I drove the 5.7L V8 R/T Dodge from Budget

[rainfall]

I was on a trip to Napa Valley and stopped by a Budget store in SF to drive around. Bottom line: the V8 sound was worth the rental, but I felt underwhelmed by driving an 8-speed automatic on a 4200 lbs car.

I was looking for a cheap Corolla to get by, but they "only" had a Dodge Challenger available. I took it for 2 days.

375hp in a 5.7 V8 is definitely something to appreciate.
I asked if they had "a" car in manual transmission and they said they didn't. Bummer. I knew it was too much to expect, so it's okay.
The first 2 miles were quite impressive. It was a warm day, so it didn't take too long for the engine get warm enough for some hard pulls. I checked the clock and it had >30k miles, so it was okay. It really pulls. Merging on a highway, it was very quick to get to 60mph and the sound was amazing.

I tried to shift the gears on my own, but that gear lever was very disappointing. The response to the shift commands were too slow, so I left in automatic mode for the rest of my rent. I felt very underwhelmed with the automatic transmission in general. Did I say the buttons behind the steering wheel operated the radio instead of the transmission? I wanted to upshift but I instead turned the radio up.

Not a surprise, but the car felt ULTRA heavy. I drove in a bumper to bumper traffic jam sometimes. I was slowly stopping from 20mph to zero and could I still feel the ridiculous frontal body roll when the car finally reached full stop.

Parking was a pain in the a** too. Visibility was terrible in the C pillar looking at the rear-right of the car. To be honest, I think that car got ridiculously wide for the amount of internal space it offers on the back seat.
I don't know, I might be biased because I like small cars.

Overall, great experience driving, but I wouldn't buy a 2017 Challenger if I were on the market for a muscle car. Too wide, too heavy.

[c1pher]

It does a great job as a cruiser that is fairly quick. But could you imagine buying the v6 model? I think you need at least the base v8 to feel reasonably quick. If you go with a bigger engine option, you're also paying a gas guzzler tax (if bought new).

[rainfall]

man, I think the V6 would be incredibly frustrating to drive.
I love the style and the fact they are naturally aspirated, but it isn't as fun as I was expecting.
I didn't feel much the fun of being RWD either. If the V8 model is listed new at ~32k, I would probably get a Golf GTI or Subaru WRX (at 28k and 30k respectively with good options).

I wonder if the Camaro or the Mustang GT have the same characteristics (too heavy, too wide and limited visitability on the C-pilar). I assume it's the same case.

EDIT: the Mustang GT weights "only" 3700 lbs. That's 500 lbs lighter than the Challenger. Yeah, that can be a lot better to drive. I'd take the Mustang V8 instead then.

[1MOREMOD]

Had mustang convertible rental while back wasn't terrible. Enjoyed top down motoring but wouldn't ever buy one, never looks as good.

[RoundelObsession]

Maybe check out a Camaro!

[rainfall]

I love the twisted sister soundtrack