[MEDISIN]

Originally Posted by Stew

Mag time lol, by that the Camaro as is a 13 second car at best, we all know better.

Sure people have run both faster and slower times than what gets reported in automotive magazines. Not everyone is going to run a hero time in perfect conditions every time. That is why averaging times reported under standardized testing methodologies creates the closest apples-to-apples comparison outside of a same day head-to-head comparisons (which hopefully we will see when the SS is released).

The Camaro SS is on average a 13-sec car.
Motor Trend: SS 13.1 sec @ 110.8 mph
Car and Driver: SS 13.0 sec @ 111 mph
Road & Track: SS 13.0 sec @ 110.7 mph
Inside Line: SS 13.1 sec @ 110.4 mph

Average SS = 13.05 sec @ 110.7mph

Have I seen SS times in the high 12's, yes. And I've also seen SS times in the mid-13's.

Originally Posted by Stew

Also, what transmission. Did that GXP have? There are no manual SSs. If I remember correct most, if not all.GXPS tested were manuals......

MotorTrend and C&D tested the manual, R&T tested the auto. The times were identical. Look how little variation appears in the GXP results. Very consistent times from three different sources on three different days in three different locations with two different transmissions.

Originally Posted by Stew

Actually, with the times the R/T runs in real life it is closer than many would like in performance.

Right, right, the R/T's that Dodge sent MotorTrend, Edmunds, and Road & Track for testing to "show-off" in magazines were somehow handicapped compared to the model Dodge sold customers?? I have seen stock R/T's run in mid-low 13's and I have seen GXP's run high 12's. But when you average their results and look at what the average car will run on a given day, there is a clear difference between R/T and GXP performance, with the GXP being much closer to SRT8 performance than it is to R/T.

Originally Posted by Stew

Second, how is a car based on a platform that was sold 5 years before Fiat took over and a refresh that was started years before Fiat was involved, based on a Daimler platform with a Mercedes transmission that is far more, I suppose, exotic then something based on a generic Holden design that holds no cache anywhere and really isn't known at all by most Americans and really has no history, as the Charger does.

Holy run-on sentence. Where to begin...Yes the LX platform developed for the W211 Mercedes-Benz E-Class was a great platform (exotic is a stretch) when it was developed in the late '90's. The problem is the platform is outdated and weighs 200-300lbs more than the competition. That "generic" Holden design is the Zeta platform, designed as GM's global RWD architecture. Zeta has better driving/handling characteristics and lower weight than the LX.
Go drive a Zeta-based vehicle like the SS 1LE, ZL1, or the upcoming SS sedan and you'll understand why drivers prefer it over the LX equivalents. One needs look no further than Lightning Lap times to see the advantage.

Originally Posted by Stew

The Charger is a very high quality product and the attempts to belittle it are just childish.

Hmmm, compared to your '92 Lumina perhaps. It's a good car for the money.

Originally Posted by Stew

I have nothing against the SS and it is a fine car, but really for all it's improvements it is a lackluster update to the GXP which was a fine car 5 years ago and was then, as the SS is now, a competitor in price and intent wit the Charger SRT 8 which has improved MUCH more and is simply a better performer in each and every way and cannot even downed for it's interior as the old 08 models could.

And I thought lead was dense. The GXP outperformed its SRT8 rival back in 2009 and cost less when similarly equipped. Once again the SS looks to be slightly less than SRT8 performance for less than SRT8 money (2-tenths slower to 60, 3-tenths and 3mph slower in the quarter for $2,250 less).

R/T: 0-60 in 5.3, 13.8 1/4mile at 103mph, $36,495 (R/T Max)
GXP: 0-60 in 4.7, 13.1 1/4mile at 109mph, $44,000 (proxy for SS)
SRT8: 0-60 in 4.5, 12.8 1/4mile at 112mph $46,250