for cars that sell for about $40k, i like the look of the 370z nismo best and the look of the challenger second best.
to me, it just looks super cool -- although i know some of you guys disagree.

http://i52.tinypic.com/6hp3q1.jpg

Well, you have to look at the reasons.

Some are forgoing their Z for practicality reasons, which would be reason to sell most sports cars.

Some swapped them for beefier engines. I can understand that, but that's not why I bought a Z in the first place.

Others simply had a lemon.

Some people go through many cars, such as ModShack.

People move on. I've got no beef with that. I love my car. I hope that others can be happy with what they drive as well.

Yep. Lots of people change not because the Z is a bad car, but because they are car guys and want to try something else.

Not a really diehard fan, so I would not do the trade for the Challenger. I'm more into being nostalgic with cars that I grew up seeing and loving, not someone elses imo. But with that being said, that new SRT8 392 Inaugural Edition is really bad-*** (If you don't know what it is look it up). I would never knock the contemporary Challenger or the classic, it's not my cup of coffee.

03 Cobra with a pulley, gears, and exhaust work = best muscle car per dollar spent

Ive seen many and every one of then impressed me.

Im not sure of there reliability or how many good ones that werent abused are out there for sale but for 20k or less its a lot of car for the $ ....

You cant get an 03 Cobra for under 20k. Mid 20s for a good specimen is about average. A low-mileage coupe will run you at least 25k and a low mileage vert is around 28k or so. Believe it or not you can still find ones that have never been modded!

It's a great car but it holds its value a little too well for my taste. :icon17:

Woah slow down. First there are 3 different models of challenger to choose from. Forget about the V6. That's for people who want show and no go for less $$$. The R/T is an excellent car. Dodge did good with its challenger. It is a nice smooth ride and the power is there. It handles great, brakes are good it is a nice car. When you put on a CAI it really opens it up. The hemi motor really comes alive you gain 30hp just from a K&N CAI. Not 10 or 15 but 30. Huge trunk to put whatever you want in it. The R/T is comparable to a 370Z and there are some extra options you can have on the R/T remote start is really cool. It's a big car! I had to put on a custom fab exhaust because at the time when I got my R/T there were none around and I knew what to do with the dodge. Had plenty of 5.7 hemis. IT'S a GREAT CAR! B U T>......... It WAS kinda boring. There really wasn't much excitement as far as driving the car. I think the look was what was appealing so much at first but it is no where near as fun to drive than a 370Z. When I step into my Nismo I want to drive it, when I look at it I want to drive it. The challenger didn't make me want to drive it. Loved the V8 rumble especially with some flowmasters. But it got boring real quick. In the 2 years I owned it I put on less than 4k miles. Chicks really dig it. They don't know what it is but they sure loved it. WAIT. Next years batch will be even better with the new transmission. The one above the R/T is the SRT this year its a 392 even bigger with even more horse power. But that is way more expensive than a 370Z your talkin $45k-$50k. The challenger is a nice car but it was boring. Did not make me excited to drive it. And the MDS feature, great for fuel efficiency clashed with the aftermarket exhaust. Made droning noises when it would drop to 4 cylinders. You have some classic muscle cars that when restored will probably be worth something. The new challenger holds its value pretty good but you're gonna have to wait 30yrs for it to be a classic. Keep the Z and go buy a Kia optima for a back seat, 2nd car, DD what have you. I only mention Kia optima because they look really cool this year and the price is right on them. As a former owner of a challenger.......Great car but it got boring real quick. :driving:

My 1st post.... I am also torn between the challenger and the 370z. Actually I wanted to get a viper and shopped for one for a little over a year but reality set in and realized to maintain that car and buying tires every year was going to break me on top of how many accidents people were getting into. Then I rented a camaro didn't really like it. Then I started shopping for the 370z cause I don't see too many. Then I read the how much do you weigh thread and Im starting to think the 370 might be too small for me. I am 5'11 and 260 pounds and I am coming from an S2000 so I look like a linebacker coming out of a smart car. A little embarrassing so I have only put 300 miles on car in 2 years lol. I took my wife to look at both cars 370z and chally, when I asked her which she liked better she said it was 2 totally different cars and she liked them both but because of my chunkiness the challenger would fit me better. The deals will probably be decent on the 2010s since the 392 is coming out soon. Nismoracer was your challenger a manual or automatic wondering if I will get bored also. My S2000 was fun to drive going around turns but I know the challenger is going to be a boat but I do like the looks and the rumble of the v8. I wont even consider the mustang I tried just cant get into it.If I do get the 370 it also will be the nismo. Which ever i choose i dont need a backseat I have 2 other cars as DD

Red, i know a few 250+ guys around your height that have no problem with the Z. Ingress/egress can be difficult but when you are seated it is very comfortable and spacious.

The Challenger is huge and certainly does not compete with the Z in the corners, but I'm actually kind of surprised at the level of road holding for it's size. I think with some suspension work you could actually turn it into a pretty fun back road car, especially with a manual transmission.

My chally was an automatic. The sport shift was a little slow on the shifts. Maybe getting a manual would have made it a little less boring. But I got the auto cuz I like to be able to drink my coffee, smoke a cig.... I don't like stick shift as a DD. One of the big reasons I got the 370z= synchro rev match. If you're not a fan guess what you can turn it off. It's a great feature that can make driving in city traffic better than without it for sure. And yeah if you get a 370Z get a Nismo. You will not regret getting a Nismo. There are countless threads about Nimso vs base, sport, touring.....Nismo is better, not by a huge margin but it is better and i'm sure you can pick one up at a great price especially a 2010. IF a dealer has one they want to get rid of any leftovers. Any 2010 models so use your bargaining chips. For your size if you want a bigger vehicle the chally is sure to please. It's comfortable it's nice test drive a manual vs auto and really spend some time. You might wanna go for a manual.

jeremy clarkson from topgear is 6 feet 5, 251 lbs and he could get into the 370z to do the review.

Meh, the NISMO is fine and dandy if you want a sport base with a body kit... otherwise the Touring + Sport is the best bang for the buck. I like heated seats, bluetooth connectivity, homelink, navi, etc. :tup:

nismo is not all that better. HP increase gets destroyed by the added weight. and with the money you have to spend extra you can buy way better suspension mods and bolt ons

Well that is what I read around here.

Pretty much. There is no empirical evidence to demonstrate that the NISMO 370Z is superior in any performance measurement than a Sport 370.

It's a base package car with a VERY mildly tweaked sport suspension and a body kit. The extra few ponies over the base car don't even come into play because it's so minute. If you like the look and don't want the bells & whistles of the touring package, it's a good deal. But better than the others? Certainly not.

the nismo z is equivalent to the dodge challenger R/T with the mopar exterior appearance package
if i get a challenger, i would want that mopar exterior appearance package also :)

http://i56.tinypic.com/2nw1lp1.jpg

Awww man those pics make it even harder to decide. Thats the exact car that I saw at the dealership with my wife and she liked that car better than the srt8, which i gave her a dirty look when she sad that cause at 1st I was leaning towards the 6.1 hemi, guess it was an ego thing. Then doing research they said with the R/T you get 95% of the srt8 with 75% of the price with all the bells and whistles. The way gas prices are going NOW i might get the R/T. The 370z I did fit in WHEN I WAS SITTING IN IT. Getting in and out was a bi**tch. The convertible of course I was in the same boat as the S2000 and I always got comments about how do you fit in that thing which became annoying. I test drove the convertible but sat in the coupe and was surprised how much room I had but getting out was bothering my back. Its not a deal breaker though cause I will suck it up and deal with it for a nice car. Its a matter of do I want a sports car or american muscle when I make this decision. Plus this is an excellent forum never did I think I could get info about this particular car in a million years luckily from a previous owner. I lurked viperclub.org for over 2 years and learned a lot from those guys but its just a rich mans toy. I could buy the car no problem it would send me to the poor house to maintain.

The 370Z has a lot more style than the Challenger even that I like the retro look better than the Camaro and Mustang.

Considering how bad I smashed the Challenger R/T 6-speed I raced a while back, I certainly hope you don't get "95% of the SRT8" with the R/T.

What kind of car did you have that smashed the R/T. If I buy the R/T it certainly wont be for the bragging rights it will be for the styling. It has more of that old school feel to the challenger. Now do I want the srt8, hell yea but challenger owners are saying they are only getting like 9mpg city driving. Doing 3 months of shopping for the challenger I only CONSIDERED the R/T last week and thats also because I will be driving the car a few times a week when it gets warmer to work and I have a far commute. My other DD is a Nissan Titan truck so I really dont have fuel efficient cars in my driveway.

A WS6.

The R/T isn't all that quick. At a track day back in September there was a manual R/T with exhaust running low-mid 14s at 98 mph or so. I think with a great driver you could get one into the 13s, but 375 hp and 4000+ lbs is not going to wow anyone in a straight line.

I will add that it sounded amazing. :D

Dude, that sounds really expensive for a threesome! :bowrofl:

Get the Challenger, I see more and more of those on the road each day - one less Z makes me feel even more special.

:bowrofl: Freudian slip? :bowrofl::bowrofl:

Good catch. :rofl2:

I can imagine. This is making my decision harder. Now Im back into the srt8 but I dont want to rule out the 370 either I really like the way they look plus the uniqueness of the car. I could see 5 challengers compared to 1 370. Thats why I got the S.

Just go test drive an SRT-8 and 370 back to back.

They are both quite different but still very cool.

LOL you posted this as I was writing my last post.

I will. Thanks for the help.

Gas prices are going nowhere but up, you should factor in $4 a gallon gas this year. I was never really impressed with the mileage in my Z, I never averaged more than 23mpg. My Jag is getting near that with another 70hp and 500lbs.

Um, then he might want to consider this little pearl:

The fuel thirsty 6.4-liter Hemi in the SRT8 392 model should achieve ratings similar to the 2010 6.1-liter SRT8’s. Those were 14/22 mpg with manual transmission and 13/19 with automatic. :ugh2:

With those numbers, I'm curious why none of the pics of the Challenger I've been seeing have a gas station in the background because you won't find it very far from one.

Um, that was exactly my point.

OT, I have no idea why Nissan gave the Z such a shitty ratio for 6th gear. There's no reason a 6 speed car should be turning 2600rpm at 60mph.

:bowrofl: :roflpuke2: :bowrofl:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l2...heposition.jpg

I always experienced pretty good economy with the Z. I saw 32mpg on my trip out to STL (flat highways) to sell the thing and would average 27-28 on the mountainous highways heading down to Southwestern VA.

Heck, even with my daily commute I averaged around 20 mpg.

There's no way you got 32mpg with your Z. You probably didn't let the comp run long enough or you caught a glimpse in mid calculation. The Nismo is a better car You know it is red and that's why you are considering it as well as the challenger. These guys just keep repeating what they saw in 1 or 2 reviews. The rest speak high praise of the Nismo. They haven't owned a Nismo and are going purely by specs and a couple reviews. They won't shut up about it and every chance they get they say the Nismo is not worth it. I'm surprised they aren't telling you to get the base challenger and with all the money you save to add on bolt on this and that. Don't listen to them. Find out for yourself, take time with both cars. And if your back is a problem don't deal with it in a way that will be a discomfort. I think I know which way you want to go and if you do you will not regret it. Just take your time. And it is a very rare car that you won't see all the time.

:facepalm:

:icon23:

Show me evidence that proves the NISMO is better? I've driven both and the NISMO is no quicker in a straight line and the suspension is only slightly stiffer (with the shipping spacers removed, of course).

It all comes down to looks, because performance is identical. Do you want a Sport Z with a body kit or do you want a Sport Z with the Touring package? Whichever one you choose they are going to go all the same.

I didn't want the NISMO because of the lack of options I wanted. Leather and gps

But, but... it's better in every way.

It's a $10k body kit.

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