First on the list is the range-topping SRT Hellcat. For a car that has more horsepower than a Lamborghini Aventador or a Ferrari 458 you might think that you would have to lay down at least $100,000, but no the price is barely half that. Anyone with $60,000 ($59,995, to be exact) can walk into a Dodge showroom and walkout with one of the most powerful cars in the world. That is so amazing it makes me a bit worried.
That being said, it is a good thing that the Hellcat is such a bargain, because at full throttle the fearsome supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI burns 1.5 gallons of gas every minute. With fuel economy like that, owning a Hellcat could make invading an oil rich nation a practical undertaking.
For the slightly more practical, less awesome among us, the Challenger range offers lots of other options. The momma bear to the Hellcat’s fearsome roar is the Challenger R/T Scat Pack and the Scat Pack Shaker. Featuring a slightly less insane version of the mighty HEMI, this 485-hp, 475-pound-feet of torque monster runs just $38,495. Or $15,000 less than the C7 Corvette, which isn’t as powerful. And while it can hardly be called green, it does avoid the gas guzzler tax thanks to its 25 highway mpg.
The real bargain of the lineup is the Challenger R/T. This 372-hp V8 muscle car costs just $31,495 or about the same as a Toyota Highlander. And best of all the Challenger doesn’t even come with a mandatory pair of mom jeans. With a wide array of options the Challenger R/T might be the most practical impractical vehicle on the market right now, and is going to give the new Mustang a run for its money.
Sitting at the bottom of the range is the Challenger SXT. It might lack a V8 but is still a surprisingly interesting option thanks to the excellent 305 hp 3.6-liter Pentastar V6, which happens to be one Digital Trends’ very favorite V6s. Buying the SXT also doesn’t mean missing out on features, the same excellent 8.4-inch Uconnect touchscreen is available on the bargain basement $26,995 car as the $60,000 Hellcat.
In short, the 2015 Challenger is not just a good looking muscle car destined to play second fiddle to the mighty Mustang. Instead, this range of Challenger now offers class leading power in almost every vehicle, and, thanks to its styling and soul, it has a presence and a sense of occasion that is hard to match without spending supercar money. Your move, Ford.
