Gburg

Tomorrow, I am going on a secret mission to scout the Mopar oppostion. I own a '05 Chrysler 300C (340 h.p. w/ 89 octane petrol), which places me in a position to be a double agent or Vette mole among Moparians. I am taking a personal day off from work to attend the SRT day, at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, near Lexington, Ohio. Chrysler Corp. is sponsoring the 8 hour day with the Skip Barber Racing School. The idea is to show Moparians how to drive their SRTs, to higher levels of driving excellence, and I am sure to get more folks fired-up to buy SRT vehicles.

The day will be divided between class time and track time, on the Mid-Ohio road course. There will be the SRT- 8 versions of the Chrysler 300C and the Dodge Charger w/ 425 h.p. The SRT - 10 Dodge Ram 500 h.p. pick-up w/a Viper engine. The 330 h.p. Chrysler SRT - 6 Crossfire (rumor has it that this is about to go out of production, to make way for hotter vehicle). The 425 h.p. Chrysler Magnum SRT - 8 (talk about a station-wagon on steriods!!! ). The 2007
SRT- 4 300 h.p. Dodge Caliber. And last but not least the 510 h.p. SRT - 10 Viper. Participants will learn skills on how to be better daily drivers, as well as how to be high perfomance SRT drivers. We will be doing fast laps and performance driving exercises @ Mid-Ohio.
And there will be a drag-strip Christmas tree set-up for tire burning sessions. "Yes, I can drive a manual." "I have driven a six speed
stick." "Yes, I think that I can drive the Viper." Am I going to have fun or WHAT!!!!!

The cost of the event will be $500. This is about $200 less than
the other performance driving schools @ Mid-Ohio. And is much cheaper than the Jeff Gordon NASCAR school. I have wanted to drive Mid-Ohio so this is a good deal. AND I can abuse some other guy's vehicle, while my baby is at home. Yes, I am not going to drive the C6 tomorrow. I think it bad manners, to show up with a non-Mopar vehicle, that can cruise the interstates at 30+ MPG and is faster than 98%, of the vehicles on American byways.

I doubt that I will get a SRT vehicle. The SRT 300C and Charger only get about 20 MPG highway. My next sedan will be a Dodge Charger
R / T, with the road and track package. It has enhanced performance suspension, brakes, handling and the 350 h.p. 5.7 liter powerplant.

Cheers,

Gburg

cthusker

Take PICS! Be interested to hear your driving impressions of those vehicles.........

Wayne O

Sounds like a fun day. Keep us posted as to what our Viper 'friends' are up to. For all the Corvette vs. Viper hype....I still admire the Viper for what it is and briefly considered purchasing one, however, after driving my friends Viper I still believe the C6 is a much more 'well-rounded' performance car. Try to confirm the rumors of the mega Horsepower uber Viper my friend keeps telling me is in final design stages. Have a great time!

Dale_K

I recently bought a 300C. It feels kind of like an old fashioned American car and I mean that in a good way. Smooth and comfortable. Decent power but obviously nothing like the Corvette.

There's a 300C forum but most of the threads are about 22" wheels and lambo doors.

I wish I had got the genuine wood trim option but otherwise I'm OK with the car. They do make some funny compromises in the interest of saving cost. The chrome wheels are actually plastic cladding and there's no lock on the gas filler door. Also the side airbags are not standard equipment, but stability control is standard.

mpuzach

Interestingly, Chrysler just confirmed that the new Dodge Challenger is a go. It should be out in 2008 and will come with a 425 h.p. Hemi / 6-speed manual. It won'tbe a Corvette but it will still be a helluva car.

Gburg

All of the SRT sedans, including the Magnum would be terrific grocery getter / family haulers. These uber Mopars have an aggressive, in your face attitude. Folks think my 300C is an expensive $50K vehicle. I got mine for $37,500. Like the Vette, a lot of bang for the buck. The 300C is 40% straight from the Mercedes parts bins. The kids might even think ole dad is cool.

There are some unusual bean-counter items like the lack of interior release of the fuel port door. Too much grey plastic dash with no "wood" panels. Mopars have the other desired performance and safety hardware.

Gburg

Big Lebowski

I have a jeep GC srt8, and went to this down in st.louis last month. Good time, but would not trade the vette for the viper.

The crossfire srt6 was a blast. I am tall, so with the helmet on I needed to have them bring up a convertible to drive.

Going 120 in that covnertible was a hoot, but my head was getting knocked around alot from the wind forces on the helmet.

Atomic Punk

it would kill they to do something like that here.

Whackey9

I've been a fan of the Caliber from day one, so i will be interested to hear what you have to say. It seems to have fared pretty well on the market so far.