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Buy this Ford vs Ferrari GT40 Movie CarBudget Buy $10,000: Camaro vs Challenger
The Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger are classic muscle cars that have stood the test of time. But which is the better used value?
Mo’ Muscle, Less Money
It’s a matchup that goes all the way back to the late 1960s and the heyday of American muscle. The Chevrolet Camaro versus the Dodge Challenger pits two performance icons head-to-head and often where one lands on the issue says more about your brand loyalties and biases than it does the relative merits of the two cars. But once you start digging into the details and comparing them year-to-year, you get a clearer picture that can help the prospective buyer make an informed choice between them.
With a budget of $10,000, we’ll have to forego both the classics of the late-60s and the most modern versions. Instead, looking back a decade gets us a very affordable Challenger or Camaro, with plenty of room to find the cleanest example with the best mix of options and reasonable mileages. In fact, because may buyers chose a muscle car for leisure rather than for their daily commute, many used examples will be well under the average mileage for cars of this age.
Specs
The 2010 Dodge Challenger offers three engine options. The base engine is a 3.5L V6 making 250 horsepower and 250 lb.-ft. of torque paired to a five-speed automatic transmission. Fuel economy is fairly good for the segment at 17 city and 25 highway mpg. Next is the 5.7L HEMI V8 with 375 horsepower and 400 lb.-ft. of torque. With the automatic, the HEMI gets 16 city and 25 highway mpg and 15/24 with the optional six-speed manual. The third option is the SRT8’s 6.1L V8 producing 425 horsepower and 420 lb.-ft. and comes exclusively with the six-speed manual. The SRT8 gets 14 city and 22 highway mpg
The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro also has three engines on offer, and it too starts with a 3.5L V6, this one making 304 horsepower and 273 lb.-ft. of torque. Here you’ll have the choice of a six-speed manual (17/29 mpg) or six-speed automatic transmission (18/29 mpg). The first of two V8s is the 6.2L L99 making 400 horsepower and 410 lb.-ft and the six-speed automatic with 16/25 mpg Then there’s the LS3 6.2L V8 with 426 horsepower and 420 lb.-ft. of torque. It comes with the six-speed manual and 16/24 mpg.
Driving & Performance
The Chevy Camaro was all new for 2010 and featured major upgrades that improved both power output and handling. Unlike the V6 options of old, the 3.5L offers good power, at about 5 seconds from zero to sixty, and impressive fuel economy at 17 city and 29 highway mpg. The pair of V8s offer even more oomph, with the LS3 sprinting from zero to sixty in just 4.4 seconds. The 2010 Camaro’s updates also vastly improved the handling of the car. New front and rear stabilizer bars, a multi-link rear suspension, and electronic stability control combine to make the Camaro surprisingly adept in the corners. Steering is responsive and provides a good deal of feedback from the front wheels.
The Dodge Challenger offers a very similar spread of engine options to that of the Camaro with a base V6 and a pair of V8s. But unlike the Camaro, the Challenger’s V6 feels largely out of place, incapable of motivating the Dodge in a Dodge-like way. The larger and heavier Challenger also isn’t as nimble as the Camaro around corners. The suspension is tuned on the softer side. This helps make the Challenger a good highway cruiser and a livable daily driver, but it does come at an expense to agility. The V8 engines offer a decent amount of power, but even the SRT8 is a little behind the LS3 equipped Camaro in straight line speed.
Comfort & Interior
The Chevrolet Camaro offers a decent cabin by muscle car standards. Though hard plastics make up much of the interior, the design and finish help ensure the Camaro doesn’t feel too cheap. As with the Challenger, outward visibility isn’t great in the Camaro, especially out of the back. But that is the price you pay for the Camaro’s menacing street demeanor. The front seats are supportive and well bolstered, but the back seats are fairly limited in space and best left to the kids. Trunk space in the Camaro is limited to 11.3 cu. ft.
The Challenger gets points for being the roomier of the two cars, especially for rear passengers. The interior quality, however, is a clear step below that of the Chevy’s. Here too, hard plastic abounds, but there’s no offset here. Instead, the interior design looks about a decade older than it really is, particularly the heinous steering wheel. It’s an odd contrast between the striking exterior and the lackluster execution of the cabin. Cargo is generous at least, with 16.2 cu. ft. of truck space.
Trims & Features
The 2010 Chevy Camaro comes in five trim levels. The first three, the LS, 1LT, and 2LT all come with the 3.5L V6. The 1SS comes with the L99 V8 while the 2SS gets the 6.2L LS3. The base LS trim starts with 18-inch wheels, AC, a CD player, and cruise control. The 1LT adds fog lamps and a six-way power driver’s seat. The 2LT is the top V6 trim and piles on the features with 19-inch wheels, remote start (available with the automatic transmission only), leather upholstery, power front seats, 9-speaker premium stereo, Bluetooth, USB port, and heated side mirrors. The 1SS gets the first of two V8s, 20-inch wheels, but loses some of the 2LTs features. The 2SS adds back all the 2LTs goodies and gets the larger 6.2L V8.
The 2010 Dodge Challenger has three trim levels: the SE, R/T and the SRT8. Each trim corresponds to each engine option. The SE starts with the V6 and comes with an 8-way power driver’s seat, AC, 17-inch wheels, and a four-speaker stereo. The R/T has the HEMI V8, 18-inch wheels, ambient lighting, and a leather wrapped steering wheel. The SRT8 gets the 6.1L V8 20-inch alloy wheels, Brembo brakes, a limited-slip differential, heated side mirrors, leather upholstery, heated front seats, cruise control, keyless ignition, and Bluetooth. Options include navigation and a 13-speaker premium stereo with a six-CD changer.
Not That Close
Though these cars appear evenly matched, each with their three engine options, poor outward visibility, and aggressively styled exteriors, the Camaro versus the Challenger isn’t all that close a call. The Camaro, which had received a major generational overhaul for 2010, is the faster, better equipped, and more modern of the two. While the SRT8 isn’t slow by 2010 standards, the LS3 equipped Camaro is over half a second faster from 0-60. Plus, the Camaro handles better and feels less cumbersome to maneuver. And while the Camaro still suffers from an excess of hard plastic in its interior, it has the far better-looking cabin compared to the dated-looking Challenger. And finally, the Camaro offers better options lower down the trim depth chart. Take cruise control for example, standard on the Camaro but relegated to only the highest trim SRT8 Challenger.
Neither car will disappoint enthusiasts at $10,000; tires will squeal, fun will be had. But the Camaro is clearly the better of the two.
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