Well, I've had the Challenger for about four months now, and put about 4200 miles on her, so I figure I could at least make a quick review pointing out the positives and negatives I've encountered (well, I thought it would be a quick review when I first started typing this)...
The good:
Engine/Transmission - The 392 Hemi paired with the 8-speed Torqueflite (really a license-built ZF 8HP70) automatic is a match made in heaven. The 392 makes plenty of torque across the rev range, and when at WOT, will push hard up to the redline, without any sign of losing breath. At the same time, this engine is very docile when just driving to the corner store or cruising along a highway, with smooth shifts from the transmission and easily controlled throttle response.
However..putting the engine/trans in Sport mode is like pulling back the hammer of a .44 Magnum. Throttle response is much more sensitive, and the transmission trades smoothness for firm, borderline-harsh but extremely fast up- and downshifts; even a little more than light application of the right foot at a stop WILL result in squealing rubber, and possibly undue attention from law enforcement. Even at speed at around 40mph, simply smashing the accelerator pedal to the floor will result in loud protests from the rear tires as well as a rather violent downshift from 7th to 2nd or 3rd gear.
When you finally get a nice, long road clear of traffic (and hopefully the local police), this engine and transmission shines. The car just surges ahead, no lag, no cam switch-over...the only drama coming from the epic soundtrack from the car's dual exhausts, which sounds like it came right from 1970. The transmission, as stated before, shifts very firmly, but also quickly. It also has two methods of shifting manually - with steering wheel-mounted paddles, or using a shift-gate on the floor shifter. In normal settings, manual shifting is a bit on the slow side, but in sport, is noticeably more responsive. In any event, I've hardly used either method, really only using it for slow-speed cruising, a little bit of spirited driving on some curvy roads, and downshifting to discourage tailgaters. I normally leave the car in full auto whether in normal or sport mode, as I've found the car knows when to shift better and faster than I do.
Comfort - Unlike my 2011 Mustang, the Challenger has a 4-wheel independent suspension, and handles the bumpy/uneven roads better than any of the previous ponycars I've owned ever could. It's also quite roomy for my 5' 11", ~170lb frame; I don't have to worry about my knees, shoulders or head banging into anything in this car; the same could not be said for the Mustangs and the Camaro I've owned. The seats are leather and Alcantara, and are quite grippy, and are heated and vented, which, when working in concert with the A/C, is a godsend in Florida summers. The steering wheel is also heated, and I've already found it quite useful after watching an IMAX movie in a theater that must have been below freezing inside. Also, for the first time, I finally have a vehicle where I won't have to listen to my back seat passengers moan about being squashed into that area; headroom can be a little tight for some taller passengers, to be sure, but overall, it's FAR better than the Mustang and Camaro.
Interior - I was not a fan of the 2008-2014 Challenger interior, as I found it looked too much like other Chrysler products, as well as more cheap-looking and feeling plastic than I cared for. The 2015 is a
HUGE improvement, looking much more modern than the older Challengers, as well being better laid out, and overall significantly improved, with much more widespread use of nicely-textured soft-touch materials and metals. There's still more cheap-looking and feeling plastic than I'd care for, but again, not nearly as bad as the pre-2015 models, nor was I expecting Audi or Lexus levels of interior quality or refinement, for what is, at it's heart, is a ~$25k car.
Technology - I will admit it, when it comes to automotive infotainment systems, I'm far from an expert, and after looking at all the lights, displays and buttons inside, I was initially a bit overwhelmed, and I'll admit, there's still some things I'm still trying to wrap my head around, even after reading the ~600 page online manual, and the 200+ supplemental paperback manual, AND the informational DVD, but overall, the car is actually quite user-friendly. The 7-inch reconfigureable display between the gauges is very easy to set up depending on your preferences. The Uconnect 8.4" touchscreen is also intuitive and easy to configure; Mere minutes after getting into the car, I already had figured out the majority of the functions available.
The car has no CD player, but it does have USB, Bluetooth and an aux input, and I had no problems putting in one of the thumb drives full of MP3s into the USB port, and the car found and played them with no problem. I'm not much of an audiophile, but while I find the standard 276-watt, 6-speaker Alpine audio to be fine for my ears, I think the sound quality on my 2011 Mustang, with its Shaker 500-watt 8-speaker to be superior overall.
Connecting my smartphone to the car was a simple and straightforward affair (once my sister, who knows far more about smartphones, and phones in general, more than I do, showed me how it's done, despite being in the car for her first time).
My Challenger also came with very useful blind-spot warning (considering the rarther large blind-spot around the c-pillar, this should've been made standard across the whole lineup), especially when I have the misfortune of somebody parking next to me in their Tahoe/Suburban/Expedition/full-size van. It also has a rear-view camera, which I've also found very helpful, as given the car has a rather huge front spoiler just begging to be smashed into a curb if you're not careful, I usually park back-first into most parking spaces with this car whenver possible.
Brakes: My Challenger R/T Scat Pack came with 14.2" front and 13.8" rear slotted disc brakes with 4-piston Brembo calipers all around. They do a remarkable job at stopping 4200lbs with little effort and drama.
Fuel Economy - Yes, I realize this isn't a Prius or a TDI VW, but for a two-ton plus muscle car with nearly 500 horsepower, I've found it to be rather good. I normally average anywhere from 19-24MPG(US) per tank in 65/35% highway/city driving. The car, when left in normal mode, will shut off four cylinders when cruising along at steady speeds, causing a rather unappealing drone, as it essentially runs as a 3.2L V4 (only the two central pairs of cylinders run in this mode), but also increasing fuel economy. At 50mph, I've noticed the car reporting 35-38MPG; at 70mph, 28-30mpg; at 80mph, usually the fastest I'll cruise along highways, 22-24mpg (usually running on all 8 cylinders, MDS usually doesn't run at this speed or above).
Looks - I realize that this a subjective issue, but of the three ponycars offered for sale, I find the Challenger, especially after the 2015 refresh, hits all the right chords with me. Yes, it's retro, and unabashedly so. While I like the 2015 Mustang overall, I feel it lacks some of the brashness of the 2010-2014 cars that I liked about it, and I feel GM took a step back with the 2014-2015 Camaro in terms of design. I'm not quite sure what to make of the 2016 Camaro, while I like the side and top profiles of that car, I'm not crazy about the front and back end of it.
I am not a fan of the 1971 Challenger; when it comes to the original 1970-1974 cars, I prefer the cleaner grille and single taillight design of the 1970 over the split grille and taillights of the '71. Yet...when those '71 styling cues were applied to the 2015 car, to me - they felt just right. In my opinion, I think the R/T Scat Pack is the best-looking trim level of Challenger; yes, the Hellcat has 707 horsepower, but I don't care for the front fascia and several other aspects of that version of the Challenger. Nor do I care for the SRT 392; the Viper-inspired hood looks out of place on that car.
I ordered my R/T Scat Pack in Ivory White Pearl, the standard 20" cast 10-spoke alloys, and no stripes. The normal 5.7L R/T and SRT 392 both proudly display 'HEMI' badges on their exteriors. The R/T Scat Pack does not. the only identification that this car isn't a run-of-the-mill Challenger R/T with the 5.7L Hemi is a Bumblebee emblem on each fender with a '6.4L' callout underneath, and I had mine removed within a month of picking mine up. Ironically, the one race (if you could call it that) I've had in this car was with another Challenger, an older '08-'10 SRT-8 with the 425hp 6.1L, up an Interstate onramp. I'm fairly certain he figured I was an easy kill until he saw (and probably heard) how fast I was pulling away from him as soon as we turned onto the onramp...(he didn't seem to take it well, either, as I eased into a 70mph cruise in the right lane, the other Challenger flew by me at over 100...
). While I wouldn't call my car a 'sleeper' in the general sense, I do believe it does have some aspects of one...
Practicality: While I'm not a big fan of the car's size, it does have it's advantages; not only can it hold 4 people quite comfortably on long trips, it also can hold a rather impressive amount of cargo in its trunk and a rear seat area, once those seats are folded down. The trunk's passthrough area is a bit smallish, however.
Mixed feelings:
Handling - In normal, everyday driving this car is absurdly easy to drive. Steering is light but nicely weighted, if a bit numb. Driving around corners with rough roads is also more confidence-inspiring than the Mustangs and Camaro I've owned. However, in spirited driving, whether in a straight line or in corners, this car suffers from both its 4200+lb weight, but moreso (in my opinion) from the sub-optimal tire fitment this car has. It just doesn't have the grip that a car with this much power should have. The only size tire available on the R/T Scat pack is 245/45/20, which is just too skinny for a car of this weight and power.
To make things worse, mine is equipped with Goodyear Eagle RSA2 all-season tires (I ordered my car with Goodyear F1 Supercar summer tires, but for some reason they didn't come on mine), which are decent for most everyday driving, but I've found them lacking if driving with any real enthusiasm. Fortunately, I've found from other Challenger owners that fitting wider tires, around 275-285mm will fit the stock 20x9" wheels without any problems. As soon as these stock tires are done, I'm going to do exactly that.
The bad:
Size/weight - No getting around this (sometimes literally, in my own garage no less). This is a big and heavy car. It barely fits in my garage. The car also, as mentioned above, has a large front spoiler which I feel I will inevitably crunch into a curb one day, no matter how careful I try to be. This car also feels heavier around tight corners than my '11 Mustang (possibly because it
IS heavier, on the order of 600 pounds). I wouldn't mind it if they shrunk this car about 10-15% in overall size and gave it a 600lb diet...
Visibility - While not as bad as the Camaro, my Mustangs were like a greenhouse compared to this car. Front visibility isn't bad, but parking nose-first into a space or even my own garage makes me rather nervous, as the car's long hood can make it rather difficult to judge whether I'm going to hit a curb, or worse, my garage wall. Visibility around the C-pillars is particularly bad, but it's at least partly mitigated by the BLIS. Rear visibility also isn't good; the window is rather small, the rear spoiler obscures some of the view, and the headrests on the back seats do not fold down.
Technology - While I'm mostly satsified with this aspect of the car, I've encountered a few bugs with Uconnect every now and again. Sometimes the screen would not respond to any commands, others the car would not detect my thumb drive in the USB slot. Also, I'm not thrilled with the phone call buttons placed on the steering wheel; I've had several instances where I've brushed a thumb against a button, and the car would helpfully ask who I'd like to call - and after telling the car 'no' in no uncertain terms, decides to give me an unwanted refresher course on Uconnect, despite my repeated denials and protests. Eventually, at one point, I was arguing with my own car, telling it to shut up, much like Clarkson has done with other infotainment systems...
Also, the car has a vehicle range display, which tells you how many miles of fuel are remaining. This works fine - until you're down to your last two gallons of fuel, at that point it will just say - LOW. There is no way to clear this on the display and have the vehicle display how many miles you have remaining at this point. That is utterly ridiculous.
Build Quality - This is my #1 disappointment with this car. I paid $42000USD out the door for this Challenger. Now, I'll admit, I didn't notice this when I saw the car in person, perhaps I was caught up in the excitement and anticipation. So far, I've noticed a misaligned driver's door panel (not flush with the quarter panel, but protruding above it), a misaligned hood, passenger-side exhaust, passenger-side taillight and trunklid. This is my first Chrysler product; depending on how they handle this, it may very well be my last. The two other cars I've ordered and bought new, both Ford Mustangs, had no such issues of this magnitude.
Overall - I like this car quite a bit, despite its flaws. Once I put some more capable rubber on it, and if Chrysler doesn't disappoint me in rectifying the QC issues I've had, I'll love it. It's fast, comfortable, practical, good-looking but not too conspicuous (for what it is) and when the conditions are right, lots of fun.