[Zeus]

Originally Posted by syr74

Who said anything about a car the Vette outperforms? You're too hung up on the existing SRT8 Challenger, that isn't the car that I was addressing. I said that they should make the upcoming 6.4L SRT V8 engine standard....and right now that looks to be a nearly 500hp mill...and throw the Porsche PDK, improved suspension, and plusher interior in and price it at GT500/Corvette money looking to sell Corvette volume which frankly isn't too far off of what we have now.

Considering the fact that the GT500 already plays in that price range with somewhat simpler goodies and a less plush interior there is no reason to think such a setup wouldn't work. As for the argument that the problem with the Challenger is that it is too expensive already I would tend to agree, it is too expensive to compete directly with Mustang and Camaro. But then, my entire argument is that trying to make a large car like the Challenger compete with Mustang and Camaro was a no win situation from the outset. Challenger needs a different niche if it is to survive.



If you're going to seriously argue that it would cost that much then you are going to have to tell me why. I worked in the industry for some time and I already told you why, in my experience, the price wouldn't need to be anything like that high. If you think otherwise make your case.



I think the problem here is that you keep looking at things from the perspective of a strict, performance enthusiast and most consumers cannot be described as such. First, whatever the SHO moniker may lead us to initially think of the car the reality is that the Taurus SHO absolutely isn't intended to be a SRT8 style performance vehicle, it's more appropriately described as a very quick near luxury car. And given the sales of the line thus far, the market at large seems to be embracing that strategy.

As for your assertion that the car will fail because it is more expensive, the exact opposite seems to be the case. The Taurus lineup, including the SHO, appears to be succeeding because it is by far the cheapest large car to offer such a high level of content. Genesis probably comes closest to offering as much for as little, but to get all the tech goodies the Taurus SHO offers standard you have to drop 41k on a Genesis which is a couple grand more than the Taurus SHO starts at, and even then you still wont have awd which matters if this is going to be your daily ride and you live North of the Mason Dixon line.

Put plainly, Taurus is doing well because it offers a lot of goodies for the price. A lot of folks on the net keep arguing that the Taurus can't possibly succeed because it isn't fast enough and/or doesn't handle well enough, but by all appearances the buying public finds the car more than fast enough (I am surprised that so many find the performance lacking, mid 13's are easily going to be good enough for 99 percent of buyers in this segment and the S Class has traditionally outsold the 7-Series for a reason....handling doesn't need to be spectacular since people in this class typically aren't looking for that) and is flocking to the SHO where they left the G8 GT and GXP for dead. Why? Because Taurus offers the luxury and tech goodies folks who actually buy cars in this segment apparently want where G8 only offered size and speed.

I am going to go with Styling as well. The G8 GXP was an amazing for the money car, but damn its ugly.