2009 Dodge Challenger R/T: Manly Gauges

Nice to have temp gauge, too bad the gauge cluster itself is fugly and generic... I guess this keeps it consistent with the rest of the fugly and generic interior.... I'll take the Mazda 3 cluster (and interior) over this any day.

Looks EXACTLY like the gauges from the Dodge Caliber I rented from Enterprise last week.

Ugly.

Gauge is a gauge so long as it is accurate and it shows what I need I'll take it.

I don't know why people find these gauges unattractive. I think they are very nicely done. Clean fonts, no unnecessary colors or designs, and simple orange needles. Works for me.

The Challenger will still be an "American Icon."

Of an overweight muscle car that can't handle?

Being a Camaro fan, I have to concede the Mustang has got it right. :(

In my opinion, all those new muscle cars aren't good enougth:

-The mustang is fast on straigh line, but then, the live rear axle just kills him... the handling isn't that bad, but in the track isn't fast enought, too much slower than for example a 370z

-The interior of the Camaro is a Poster car, looks grat insideout, but just doesn't work at all, the ergonomics is rubish, isn't very fast, doesn't handle well.

-The challenger looks great, the interior is functional but to dull, this car neded something more exclusive like the camaro. The handling and performance won't gonna win any contest too...

I thinks this are fashion cars, in a few years nobody will care about them.
These cars try too be classics, but in the end, buy a corvette, in a few years later, it will be more contemporary.

The "real oil pressure gauge" is "real" because it will show an actual numerical reading, not a reading on a non-indexed scale. If you click on the link, you can see what he means. The water temp is not "real" because you don't know what temperature the middle is. 180? 200? 220? 196.4? Non-indexed just gives a general idea of where in the range it falls.

These gauges don't look "classic" at all.

and is it just me or do these give off a very kitchen appliance look?!? The needles and white backing look like something off of my toaster oven

These gauges looked great in the 1998 Dodge Intrepid ES that they came from. Unfortunately fads die and so should these timepieces (hopefully the stupid pods will go too).

The gauges do what they are supposed to do...relay vital info quickly and easily. Jay, I am suprised that you dont appreciate that coming from a BMW point of view.....BMW gauges are hardly art but they are excellent at what they do....just like the Challenger. The disco hangover that is the Mazdaspeed and the melted deco of the Camaro are way to glitzy for me. Maybe the Challenger could have gone for a more stylish look but considering the amount of money Chrysler had to work with, they did a very good job. They spent money where it counted and it shows in the details like the shifter and light package and full length tailights etc. I do agree that the white on black is getting tired......as a matter of fact the new Calibers went to the white on black so maybe the Challenger will do it as well.

"-The mustang is fast on straigh line, but then, the live rear axle just kills him... the handling isn't that bad, but in the track isn't fast enought, too much slower than for example a 370z"

I dont think the Mustang is slower than the Z on the track. At least not according to C&D.

Thank you for stating facts 1487

"These gauges looked great in the 1998 Dodge Intrepid ES that they came from. Unfortunately fads die and so should these timepieces (hopefully the stupid pods will go too)."

Pretty interesting comment considering BMWs gauges have barely changed in 15 years.

@bodyblue,

"The gauges do what they are supposed to do...relay vital info quickly and easily. Jay, I am suprised that you dont appreciate that coming from a BMW point of view.....BMW gauges are hardly art but they are excellent at what they do....just like the Challenger."

That's exactly my point, the Challenger's gauges are partly a fashion statement from the mid-90's that is no longer much of a fashion statement. Black on white dials is harder to read than white on black. Plus the tunnels make scanning the panel more difficult.

@1487,

"Pretty interesting comment considering BMWs gauges have barely changed in 15 years. "

Black on white gauges were a fad. The fad's over. BMW gauges have never been faddish - and the basic style has been around far longer than 15 years. In the late 1980's when many manufacturers had "high tech" digital instrumentation, BMW kept their dials. There's a big difference between a classic tradition that really works (the M3's dials are borderline perfect) and outdated fashion trends that change every 5 or so years. Currently the trend is blue lighting and individual pods. Stupid now and will be even more stupid in 5 years or so when it's out-of-style and some manufacturers haven't caught up.

Side note on gauges:

I drove an '09 Toyota Matrix yesterday. The gauges were horrid. Sure they would look great in a picture (electroluminescent, red band around the numerals, individual pods), but while wearing sunglasses the RED speedo needle was pointing to a RED area of the gauge. With sunglasses on it was almost completely illegible until you stared at it for a second. Completely unacceptable, horrid design done in the name of fashion only. To add insult to injury, the pods made scanning difficult - I didn't even realize right away that there was a redundant gear indicator because it was buried in a different color LCD. Another example of designers winning over engineers.

I must admitt I like pods from a style standpoint but not weird colors

I do not like pods, but I do appreciate these gauges. I realize that they (or a variation) are also used in some cheaper Chryco vehicles, but that does not change the fact that they are attractive and functional. The font is especially classy.

Also, I've often heard but do not understand the criticism that black-on-white gauges are "hard to read". It's no more hard to read than anything else that's black-on-white -- you know, like books, magazines, web pages...

These aren't the SAME as what was in the LH cars, and inspired by the Viper. Try looking at how the Intrepid gauges light up FIRST before commenting on how these are. If you can't read these then get your eyes checked. They're clear and to the point without doing stupid colors such as red or blue.