The horsepower arms race among auto manufacturers that make powerful sports cars just jumped up a notch. Chrysler’s Dodge division has released a new Challenger with a 6.2-liter V8 engine that puts out 600 horsepower. While several Dodge competitors sell cars with 500-plus horsepower engines, this new power plant represents the high end of the growing ultra-fast sports car market. However, the number of people who buy these cars is likely very limited.
Chrysler’s description of the car:
The newly consolidated Dodge and SRT brands are launching out of the gate at full throttle, introducing the new 600-plus horsepower 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT with a Hellcat engine and its stablemate — the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT — just one month after taking the wraps off the new Dodge Challenger 392 HEMI® Scat Pack Shaker at the New York Auto Show.
Driven by the five SRT performance hallmarks, the new 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT and Challenger SRT with the Hellcat engine are re-designed and totally re-engineered to be the most true-to-form muscle coupes on the market with performance-enhancing technologies inside and out. The Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat will feature the most powerful V-8 engine ever produced by Chrysler Group — the supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI V-8.
The new Dodge likely will carry a price above $50,000. The SRT 392 already sells for more than $45,000.
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Ford Motor Co.’s (NYSE: F) top-of-the-line Mustang Shelby GT500 has a base price of $55,110. While its horsepower is 100 short of the new Dodge, it will run zero to 60 in four seconds, which puts it among the fastest dealer-available cars in America.
General Motors Co.’s (NYSE: GM) Corvette Stingray has a base price of $53,000 and a high-end version that sells for more than $65,000. Its 460 horsepower engine will run it from zero to 60 in 3.9 seconds.
Because these cars have prices above $50,000, they compete with fast versions of cars made by the Japanese and Germans. That makes the market for sports coupes with sub-four-second fields crowded.
Chrysler faces a problem with the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT. The segment has too many cars for a limited market, which means there may be far too few buyers.
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