Chapman Dodge

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This price leader was never expected to account for more than about 30% of Challenger volume, but the current economic climate and fear of ever-rising gas prices may cause buyers to pay more attention to the less muscular versions of all three neo-ponies. How will the Dodge stack up? Its LX platform architecture offered two V-6s from which to choose, and Dodge opted for the larger 3.5L, which spins the dyno needles to an even 250 on both the horsepower and torque meters. That's well up on archrival Ford's 4.0L Mustang engine, which spools out just 210 hp and 240 lb-ft. Both are single-overhead cam designs, but the Dodge breathes better with double the valve count (24 to 12). The 3.5L is also smoother and more sonorous than the truly agricultural sounding big-lunged Ford.The R/T's 5.7L Hemi doesn't rev quite as high as the SRT8's 6.1L (5700 versus 6250 rpm), but features variable cam timing and cylinder shutoff (on automatics) to optimize fuel economy. Manuals get the first-to-fourth-gear skip-shift feature, allowing both R/T variants to be rated at 16 mpg city, 25 highway. That's just one mpg city below the SE V-6's rating, although we suspect that R/T drivers enjoying the V-8's burbling torque may realize a greater real-world fuel-economy deficit relative to the V-6. Dragstrip clutch-drops are free of axle-hop, thanks to the manual R/T's use of load-leveling Sachs Nivomat shocks and asymmetric-diameter halfshafts like those used on Corvettes.

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