Four doors? Who needs ‘em? Not when there’s thrilling performance and a sleek silhouette to be had with a two-door coupe. If your driving tastes run more toward sport than comfort, and as long as your passengers don’t mind climbing in and out of the rear seat while the front seat gets tilted forward, rear doors become extraneous, if not irrelevant. Just remember to use caution in parking lots, as the doors of a coupe are longer than that of a sedan, making it easier to ding the car next to you.
About Vehix Buying Guide and JDPower.com Ratings
Vehix 2010 Coupe Buying Guides features ratings by J.D. Power.com. Learn more about the criteria and ratings.
There are five vehicles highlighted in the 2010 Coupe Buying Guide. All vehicles are listed in alphabetical order.
Completing the rear-wheel drive Detroit muscle car revival extravaganza, the 2010 Dodge Challenger (view photos) dukes it out with the Ford Mustang and the Chevrolet Camaro for your nostalgia-yearning bucks. While its evocative exterior, with its flanged hood and bulging wheel wells, may look as menacing as a street thug, inside you’ll find a well-crafted, civilized environment. We would even call the interior a bit vanilla. But trunk room is impressively generous at 16.2 cubic feet and rear passengers will find surprisingly commodious space and niceties like a fold-down armrest.
Motivating the base Challenger SE is a rather bland 250-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6 linked to a five-speed automatic transmission. Spicing up the mix is the Challenger R/T, which is powered by a 5.7-liter Hemi V8 that makes 372 horsepower, paired with a standard five-speed automatic or an optional six-speed manual that increases the pony count by 4. For a full-on fire-breather, choose the 425-horsepower, 6.1-liter V8 of the Challenger SRT8, mated to either the automatic or manual. The SRT8 also includes fortified suspension, steering and brakes. That’s a good thing since athleticism through corners is slightly lacking compared to its muscle car brethren. But those Duke boys of Hazzard County never cared about being nimble, now, did they?
- No. 1-ranked Midsize Sporty Vehicle in the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study
- 15 city/23 fuel economy range
- MSRP: $ $22,735 - $41,230
Research the 2010 Dodge Challenger
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