly). | |
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but doesn't the engine shroud direct air flow under the hood a bit? Probably in the end though, the main reason they put them on is because they might make the engine look more modern than it really is, and hide some of the clutter. Y'know, all this talk about the Charger IS starting to make me want one, more and more. And I'm getting an HELOC this Friday, so I'm starting to feel like I'm in a precarious position!
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...help to silence the engine somewhat, as heard from the driver seat. But who'd want to do that with a lusty V8 in a performance car? And clearly, they add some supposed "class" to the engine compartment. |
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from BMW and Mercedes vehicles, where covering up the "guts" of the engine gives a more refined look. It isn't like most BMW or MB owners would ever wonder what's under there, anyway...
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| unfortunately, you could say that about any manufacturer's buyers these days save maybe porsche or ferrari. | |
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Automotive News & Views Daimler's abuse of the Dodge Charger legacy.
