2009 Dodge Challenger: Me Likey

I didn't have a problem switching lanes. The mirrors do a good job. It was backing straight out of my driveway that I couldn't see over the high trunk. A camera would really help. I'll take POV pictures out the back next time I get to drive it. -- Donna

Donna: Dodge Challenger, Mustang GT tack pack, or 370Z. Which would you prefer?

Donna would prefer an X-Wing. :o)

I would also like to hear comparisons to other cars in the long term fleet in each of these posts.

Like greenpony suggested, maybe you guys could make a reference to other cars when they do something much better or worse than the current car.

Your right this is the "It" car everywhere you go.

Everyone driving this car should remember, the Challenger is a specialty car. If your worried about back-up visibility buy a Taurus. The person that is going to buy this car is going to buy it for what it is "An American Muscle Car" For What this car is it is an A+. Fast, great ride quality, and plenty of room inside. Unlike the Mustang or 370Z which have room for very little and neither offer a truly usable rear seat.

Great review Donna.

I like the comments about backing up, since it gives a good sense of what it is really like to own the car. Also, I agree with the other poster's requests for more owner experiences.

I don't think the SE and R/T are as much a specialty car as the SRT is, but for sure, the Challenger is special.

@badblackrt

"If your worried about back-up visibility buy a Taurus."

The Challenger is a special car, but I'd hate to be backing out of a parking lot and getting creamed by the car I didn't see. Guess who's fault it would be...mine.

The 2010 Shelby GT500 is also a special car, but at least it has better visibility and a rear back up camera for additional sight. It's also available on their lesser Mustang GTs.

I'm in the market for a new muscle car (my very first) and I'm leaning towards the Challenger RT, but the primary thing that makes me hesitate is driver visibility as I won't be the only one driving this beauty.

I've read other reviews that commented that the SRT Challenger didn't sound as good as a mustang or some other V8's out there.

The host of Gearz (Stacy David) said it didn't have enough torque off the line so he added a supercharger to a SRT Challenger.

Folks, a specialty car is a term that is used to describe a vehicle that on the average is not purchased by people who view a car as simply a way to get from point A to point B.

Ever driven a Ferrari? I have and they have horrible rear visibility. But no review of a Ferrari mentions "Rear Visibility" That because people who but this car will buy it for other reasons and would probably buy it if it had "No rear visibility"

Same with the Challenger. This car is a true retro more so them Mustang or Camaro because it is most true to the original 70 Challenger.

If you buy this car it is because of the way it looks. It not the fastest,yet fast. Not the best handling, but handles well. But has more room then any other coupe at that price range, and again it all about the looks.

I agree with badblackrt, the car that comes to mind as the ultimate specialty car is the lamborghini countach. no rear visibility, difficult to drive, not storage, but it looks unlike anything else and thats why people love it

@badblackrt

I see where you're coming from. True, hardly any reviews of a Ferrari mention driver visibility, but then again not many people can afford one to begin with. Ferrari's are in the realm of specialty & exotic cars. Most people whom own one usually have other cars in which they use on a daily basis.

Chrysler/Dodge didn't build the Challenger with expectations to only build and sell a thousand of them. It was built because they saw a sizable market that reawakened when the 2005 Mustang was introduced with its retro styling.

The Challenger is a direct competitor for the Mustang and Camaro and are priced accordingly so. I didn't grow up in the era of the original Muscle cars and don't pledge allegiance to any brand. With that said, if Dodge expects me to buy the Challenger over its rivals they'll have to build a car that's superior in styling, performance, features and build quality.

They've won me over on the styling department, but I'm not entirely sold on the other categories.
Performance goes to the Camaro. Ford's got the features down. And build quality is up in the air until I've test driven all 3.

bad and Jr.

I think your both right. People buy what they like for all sorts of reasons that make sense to them; be it driving performance, looks or utility.

For many poeple, i.e. me, the Challenger has the looks, the power, and enough in the quality department to want to buy this car, drive it all day long, and still store it for the winter. Note, if I can't backup or turn or "drive" the car due to exterior design, then to me its not worth buying because I don't keep garage queens.

When I hear specialty car I usually think exotics, however, since the Challenger is a retro design big engine car, which goes against the main stream push to be green and drive small cars, then I think we could call this a specialty car as well and not mean an exotic.

I picked up a black Challenger R/T this past Monday. What a car! The Challenger has exceeded my wildest expectations.

As for build quality, it's better than good....it's perfect. Panels line up, paint is outstanding, not a rattle in the thing, interior is great, and the car is tight. This car was really put together well.

You buy a Challenger and you become an instant rock star. I picked my car up out of town and while getting on the Ohio Turnpike there was a guy on his knees doing some cement work. He stared at my car going by and said, "What a beautiful car."

I'm writing this from my garage. I can't keep my eyes off the thing. Yes this car is something special....very special! I feel fortunate and am thankful that I have a Challenger.

Good post Donna.

I bought a Challenger R/T two months ago. I agree with chuckg, this car is impressive.

The build quality is exceptional. The paint is perfect. The car is tight. The car stylish, well-built, and fun to drive.

The Challenger is in no way "undriveable" because of its poor rearward visability. I had a first-generation Challenger as my daily driver for 10 years and its rearward visibility was also poor, but that lack of rearward visibility never impacted my ability to safely drive the car.

I am actually glad the new Challenger didn't come with a backup camera. That would make it cost more.

To be totally honest I will point out what I consider to be some shortcomings of the car. There is no quick access to the rear seat on the drivers side. Yes, we make use of the back seat, so this is annoying. The skip shift feature is annoying. I want to decide what gear to be in. I understand that manufactures put this "feature" on cars for emissions reasons, but it is frustrating when you want to shift into 2nd and are forced into 4th. The turn signal indicators on the dash are useless. You can hardly see them. I wish the car sat an inch lower. I wish the hood scoops were functional. I wish the dash included performance gauges like oil pressure, battery voltage, etc, instead of just mph, tach, gas and temperature. All that being said, I am still very glad I bought the car.

I like the exhaust note and am glad it isn't too obnoxious.

I haven't had a problem with burning my hands on thie pistol grip shifter.

So far I am averaging about 18.6 mpg in mixed driving. I am sure I could improve that number if I kept my foot out of it, but that wouldn't be as much fun.

Chuckg says it just right, "This car is something special...very special! I feel fortunate and I am thankful that I have a Challenger."

rda717409

Thank you for your thoughts. While I don't own a Challenger (yet), I think I share your wish list, based upon Edmunds' posts and posts like yours. Further, its nice to see they jive with Edmunds' comments.

How does the car drive on 87, 89 or 91 octane and how is its cornering in daily driving?

Eveyrone is doing a great job on this long-term test!

I haven't tried any gas other than 91 octane so far, so I can't comment.

I was able to "fix" one of the shortcomings by installing a "skip-shift eliminator". $17 and about 15 minutes and that feature is gone.

I think the new Challenger handles the corners very well. (Infinitely better than my first generation Challenger did!) I must acknowledge that I don't have a history of owning cars known for their cornering ability, so it might not take a whole lot to impress me.

I own a 2009 Challenger R/T and I would like to make a couple of comments about my experiences with my car over the last month.

Let me start by saying that I love this car! My wife was very unsure about it when we bought it but now she loves it as much as I do. The trunk is large enough to actually use for a vacation (and we have). The interior is roomy and comfortable. On our vacation we put my 18 year old daughter and a large bird cage in the back seat, along with a small cooler. Try that in some of the other cars!

The power of the car is amazing and the looks draw constant attention. I get thumbs ups and comments everywhere I go. Another added bonus in my opinion is that there aren't 5 of these at every red light like some other cars. I have owned my car for a month and have yet to see another one.

Here are my negatives: The turn signals on the dash are hard to see, and the exhaust needs to be louder from the factory.

I know how to use my side and rear view mirrors so I don't feel visibility backing up is really a problem. I do believe there is a backup camera available as an option, although I don't have it. As for the oil pressure, I can easily pull it up on the digital display along with tire pressure, engine temp, and many other useful parameters for the car. The display can also pull up your radio station, 0-60 time and other fun stuff. I'm not sure if the Camaro and Mustang are available with the GPS in the dash, but that is another feature I've learned that I can't live without.

There you have it...input from a real owner that has put 2300 miles on the car in one month.

Wow, I forgot to comment on the gas question and steering. I do put 89 octane in my auto R/T but I haven't seen issues when I've had to put 87 in it. So far I seem to get 25-26 mpg on the highway.

As for cornering, it handles better than any other car I've ever owned. Unless you are running a slalom most people will probably think it's outstanding.

I have now driven the Challenger R/T for 5000 miles. Its suspension while not designed for a road course takes the daily driving potholes & thumps of the road with ease. The engine & exhaust is not so loud as to offend business clients who ride in the car but provides a nice powerful sound. As for the comments about not much rear view for backing up lol try using the side mirrors a little more they work fine & as good as a backup cam would. The only slight complaint i have is this. I am a tall man & i compete in fire arms competitions. I need to have the seat folded down to load the LOCKED gun cases. The seat behind the drivers seat will not fold down unless i move the drivers seat forward. Even if i move it forward to lower the rear seat I cant move the drivers seat all the way back to where it was. I recently took the car on a round trip drive of about 850 miles. The car averaged about 24.5 mpg. I dont baby this car so it was pretty impressive. One last point about the technology. Someone up there ^ said that the Mustang has better features? I would disagree. The mygig system alone leaves ford wanting. They didnt even have an ipod interface or jack in the earlier models. The mygig is a great system & the Boston Acoustics sounds great. My opinion for what its worth is that this car is exactly what it should be. An extremely well built, attractive, functional modern muscle car. Tell me any other car for the money looks better? I dare you! lol

bigsmiles- I think you said it all. What a car!!!!

I'm proud to be a Dodge Challenger owner!!!

Just Picked mine up. I got the 6 speed and hate the skipshift. Where did you purchase the skip-shift eliminator?

I've only had 25 miles on mine so my observations are limited.

The thing that surprised me most about the car is the relatively short power curve. It doesn't really pull hard until 4000-6000 rpm. While this is by no means slow, I would have thought it start pulling hard at 3000. Now to be fair, I was driving with the traction control on. After I put a few more miles on it I will try again with it turned off.