Well, all my Challengers up to last year when I bought a 2015 SRT 392 were Manuals. The 2010 SS Camaro and 2014 5.0 Mustang were Manuals. For driving around daily I really really love a Manual trans. But if you want to lay down a pass in one you better be willing to spend some money and time trying a lot of different things. I chose the easy way out when I moved to Pasadena and started going to Irwindale every week. "A8".

Probably one of the best deals out there is a Base Challenger 5.7 with the Super Track Pack. Base cars actually have some really good features. I am not sure what it would cost today with the other required options, but I would not buy another 5.7 without the STP. When I ran that Orange one on the Autocross it was 2 seconds slower than me driving my Buddies pure stock STP car of the same year. 2 Seconds. If you OWN a 5.7 I think you would like driving it and be happy with it. I always thought they were fun and it seems like there are some pretty fast stock ones out there.

I really liked the Camaro and the Mustang. The engines in ALL 3 are amazing. Seriously. The Mustang was pretty fast. 13.26 at Fontana. Camaro did a 13.66 there. Every one of the four 5.7's I had would do 13.9-14.1 there (STP was the slowest = bigger wheels/tires). And of course there is the 09 SRT that did 14.5 there and then promptly got banished from my life! LOL.

I put a MGW shifter in the Mustang and that was badd azz. They all are really cool in their own way I guess. But the #1 reason I always end up with a Challenger is the size and comfort of the interior and the STYLE. When I see a Camaro or a Mustang drive by I might not even notice.......M A Y B E if it is a special model. But if a V6 Challenger drives by I spin around on my heels to check it out.

Do I think the Hellcat is worth the money? Well, I would DEFINITELY buy one over modding/supercharging a 5.7 or 6.4. It was a lot of money and it does live up to it's name. Most of them will run the number in the right hands. But it "is" just a Car. I put it in the realm of a 1970 HEMI CUDA. I had the money and paid cash for mine ($77.500 out the door) and I was NOT going to miss out on this. I was too young to buy a Hemi Cuda. Oh, and I do think you could take this to the dealer if it does not run, because the expected performance is posted right on the SRT web site.

I spent $60,000 on the initial build of the Valiant with the crate motor and then another $25,000 on the 501. For comparison.

I am hopelessly in love with Cars so I guess I can sleep in this thing if I run out of Money. I thought about selling it when I quit my Job in Feb, . . . . . for about 1 day! Then I said no.

How does it compare to those other Cars I have had? HMMmm. Well it is a really nice car. So there is that. But it is really cool driving in something that you know can own it if you want. Something really fast with decent handling and amazing brakes. One thing I noticed driving back from Texas when I bought it, was it seems to be set on Kill. Just short half throttle blasts passing Trucks would get you 120. When you nail this thing at speed it KNOWS exactly where to be and there is no hesitation. But on the other hand you can drive it all day long dropping off Kids at school or taking your Mother to the Grocery store. You would NOT know this car is fast unless you throttle it.