When the muscle goes out of the new wave of performance cars

[Ghoste]

It looks a lot like the performance will soon be gone from the new Challengers, Camaros, Mustangs in order to meet looming CAFE standards.  If that happens will the stylling of the cars be enough to carry them through or do you think without a romping stomping V8 they are doomed?

[bull]

I don't think anyone wants to talk about it. It's kind of like talking about death.

[Brock Samson]

 i think major weight reductions are on order - that and turbo 4 and 6 Cyls... I was thinking just today that cars may more closely resemble the mid '80-'90 efforts before they got fat in the last 10 years...

[Troy]

They sell more 6 cylinder models than the performance versions as it is.

Troy

[Ghoste]

But without the halo, do you think that will continue?

[vancamp]

They sell more 6 cylinder models than the performance versions as it is.

Troy

thats probaly due to the V8 versions are out of thee price range of most of the people who want them

[68X426]

Doomed.

Doomed by the nanny state and the battery.

[Charger_Fan]

They sell more 6 cylinder models than the performance versions as it is.

Troy

thats probaly due to the V8 versions are out of thee price range of most of the people who want them

That's probably right, or at least 2/3rds of the reason, with gas mileage being the rest.
Gee, it's the death of the musclecar all over again.

[Brock Samson]

 Yup.. Reg. gas is nearly $3.40 per gallon here now...
Mopar is one of the few affordable makes still using rear wheel drive and offering V-8s (and four wheel drive), the other makes don't do that at all... i caught the prices of accords and camrys recently in Mag. road tests and they're in no way economy cars any more... so, if it's not priced as a value or offers luxury and/or performance why buy the damn thing anyhow... reputation alone?.. 2 extra mpg?.. I do see that KIA and Hyundai are selling like hot cakes due to having new products as honda and toyota's pruducts are rather long in the tooth.
That most folks would trade performance for reg fuel sippers that much is clear, we are all old school Dinos.
  Except Troy of course...  

[Mike DC]

                 
CAFE isn't being forced on us.  IMO probably over half the American public wants the govt to call for higher MPG standards on vehicles.

The average person seems to treat MPG like it's some easy thing to alter and Detroit just doesn't feel like making cars more efficient.  Lots of people even believe the talk about conspiracies with the oil industry to suppress super-efficient cars that have been around for decades, etc.  The public does not understand that there will be any consequences when they say "yeah, the fleet should be more efficient." 


   

[Ghoste]

I read your first sentence and had a reply spring instantly to mind and then I read your second one and completely changed my response.
You are probably dead on and maybe even conservative with the 50% estimate. 

[ITSA426]

Oh please, bring back the K cars.  Fill my life with Horizons and Omnis.  Cheap quality at a moderate price.

[moparjohn]

Some of us don't give a rat's ass about fuel economy, We need strong vehicles like a truck, or prefer a V8 in a bigger car.  Thankfully some cars still survive, and trucks are ok at the moment.  BUT, IMO it's getting worse each year, look at the new Ford explorer, terrible, took a nice vehicle and stripped it of any balls it still had left.  Thank God Dodge hit a home run with the new Durango, now it will own the market.   Your'e right tho, it seems like the 80's all over again, I didn't think about buying a new car then, LOL. MPJ

[68blue]

I guess i just don't understand the "mandatory" aspect of this. As gas gets more expensive people will look for better value in fuel milage, a car company that can't deliver this won't sell as many cars. There will always be a market for performance cars so why limit a buyers choice by some "mandatory" standard.

Many years ago when this first happened a big driving force was insurance companies raising rates on "high performance" cars. I've never seen data to back up the idea that the same model car with a larger engine made a significant change in it's accident rate, or if it was just the insurance industry cashing in on a popular wave of car design using "safety" as a cover story.

[Troy]

I guess i just don't understand the "mandatory" aspect of this. As gas gets more expensive people will look for better value in fuel milage, a car company that can't deliver this won't sell as many cars. There will always be a market for performance cars so why limit a buyers choice by some "mandatory" standard.

Which is why our elected leaders are still trying to push through higher gas taxes. It's a double pronged attack. Can't legislate people''s behavior directly so legislate something that will force them to change.

Troy

[Mike DC]

              
They wouldn't need to legislate our fuel-purchasing behavior if they weren't also keeping gas artificially cheap at the same time.  

 
It's the same situation as with the corn lobby and the proposals to tax junkfood.  Subsidize the creation of the indulgence while simultaneously taxing people for indulging in it.  

[bull]

Oh please, bring back the K cars.  Fill my life with Horizons and Omnis.  Cheap quality at a moderate price.

Well, the gen 1 Challenger only lasted five years before government emissions regulations killed the muscle car and gave us s4itbox Mopars, and now we're on year four of the new version. Looks like history could repeat itself.