German Car Zone

Finding Finesse in Muscle


Action movie sequels always have bigger explosions and a faster-moving plot than the original film. They also have evil-er villains and bigger budgets. Which gave us an idea...

In our recent pony car comparison test, the retro-heavy — and just plain heavy — 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS walked away with top honors in its debut. The big V8-powered coupe needed a new challenge. It was time to refocus the lens. Shoot from a different angle, so to speak.

So we squared the brooding visage of our SS-badged protagonist up against the cruelest bunch of savages we could find, the range-topping 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8 and 2010 Ford Shelby GT500.

If one villain is good, two is better. Just ask Michael Bay.

Bigger Budgets, Louder Booms
It's a run-what-you-brung grudge match of the biggest guns Detroit has to offer. Sticker price alone did not rule out any contenders this time around, but value still counts — the baddest in the land still has to be able to pass a basic accounting test. Our one stipulation is that each car must have a manual gearbox. This is a test of drivers' cars, after all.

At its core, the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS is a coupe version of GM's platform for its Thunder from Down Under, the Holden Commodore. The Commodore was the first example of this rear-wheel-drive platform with independent rear suspension that also begat the Pontiac G8 (pour a little out). Our Camaro SS tester is equipped with $2,600 in options, including the RS package, a power sunroof and an interior trim package, bringing its final tally to $36,825.

The roots of the 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8 are just as twisted. Its chassis started life eons ago as a Mercedes E-Class, then it was dusted off by Chrysler during its ill-fated corporate liaison with Mercedes and turned into the numerous Charger and 300C variants, and then finally the platform was chopped slightly smaller for duty as the Challenger. The SRT8 treatment throws more engine cubes and a sport-tuned suspension at the Challenger and brings the base price up to $42,245 with destination and gas-guzzler tax. Its six-speed manual gearbox, navigation system and other options bring our SRT8 tester's grand total to $44,975.

Newly refreshed but looking quite familiar, the 2010 Ford Shelby GT500 draws heavily from the limited-production GT500KR from last year. The GT500's sticker starts at $48,175 including destination and gas-guzzler tax, and once you add the HID headlights and Electronics package of our tester, the total comes to a cool $50,895.


Full Story: Edmunds Comparison Test: 2010 Camaro SS v 2009 Challenger SRT8 v 2010 Shelby GT500


Love these cars....how funny that they're all together again right before they're likely to all die off in the next few years or be greatly reduced in output/capability from what they are today.


M

Knew the outcome before I opened the thread, thanks for sharing!

I'm not very surprised that the GT500 won, but the dumb thing is though that it costs nearly 50K and it's Tuned. The SS and SRT-8 go head to head with the Mustang GT not the Shelby.

Not too interested in the write-up because we've pretty seen read all this stuff before. Seems like nearly every week or two there's a comparo between these great cars.

What did catch my attention however was the photography... some VERY nice shots there. Big thumbs up to the crew who was in charge of photography!

Camaro for me easy! Shelby did well, also because it's expensive & modded, unlike other two!