Ever since Dodge rebooted the Challenger in 2008, muscle car enthusiasts have been absolutely rejoicing.  From the ho-hum V6 model (which, despite its faults, does sell) to the tire-annihilating SRT8, the lineup has always drawn my attention.  Meanwhile, across town, the boys at Chevy created the hot-selling new Camaro, which, with 432 horsepower from the SS, makes a clear (and powerful) case for itself.  The SRT8 happens to be one of the best performance bargains on the market right now, but the Camaro SS may be even better.    

Despite their differing power outputs, is the SRT8 still a good value when compared to an SS? First, they cost different amounts.  While the SRT8 is around $45K at this point, the Camaro costs just north of $30K, a bit more than the Mustang.  In addition, the Camaro, while down on power compared to a brand-new SRT8, weighs much less (the Challenger shares a chassis with the positively enormous Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger), and as a result has better brakes and handling.  As a side note, keep in mind that between these two, the Camaro is the only one that offers a convertible–so if you want to take the roof off, the Camaro (or a very expensive outfitting of a Challenger) is really your only option.

In a straight line, the Challenger will outrun the Camaro while both are factory stock by a couple tenths of a second in the quarter-mile.  But, the price difference again comes into play.  With the extra 10 grand or so that a buyer pockets by signing for the Chevy, a plethora of performance parts can be had to beef up the power output and dispatch the Challenger at the track as well.  With a good tune, upgraded intake, and better exhaust system, the Camaro can easily match the Challenger for horsepower.  Since it’s also lighter, it will likely outrun it at the dragstrip as well.

Overall, the Challenger SRT8 is a great car, and one I still like, but if you want to have a solid modern muscle car in you garage it seems smarter to go with the Camaro, dollars-and-cents wise.  Unless of course you are a Ford guy, in which case we did leave you out.  I’ll be writing an article on that soon.

-Al