- [Alex] Yee-haw brother!
If there aint a better time to day drink,
and question what day it is,
other than if the world can't decide if its open or closed.
Like we're kinda open, but not really.
Unless you're allowed to, or maybe you're not.
Well, the state is open, but your county may not be.
Unless it is, we're not sure.
Here's a company document that says "WHERE AS",
more times than a high school girl says "like".
And in this time we've learned things about ourselves,
and we've learned things about cars
that we never really knew before.
- Today I'm gonna show how to
correctly change your oil, in a modern car.
- To be honest, it has us feeling big brain mode,
and we thought we'd oblige you with another car
that you may not thought you needed.
Until now.
I'm Alex, Alex.fi on Instagram, and today
we're gonna be talking about a car that's had
an on and off relationship with staying in production.
A car that's caused all other cars to have a weight complex,
and has littered Facebook forums with reused jokes
you'd find carved into a bathroom wall.
A car that could, and should be rightfully feared
when it comes to burnouts per smile.
Today, ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna be talking about
the one, the only, we're gonna talk about
you wanting to own a Dodge Challenger.
(car tires screeching loudly)
(car engine revving)
(high intensity techno music)
(tires screeching)
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The good old Dodge Challenger hit production
way back in 1969, as its own car,
but was previously used actually as like a value version
of a full sized clarinet.
Coronet silver Challenger.
Which, is a badass Bat-mobile that has a
stronger chin line than George Clooney.
If you've seen it, you know it, it's an awesome car.
But the Dodge Challenger initially came to the game
a few years later in regards to the pony car race,
but since it still had the Charger at the time
Dodge really didn't think it needed this car right away.
But then, they realized there was money to be made
in a higher end pony car version, and the car was born.
It carried plenty of similarities to compete with the
Mercury Cougar at the time.
Which again, was a fancy muscle car
for the wealthier market.
Designed by the same man who did the exterior
design of the 66' Dodge Charger,
the Challenger was an incredibly good looking car
that people wanted did love.
I mean, if you could afford it, it was a good looking car.
It came in a million trims, but because the pony car
segment was already declining of the early 70's,
and late 60's because of the EPA,
it didn't really last that long.
It was about five years of fun before Dodge
stopped production and the Challenger
took it's first "it's not you, its me" moment.
The craziest thing with Dodge though,
and why middle aged men at Burger King car shows
can talk your ear off about them, is because of how many
trims and styles, and designs, and special editions,
and race versions, and just quirky things this car had.
Japanese over trimming had nothing to compete with,
when you look at first gen Challengers.
The second generation returned in 1978,
was a rebadged variant of the Mitsubishi Galant Coupe.
(sniffs)
(huffs)
It had a 1.6 liter inline-four and a 2.6 liter inline-four.
We're not gonna talk about that one too much, okay?
But then, the Dodge Challenger went on another
social media break for a few decades,
because thank God it did, the second generation
is not much of what we really want to chat about.
The one that we remember, and the one that we love,
the Challenger came back in a way that most people,
of like today, now know it as.
In 2007, the good old Challenger, birth of the Shania Twain
the big wide thick girl came back to the scene.
And the Challenger came back strutting stuff
in the mid 2000's and hasn't left yet.
It came in a 3.5 liter, 3.6 liter,
5.7 liter, 6.1 liter, 6.4 liter,
came in 8 speeds, 6 speeds, maybe even a 5 speed in there.
They have black stripes, blue stripes,
big noses, small noses, wide flares, narrow flares,
heated seats, and dash things.
I mean, you could literally make a Dr. Seuss book
out of how many things this car had.
This thing had more Mercedes parts than Mercedes.
Not really, but kind of.
It had w220 control arms, it had w211 suspension rears,
it had an 8 inch screen that feels like a first gen
touch screen phone that you had in middle school.
But, it came back at the perfect time
and either way this car was a big deal.
It was big because it carried design cues
of the first generation.
It was big, it was bulky, it was wide
and it was quick as (bleep) for what it offered.
And while the Challenger came in nine million trims,
the one that really stuck out in the beginning days
was the SRT8 for the sake that it had a 6.1 liter
in the beginning, and then optionally,
went up to a 6.4 liter.
V8, with it's face lift in 2011.
The car now has become a bargain find for those
wanting a big old Mopar or no car, baby.
I don't know if people still say that.
And since it was doing well with town and countries,
Dodge kept double downing with the Challenger
and pretty much everything else in its lineup.
The thing had more trims than jokes on the internet,
and it didn't matter.
You could get these cars and it could be either
an 18 year old, that got their first car
with a base model interior, or a 45 year old
that was able to get their first mid-life crisis buy.
Because of the collaboration with Mercedes
through Daimler, the sharing of resources allowed the car
to be built without too much overhead,
which kept costs down.
Lower costs, plus more trims because of shared parts
equals more volume, which makes a happy Dodge.
Now, in 2015, Dodge would relieve the SRT8 and
introduce the good ol' Hellcat.
The car that probably most people know, the Challenger and
the Charger, and all that sort of stuff around now.
Now, I'm not sure if you've ever actually
driven one of these car before,
but let me tell ya
(wincing)
they are fun as (bleep).
Okay?
There's 707 horsepower, 650 foot pounds of torque,
and I want to yell, I want to get like
that sort of excited, but I won't yell about the fact
that they took a headlight out, just to get more air
inside the engine, or the fact that they had two key fobs.
Because why the hell not?
At 10 second quarter mile, and a front end
that looks like it would push you over on the train tracks.
The car was, and is, not!
And by all intensive purposes,
it's a car that loves to make you smile.
This thing is insane.
Like, why?
And if that ain't enough, they even made a Demon.
It's got whack fitment a little bit,
but its a goddam 840 horse, 770 foot pounds of torque,
came without a passenger seat, you can buy (bleep)
for a buck and was Dodge's pretty much way of saying
"(bleep) you, we do what we want to".
And had NT05R's, which were barley road legal,
and made just about every domestic owner cry
when Dodge introduced this thing.
And everybody found a reason to not like it,
but it was fantastic.
And not many were made, but hotdog was it gnarly.
The thing did wheelies, wheelies.
Stock wheelies.
Nowadays people are seeing these Challengers
of all sizes and trims pop up for a pretty good deal,
and has people wondering and saying to themselves
"well, do you think people would care"?
But we're not here to talk about the history of these cars,
we're here about talking about you wanting to own
one of these high horsepower, boot collective,
butt buckle pants wearing things.
I'm just so excited, I love this car.
So you want a Dodge Challenger, well set down your Cheetos,
and grab your favorite scale cause we're about to talk about
what this mega bud of a car is actually like to own.
(tongue clicks)
The first, and second, generation Dodge Challenger's
is pretty limited in terms of what people,
currently are doing.
And to be honest, not many people want
to talk about the second gen at all because,
look at it.
Kinda like that, that really awkward middle school phase.
Justin Bieber hair, we were all there once.
The third generation is where we're spending our time.
The third generation is a fantastic car to snag,
if you want something that's big, wide,
and can do some gnarly burnouts.
And it isn't too bad on the pocketbook.
Its a domestic, which means not many people
initially jumped into them, but that's recently changed
from the automotive younger perspective.
The reason why it made a fantastic cruising car
is because it's so comfortable.
Has tons of space, and since it's a hammy,
they sounds pretty dang good with some work.
Most people opt for the H&R lowering springs,
or airlift air suspension.
Since the car is big and wide, they always look good
on the ground, but the lowering springs is an extremely
affordable way to lower the car without breaking the bank.
Staggered setups are a must on this car,
with most people running, at the minimum, 20 inch wheels.
All the way up to 22's,
but I think that's a little excessive.
20 by 10, and 20 by 11 is pretty solid,
and meaty set ups are a must, which usually
end up being Nitto tires.
Because they look like they would hack
into your Runescape account.
If you wanna own one of these car,
there's a few other things to keep in mind.
Uno, its still a Dodge, and shared as many humanly parts
as possible with other manufactures so that they can
make the car more affordable, AKA, cheaper.
And the car can feel a bit plastic.
The center entertainment can get dated
if you look close enough, and if you actually look
at the interior, you'll start to see where
they cut corners to make the car more affordable.
If you're okay with a turn stock that feels like
it came out of a van, then that's fine.
But for some people, it isn't.
Most of the money here was put into the motor Trans Am,
and just overall exterior styling.
Reliability is pretty decent, but not
terrible in anyway that would probably make you get scared.
You're just gonna want to always make sure that
the maintenance was done before you buy.
To us, the Dodge Challenger is a testament
to what the cars should stand for.
The rest of the world has moved to alternate sources
of power, lightness, and technology,
to squeeze as much as they can without getting ostracized
by someone that advocates not cutting lawn, okay?
Dodge just doesn't do that with this car,
and they haven't since they released the third generation.
It makes me so happy.
It doesn't claim to be some sort of new gen thing,
it's just a big badass car.
The upper level trims feature
enough horsepower to make you smile.
And the 392 Scat Pack is good enough,
for most people to be happy.
The Hellcat is enough to make any enthusiast smile and wave,
and pair it with some Velgen or Rohana wheels,
lowering springs and some Nitto tires, and you have
yourself a fun car that'll never disappoint.
And, you'll be able to cruise around in it.
Just know that you're never gonna get away
from the weight jokes, okay?
This thing is fat shamed more than my middle school days.
It's just a car that doesn't want to be anything else
besides itself, and you have to respect that.
So what do you think of the Dodge Challenger?
Drop your comments below and let us know
what you'd like us to talk about next,
and of course if you're looking for
after market wheels, tires, or suspension,
be sure to hit us up over at fitmentindustries.com.
I'm Alex from Fitment Industries, and we will see you later.
Peace.