Keith,
Interesting and well thought out points. I hope for DC's sake they don't think they're going after the Corvette crowd with the SRT, because they've priced themselves at least $20K out of the picture if so. On the other hand, let's think about the mentality of someone who buys a Porsche, Jaguar, or the other top-end marques you list.
Porsche-buyer mentality (sorry for the gross generalization): I'm buying a Porsche because it's a Porsche and Porsches are the best sports cars. I pulled up next to a drop-top Porsche at a stop light and asked what kind of motor he had and what horsepower. He said "Oh, it's a V6 or V8, and it's very fast." You get the picture. Not a car guy. Porsche guys are into the "image" that Porsches project, and let's face it, a Dodge will never project that image. Don't kid yourself about a few Le Mans seasons creating "European racing heritage". Dodge will always be way behind Porsche, Ferrari, etc. in European racing heritage.
Now let's talk about Jaguar guys (and gals). They're into all the connolly leather, burled walnut, etc. How many Jags do you see at your local drag strip? Once every 5 times out or so, I may see an errant XJR at the drag strip, and I've never seen one road racing. In general the Jaguar crowd isn't buying a car to be a sports car. Anyway, I could keep going down the list, but I'm struggling to believe that the SRT will result in converting a lot of people who are in the luxury marque market.
That being said, I agree that it looks like the current Viper market is saturated and so Dodge had to change something. I guess we'll wait and see how successful this particular strategy is.
Steve,
You missed my point. I had a Z06 and I sold it because it was too slow. I race my cars. I am not a poseur. I like the fact that the SRT has a big honkin motor, better brakes, better suspension, etc. No argument there. What I'm saying is this: given that basic package, do you style the car to be outrageous or average in looks? The few hundredths of Cd it would cost to make the looks more outrageous won't make a hill of beans difference in 0-60, 1/4 mile, 60-0, 0-100-0, or any other test other than top end. So, let's face it, the styling choice had nothing to do with performance and saying "Dodge is giving you what you asked for -- performance above all else" is no answer to why the styling is bland. How much would one of the more aggressive design studies cost in your aforementioned 0-100-0 test given the same motor, brakes, and suspension? Almost nothing at all.
On the other subject, Ameritech did a U.S. street-legal conversion of the McLaren F1 for customers including Jay Leno and Larry Ellison. So, sorry to say, the SRT will have to beat the F1, even if you change your tune from "fastest car ever tested" to "fastest U.S. street legal car ever tested." Even that backpedal won't save your argument!
Finally, the main reason I didn't buy a Viper in the early '90s is because I couldn't afford it. Plain and simple.
Ok, I'm done ranting for now. Believe me, I hope more than anyone else that I will end up loving my black SRT when it arrives. I'm just a pessimist by nature. And tenacious. In case you hadn't noticed.
