Finally we get an answer to the question: powerful muscle car or nimble roadster?
Two of America's greatest icons in the automotive community are the Challenger and the Corvette. These beasts thrived with the nation's growing interest in performance with two very different ideologies in the realm of speed. Dodge was all about big engines and drag racing; the focus was on power and hooking the rear tires to allow excellent times on the quarter-mile. On the opposite side, the Corvette was all about beating those pretentious European roadsters that were slowly taking over the hearts of American car enthusiasts. Sleek and elegant was the name of the game, and it did that very well. So whose approach worked best?
Watch a GTO take on a Scat Pack here.
Well, we could give you some speech about how it's different for everybody and all cars are good at their own thing. Or we could show you. Going head to head in a race to decide a clear winner are two beautiful examples of the aforementioned pioneers of American performance. Under the hood of the 1970 Dodge Challenger is a gigantic 440 ci big-block V8 engine that produces a whopping 375 horsepower and 480 ft/lbs of torque. That power is sent through a four-speed manual and a set of 4.10 gears.
The Corvette is also packing an incredible surprise in its engine bay, a 427 Chevy big-block, which produces an incredible 390 horsepower and 460 ft/lbs of torque. Handling gear changes is a four-speed manual transmission that sends power through 3.70 gears. This makes the 'Vette a formidable opponent, but the lower ratio may pose a problem to the Stingray, but I guess we'll see.
The two monsters pull up to the start line, engines roaring and spewing out the exhaust with anticipation. Red, Yellow, Green, Go, and the cars are off, neck and neck until the Challenger pulled ahead and won due to the Corvette getting a red light. Round two saw the Corvette winning at just 13.04 seconds on the quarter-mile and 13.06 for the Challenger. Finally, the third race was upon us, and tension was at its peak. The Challenger had some issues getting off the line, and the winner was quickly decided. It would appear that the answer to our previous question is a small car with big power.
