From the corporate that turned a Honda Civic right into a fake Dodge Challenger, right here comes a Toyota Corolla impersonating a British sedan from many moons in the past. Mitsuoka is at it once more, solely this time, it is taken a Toyota Corolla to provide it a British aptitude. The Ryugi has been round since 2014, and it is now getting a small replace with further tools whereas retaining the unusual exterior look.
Featuring an uncommon face reminding us of a Rover P5 from the late Nineteen Fifties or a Jaguar Mark II from the identical period, the Mitsuoka Ryugi is available in sedan and wagon flavors. Underneath that peculiar physique is a previous-generation JDM-spec Corolla (E160), which continues to be in manufacturing because the Corolla Axio sedan and Corolla Fielder wagon. That’s regardless of the actual fact the most recent era (E210) was launched again in 2018. Since 2022, Toyota has been making the previous one strictly as a fleet car, based on Best Car journal.
The Chevrolet Camaro is gone. The Dodge Challenger is gone. That leaves the Ford Mustang on their own on this planet of Detroit muscle automobiles. So it is pure for individuals to label the brand new Dodge Charger as a Mustang rival. It’s accessible with two doorways, primarily changing the Challenger. Dodge calls it a muscle automotive, be it because the electric Charger Daytona or the combustion-powered Charger Sixpack coming subsequent 12 months. But if you happen to evaluate the 2 side-by-side, you will perceive they’re not likely opponents.
The new Dodge Charger lives in a very completely different zip code from the Mustang. It may even span two zip codes, as a result of it is solely two inches shorter than a Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Parked side-by-side, you’d by no means discover the distinction between them. And for the document, these numbers aren’t only for the four-door, however the two-door Charger, too. It’s enormous.
We cannot bear in mind the final time an American model constructed such a large coupe. The Challenger by no means cracked 200 inches, nor the Chevrolet Monte Carlo when it retired in 2008. Popular Nineteen Nineties coupes just like the Ford Thunderbird and Chevy Lumina get shut, as do the boxy Eighties G-body automobiles (assume Oldsmobile Cutlass and Buick Regal) from General Motors, all of that are close to or barely over 200 inches.
Initially, we thought the final American two-door automotive as large as the brand new Charger was a Ford Crown Victoria. Though uncommon, Ford supplied the boxy Crown Vic in two-door trim via 1987. A fast verify on the Ford Heritage Vault confirms it stretched 211 inches from nostril to tail. But, Motor1 readers are superior, they usually remind us that the Lincoln Mark VIII and Buick Riveria each measured round 207 inches throughout their temporary run within the Nineteen Nineties. Not fairly as outdated because the Vic, however nonetheless we’re nonetheless speaking 25 years in the past.
Here’s a fast chart displaying how the 2024 Charger Daytona stacks as much as the Mustang and different autos of curiosity, each previous and current.
Make/Model
Length (inches)
Width (inches)
Weight (kilos)
2024 Dodge Charger Daytona
206.6
84.3
5,838
2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse
189.7
81.9
3,975
2024 Mercedes-Benz S-Class
208.2
83.0
4,740
2024 Porsche Taycan
195.4
84.5
4,568
2023 Dodge Charger Hellcat Redeye
201.0
78.3
4,586
2023 Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye
197.5
78.3
4,415
1987 Ford Crown Victoria 2-Door
211.0
77.5
3,699
1968 Dodge Charger
208.8
76.6
4,035
If the Charger was a tad smaller, we is likely to be tempted to name it a Mustang rival. But there’s also the issue of weight. The Charger Daytona comes it at practically three tons, or about one and a half Mustangs with somewhat left over. To be honest, we do not but know the way a lot the gas-powered Charger Sixpack will weigh. But it nonetheless dwarfs the Mustang in a direct dimension comparability.
We requested Dodge for some steerage on Charger opponents, however the firm declined to remark. An official angle will come nearer to the Charger Daytona’s on-sale date later this 12 months, however we will inform you the automaker benchmarked the Camaro and Porsche Taycan (amongst others) throughout the Charger’s growth. So whereas there is a little bit of pony automotive affect baked into the recipe, it is actually not a Mustang competitor. If something, we might say the brand new Charger is in a category all by itself.
The Challenger nameplate has been within the Dodge lineup for the reason that early Seventies. The most up-to-date third-generation mannequin went on sale in 2008 and launched {powerful} iterations like Scat Pack, Hellcat, Redeye, and plenty of extra to the lineup. Now, after 16 years, the Challenger isn’t any extra—at the very least the title is not.
With the arrival of the brand new Charger Daytona, Dodge is discontinuing the Challenger nameplate for the foreseeable future. A Dodge spokesperson advised us in an interview that there are “no future Challenger plans at this time.” While which may be disappointing for followers eager for a brand new Challenger, the Charger EV will technically take the place of the outgoing muscle automobile.
The Charger is available in two- and four-door configurations with basic trim choices like R/T and Scat Pack carrying over. An optionally available Track Pack is accessible on the latter. In phrases of measurement, the brand new Charger Daytona coupe is larger than the Challenger it replaces with a 121.0-inch wheelbase and a complete size of 206.5 inches, in comparison with the Challenger’s 116.0-inch wheelbase and 197.9-inch complete size. It’s additionally wider than the Challenger by 8.6 inches; 84.3 inches in comparison with 75.7.
That further measurement means extra passenger and cargo house for the EV; as much as 22.8 cubic toes of cargo behind the rear seats and 37.4 cubes with the rear seats folded flat. The Challenger had simply 16.2 cubic toes of house by comparability. And this new Charger is a liftback as a substitute of a conventional coupe.
While it could not have a V-8, the Charger Daytona will provide a Hurricane inline-six engine alongside the electrical powertrain. The 3.0-liter engine comes with a regular 420 horsepower and a more-powerful 550-hp model. That’s extra energy than the outgoing Challenger’s base V-8—however this engine will solely be accessible with an eight-speed computerized. No guide.
Regardless, whereas the Challenger title could also be gone from the Dodge lineup, it lives on in spirit within the new Charger Daytona.
Dodge used the 426 hemi in Challenger, Coronet, Dart SS, and Super Bees between 1966 and 1971 and Plymouth dropped it below the hoods of a handful of vehicles in that very same span, together with the Barracuda, Belvedere, Fury GT, Road Runner, and GTX. A 3rd technology hemi got here alongside in 2003 with a displacement as giant as 392 cubic inches, however the truth that it shares its block design with the LA collection lands it within the gray space between massive and small block engines.
The 440 cubic inch RB collection motor, an plain massive block at as a lot as 700 kilos with forged iron consumption and exhaust manifolds, stayed in manufacturing till 1978. Smaller variations of the RB massive block have been additionally stored alive via that time, together with the favored 383 and 400 cubic inch kinds. By then, forged crankshafts had changed the sooner solid variations, though Mopar’s massive block engines remained carbureted lengthy after many opponents had switched to gas injection.
Dodge makes some lofty claims concerning the Challenger Demon 170. From the manufacturing facility the supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 could make as much as 1,025 horsepower due to a ton of recent engine elements. The solely approach to discover out for positive is to take it do a dyno. That’s precisely what one proprietor did.
Herman Young of the Demonology YouTube channel wished to see simply how a lot horsepower his new Dodge Demon 170 would make on a dyno. So he took his automotive to Bailey’s Hyperformance in Forth Worth Texas and threw the automotive on the rollers. Before taking any knowledge, Young made positive to fill the tank with E85 gasoline, as that is the kind of gasoline the manufacturing facility recommends if you wish to make all of that horsepower. Throw in 93 octane, and you will be restricted to simply round 900 hp.
This vibrant blue Demon 170 is ready to put down 898 hp and 878 lb-ft of torque to the wheels. Factor within the industry-accepted 15-percent drivetrain loss you get from crank to tire, and we’re taking a look at round 1057 hp, a bit greater than manufacturing facility estimates.
Even extra spectacular is simply how a lot energy this Demon 170 makes over a normal Demon. Back when the latter was new, Young introduced his the identical dyno, the place it put down 776 hp and 710 lb-ft of torque whereas operating on 101-octane race gasoline — deficits of over 100 horses and 100 lb-ft versus the brand new automotive.
A becoming sendoff for the last-ever V-8–powered muscle automotive from Dodge.
It seems Dodge was effectively conscious of the inherent threat of promoting the severely souped-up Challenger to the general public, and the Mopar group reportedly required patrons to signal an settlement that they might not use the car on public roads. Given that the automotive got here with out energy steering, air-con, warmth, windshield wipers, or rear seats, one has to wonder if anybody was trying to take it out for an off-the-cuff Sunday spin.
As it was, the V10 Dodge Challenger was clearly constructed for racing, with Dodge going as far as to suit the car with racing slicks. They additionally provided patrons the possibility so as to add a roll cage, security harness, and mesh home windows for a further $7,900. Those who needed their Challenger painted something aside from primer white needed to cough up one other $6,900. Tally up one other $700 when you needed to decorate up the primer white with Mopar-branded wrap decals, and people prices got here on prime of the car’s already lofty $85,000 price ticket.
Given the associated fee and restricted usability of the V10-powered Dodge Challenger, one can think about on a regular basis drivers — even these with a penchant for muscle vehicles — weren’t precisely lining up at native dealerships to purchase one. As such, Dodge properly restricted manufacturing of the V10 Challenger, producing simply 70 of the autos. Price and limitations apart, one can nonetheless think about Dodge did not have a lot bother unloading all 70.
Weighing 64 tons, the Challenger 2 is likely one of the heaviest primary battle tanks round, nevertheless it nonetheless has plenty of velocity regardless of the majority. Most of the burden is right down to the tank’s heavy armor plating. Flat out, Britain’s primary battle tank will do 37 mph. This is noticeably slower than the likes of the Leopard 2 and M1 Abrams, however nonetheless pretty quick contemplating the automobile’s weight. The tanks which can be upgraded to Challenger 3s over the subsequent few years will obtain a brand new engine which ought to up the velocity to a point.
With its gasoline tanks full, the Challenger 2 has an efficient operational vary of 340 miles — although that drops if the tank is working off-road. The primary gun is a 120mm L30A1 designed primarily as an anti-tank weapon. The L30A1’s barrel can be rifled, although there’s plenty of debate about how a lot of a bonus that gives in a tank. Given that the Challenger 3’s primary gun will probably be smoothbore, the rifling in all probability wasn’t well worth the effort. The gun additionally has sights on the barrel, which is fairly distinctive to the Challenger 2.
Despite its thick armor, the Challenger 2 does have one fairly important weak point: it is one of many few trendy tanks with exterior gasoline tanks. The gasoline tanks are hooked up to the rear of the automobile, and theoretically susceptible to assault. Maintenance could also be one other challenge, with the Challenger requiring two instrument kits because the hull is constructed with imperial measurements and fittings whereas the turret is constructed utilizing the metric system.
The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 is undoubtedly essentially the most succesful manufacturing unit street-legal drag automobile ever made. Built with quarter-mile instances in thoughts, it comes with a supercharged V8 engine able to 1025 hp, together with drag radial tires, particular drag-ready suspension, and even a transmission brake. But it is nonetheless no match for the Tesla Model S Plaid.
Brooks Weisblat from the DragTimes YouTube channel introduced the 2 straight-line missiles collectively throughout a latest go to to Bradenton Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Florida to see which might be faster in a quarter-mile showdown.
In the primary of three races, the Plaid is ready to get an amazing begin, launching away and leaving the Demon within the mud. The second race is quite a bit nearer, with the Demon nailing a formidable launch. While the 2 vehicles are side-by-side for just a few seconds, it is the Tesla that slowly walks away and takes the win. The third race is a little bit of a bust, because the Demon driver fudges the beginning, permitting the Plaid to take a straightforward victory.
As Weisblat factors out, these vehicles are extra carefully matched than the outcomes would counsel. In reality, it is attainable the Demon may beat the Model S Plaid if it have been to get an ideal launch. But in the actual world, the Tesla is way simpler to drive, which means it is at all times going to put down constantly fast quarter-mile instances. The Dodge, then again, wants a talented driver and an ideal setting to extract essentially the most efficiency.
If we had to decide on one, we would take the Dodge each time, regardless of the outcomes.
Like the Dodge Challenger, the manufacturing of its sibling, the four-door Charger, has come to an finish. The ultimate instance, a Scat Pack Widebody painted in Destroyer Gray, rolled off the meeting line on Friday, December 22.
Dodge launched the seventh-generation Charger for the 2011 mannequin 12 months. Since then, the automaker has produced roughly 1.8 million examples of the sedan, together with a number of supercharged V8-powered Hellcat variants.
The ultimate Challenger got here off the meeting line on the identical day. It was an SRT Demon 170 mannequin painted Pitch Black. In addition, Chrysler constructed the ultimate 300 sedan on December 20. That means the corporate’s growing old large automobile structure is lastly, actually useless.
So far, there is no indication of Dodge introducing a brand new sedan that may take the Charger’s place within the lineup. However, a report signifies that Chrysler is engaged on an electric four-door that it’s displaying to sellers behind closed doorways. It reportedly resembles the automobile with a flowing roofline within the picture beneath. However, there is no information about when this mannequin might attain the market, or whether or not there shall be a Dodge-branded model on the horizon.
The Charger identify may not be gone for lengthy, although. Dodge launched an electrical muscle automobile idea known as the Charger Daytona SRT again in 2022, with plans to construct such a automobile beginning in late 2024. It’s not clear whether or not the identify will stick for the manufacturing mannequin, although. We’ll simply have to attend to seek out out.
The problem is full. Dodge produced the ultimate Challenger on Friday, an organization spokesperson confirmed to Motor1. The automotive was an SRT Demon 170 painted in Pitch Black. In June, the automaker held a charity public sale the place it offered the final obtainable mannequin allocation for an unimaginable $700,000.
It’s unclear whether or not the ultimate construct slot obtainable at public sale was additionally for this final car. Dodge might preserve the particular Challenger for the model’s personal assortment. No pictures of this automotive can be found at the moment.
The firm let the Challenger exit with a bang by introducing the SRT Demon 170 in March. It’s the brand new king of the muscle automotive energy wars, making 1,025 horsepower and 945 pound-feet of torque when working on E85 gas. Even on E10 fuel, the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 produces 900 hp and 810 lb-ft. The automotive can cowl the quarter-mile in 8.91 seconds at 151.17 mph, in accordance with Dodge’s official specs.
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