[thomaswatk]

I have a garnet red 2016 SS vert with 17K miles. Only been on a few cross country trips. Never a daily driver. Never had any issue with it. I'm an old guy, never tracked the car, still has plenty of tread on the original tires, but for some reason I still love the feel of the acceleration when it's needed. (and sometimes when it isn't ) I've always been a "hot rodder" guy way back to my teen years.

I'm thinking about a change. I think I just want something different than I now have. I've heard the Challengers have a much better ride and with the scat pack, have about the same acceleration as what I have now. I admit I hate the thought of going through the "selling a used car process", but I'm on the fence. Have any of you guys had similar thoughts, and if so, what did you do ? Any present or past Dodge owners that can give me your thoughts ?

[LT4Greg]

Like Buckeye said, why don’t you look into a ZL1 coupe with the A10 automatic. I know it’s a 6gen but it’s an entirely different Camaro with 200 more hp than your SS or a Challenger/Charger Hellcat with 700 hp. I was thinking the same thing you were back at the first of the year when I found my used low miles 2017 ZL1 on Cars.com for a good price in early March. I had a 2016 2SS coupe that I was having issues with due to a bad accident I had 6 months after I bought it that did extensive damage to the front end. I really wasn’t looking to buy a ZL1 but it was actually cheaper than ordering a Challenger with the options I wanted so I traded in my SS on the Z and have been enjoying it ever since!

[JT58]

It's always expensive to swap cars no matter what. The best bet is sell it yourself- which is very hard to do- especially if you have a bank loan. Then the buyer has to either have cash or get a bank loan on their own too. You can trade it in but be prepared to take a big loss. My preference is to trade in- you get sales tax credit and it's less hassle. I change cars a lot- better to get what you really want, life is too short and you can't take the $$ with you.

[KingLT1]

If you seek more ride comfort then swap the tires to something with taller side wall. 305/35/20 in the rear really made mine ride much smoother. And no the Challenger doesn't ride any better. The only thing it has over the Camaro is rear seat room. That being said your best bet is to go test drive a few Dodges and go from there.

[RyanR623]

I really would love to drive a Challenger Scat just to see how they compare. Not handling, we all know the Chally is a boat, but power delivery, comfort and ergo/practicaity. I could never own one, i think they are ugly personally, i don't like the boxy old school look. But still would be fun to compare. My cousin has one, I'm thinking we should swap cars for a day.

OP go test drive one! It's the only way you'll know if it's the right car for you!

Edit: Also Scats and Dodge's in general lease very very cheaply, another thing to consider since it seems you don't drive the Camaro a lot.

[ZED SLED]

Is money an object? ATS-V or even CTS-V

[ScatPack]

Just got out of my 17 challenger scat A8. For a GT car, its the best all around. The scats dont have adjustable suspension as the SRT cars do, but its running pretty aggressively stiff struts and shocks. You'd be surprised how little body roll it really has.

As for the power/trans, you NEED the A8. Its the best iteration of the A8 in just about any car. Its so intuitive and the shifter paddles make it seem like you are driving a dual clutch transmission. The trans really makes this car. Without it, its just another boat muscle car.

The interior is quality and the tech is awesome. Mine had suede everything and every option you could want. Nav, heated and cooled seats that actually worked. The Uconnect is about the best in-car entertainment system on the planet. It works well.

As for the powa!! This car is a tire smoking monster of the best kind. It will roast them all day and twice on sunday. And with a sticky tire, I was able to go 3.6 0-60 and a best of 11.9@115 completely bone stock. Again with a sticky tire though. The cars sounds amazing from the factory, and there is really no need to change the exhaust.

Now for the not-so-good. The scat is in a position where its very strong from the factory, but only on factory specs. If you want mild mods, you can do them. But the ECM is encrypted and will need to be swapped out for a hardware modded one and those are like $1000. So basically $1500 for just a tune. And all other mods carry the hemi tax. A single cam is like $800. Forget headers and so on. You will be at $5k for maybe 60 horse.

Boost you say? Yeah no, not with the 392. Its basically made of glass. Anything past 6psi and about 600 crank hp, and you will bend rods and blow holes in pistons. The only way to boost a scat correctly is to sell your 392 short block, and get a hellcat shortblock. Those are fairly cheap ($5k). They are drop in too. But then you are $15k into a blower kit to make maybe 650 to the wheels. At that point, you are better off getting a used hellcat and making 900 to the wheels with a pulley and a few supporting mods.

If you plan to road trip or daily drive the scat, and not mod it really for power, its your best bet. If you are doing anything other than that or the occasional drag strip, then get a mustang. I personally have owned 3 2017 392 cars. Two challengers and one Daytona 392. I love them, but I want to mod my next car into the 4 digit horse power range. And I dont want to spend a huge premium to do it. So its camaro for me. If you have any questions, let me know. Like I said I have owned three of the scats.

[RyanR623]

Originally Posted by ZED SLED

Is money an object? ATS-V or even CTS-V

Just not the new ones they announced to take their place. What in the hell is Cadillac thinking? Reduce the horsepower in both cars and the CT4-V has the 2.7 sierra engine? It's sad because i think they are doing it to sell more cars. Clearly people don't care about a well built, awesomely designed performance car anymore. The V is not going to compete with the M's or RS's of the world anymore

[thomaswatk]

Really interesting comments. All are appreciated.......especially ScatPack's comments. I have no interest in modding the car, and road trips are something my wife and I enjoy. (we're retired) I have owned many manual transmission cars and don't want another one. Even the classic cars I own are automatics. Nothing against the manual (I've owned 15 Corvettes over the years) but old age and convenience are more important to me now. I think I may test drive a ScatPack, but am concerned that a couple of miles of test driving, may not tell me much. Rental is an option I hadn't thought of. I might see if I can find one locally to rent.

[Dysan911]

Is the SRT392 w/485 enough to hang with an SS (assuming the extra power makes up for the extra weight).

[RyanR623]

Originally Posted by Dysan911

Is the SRT392 w/485 enough to hang with an SS (assuming the extra power makes up for the extra weight).

In a perfect world with perfect drivers and perfect launches, probably not. It would likely take more than 30hp to make up for that 600lbs. However most drag races i see between them go back and forth. Whoever gets the best launch wins. Same with GT's and SS's. They're all so close acceleration wise it really comes down to the driver and the launch.

[ride_002000]

Originally Posted by Dysan911

Is the SRT392 w/485 enough to hang with an SS (assuming the extra power makes up for the extra weight).

They are almost an exact match.

I'm a designer at FCA and love the charger scat packs, especially the Daytona trim w/ 6.4L. They are great cars and yes very comfortable, but for me, I see them every single day and wanted something unique for my area and also want to track the car a few times a year. With those requirements felt the Camaro fit the bill. Given your requirements I think you would be very happy with the scat pack in stock form, they have probably the best sounding stock exhaust too.

[JCunningham]

test drive a used one. i know both my Camaros and trucks all had noticeably more power after breaking them in.

[Rayvan]

I raced in Good-Guys Auto Cross a couple of weeks ago in Pleasanton. My '88 Pontiac GTA had a better time than a 392 Scat Pack Challenger (sorry I refuse to call them "chally". God I hate that name).
Other than being HUGE and kind of a sloppy pig on this tight track, it was a nice truck! BTW, My GTA is mostly stock, and beat the guy by almost four seconds.