As the title stated, a buddy of mine has been looking for a "fun/family" car for about a year now. He was THIS close to ordering a 2013 Shelby, but it was a no go (so far) due to the lack of room in the back seat. He's a big guy, at 6'3" or so, and his kids are 4 and 2, good sized for their age too.

So, what other vehicle would fit his needs? So we drove an SRT on the lot today for lunch.

Man, tell you what, after we drove that thing, AND looked at the price, I immediately missed Marilyn. Drove home and switched out Tori for her.

SRT
pros:
looks (subjective, but we thought it had a good "retro" look)
size (big outside, hip and head room were substantial)
power (new 392 hemis are 470hp)

cons:
handling (wow, that thing is a BOAT. Even my stang stock off the lot with brembos handled a LOT better than that thing. Talk about body lean, and lack of grip. Stock tires were 245 wide...for THAT sized car. Stupid)
shifting (that stock pistol shifter was terrible. Talk about long throws, long and unsatisfactory. The stock 5.0 shifter, terrible as it is, is miles better than it
price (the way it sat, it was 45.5k... for a that thing. His words to me were, why would I pay this much for this when I can pay 30k and get a 5.0????

So he's once again looking at 5.0's, maybe even just a base or premium 2013, instead of a shelby... because 4" more legroom on an SRT ain't worth 15k price difference.

Needless to say, after our drive, I drove back home, put my shades on, and proudly and gladly turned the key, listened to Marilyn purr, and drove off back to work with a HUGE grin on my face. I love my car. I love our 5.0s.

 

Me in his case I would buy a 300 SRT8 or Charger SRT8 if he really needs the room.

 

I'd wait for the new 'Cuda, rumor is they are scrapping either the Challenger or Charger to start remaking the 'Cuda

 

sho taurus?

 

That is pretty badass, I saw an ad about it this weekend. 390 HP? Nice

 

We also looked at those, on the lot. Sat in them. The Charger interior was far worse than the Challenger. You guys seen them? Look at that weird design with the faux CF trim and long tear drop cluster leading to the nav screen. Terrible. The 300 SRT8 was like 50k. Even more money. Jesus. And the room inside was far snugger than the Challenger. 50k for a Chrysler. wowwwwwww....

I will ask him to look into those. But I think he needs one now... this summer.

 

Edit: I am STILL trying to get him into looking into a 5.0 base/premium or Shelby again.

 

Second on the Sho. Performance and room for 4. Plus you can mod the ecoboost. There is a person on C5 that run a ecoboost Flex and he is in the 12's with it. Sure a ShO would do even better

 

wow that's a good idea. I have another buddy here intown with a 2011, and he has it chipped, and he's putting out around 400awdhp.

Let me mention it to him.

p.s. between you and me though, I don't like how it looks, but hey it's not my car.

 

the sho's have the most options of any ford I have been in. great fun family car.

 

Wasn't it tight/snug inside tho? I remember it being even tighter than my 5.0 when we drove it. That center console is weird.

 

another buddy of mine gave me this idea for him:

Ford Raptor


The stock 6.2L Ford F-150 produces an impressive 411 horsepower and 434 lb-ft of torque. ROUSH’s complete kit is calibrated to produce a tire melting 525 horsepower and seat crushing 535 lb-ft of torque. During initial testing (using a 2011 Raptor F-150 Crew Cab) showed a considerable drop in 0-60 mph times from 6.6 seconds on the stock Raptor down to 5.7 seconds with the ROUSH TVS supercharger. 1/4 mile performance times also improved from 15.2 seconds at 92 mph on the stock Raptor to 13.9 seconds at 97 mph.




and that is for the base kit...upgrades availiable

http://sdhqoffroad.com/2010raptor62l...ercharger.aspx




Plus it's warrantied for 30k miles or 3 years. Can't beat that. But dang, all that weight!!!

 

Yeah, they're phasing out the Challenger and bringing back the Barracuda... I've always been a fan of the Challenger (both my parents have worked for Chrysler), but they're just too heavy, and it's hard to justify paying $43k base for an SRT8 that still can't stack up the the 5.0... Looking forward to the 'Cuda though!

 

This is exactly the reasoning we came up with. The new stangs own the SRT's in "sense". The only thing holding him back on it, is the rear seat room. The SRT (and he measured it) had 4" more legroom than the stang. I told him for 15k, the kids can deal with 4"... lol

 

Can't wait to see what the 'Cuda actually looks like, I've only seen prototype drawings and the look awesome. Futuristic retro, and YouTube the SHO, the commercial I saw made it look roomy but that was a commercial haven't actually been in one. But it was eating up corners with the Ecoboost lol

 

I'd look for an '05 or '06 GTO. It's a big car so I'm guessing there would be plenty of leg room. Plus it's a 6.0

 

the sho back seat is wonderful! I would agree with you on the front being alittle snug but I think they were trying to make it a cockpit. The kids will love the back with doors. The trunk is huge!! The styling growns on you.

When I bought my 2012 5.0 I was thinking of the sho but they only had a chandy red one which isnt my thing so I went mustang.

 

Yeah, it's definitely a cockpit feel. I liked it, but it definitely isn't what you expect from a car with that big of exterior dimensions.

4" of legroom may not sound like much, but if it's the difference between your buddy's kids being able to actually sit in the back or not, it's a dealbreaker in my mind. I can barely have anyone behind me, and I'm a shade under 6'1". Your buddy is taller, so I'm not sure how that'll work especially with car seats. I'm at least 2 years from having a kid, but am already slightly worried about being able to carry two kids in it when that time comes.

 

Yeah, I'm 6'4" so it's understandable that he needs to make sure the vehicle has leg room in the backseat... It's not like he can scoot his seat up when the kids ride along...

This is about the only thing that rides in my backseat! lol

 

That sucks man