I've never really been a fan of muscle cars (or most American cars for that matter). The first few iterations of the LX charger never really appealed to me-- too cartoonish, cheap looking and blocky. But the current version (2015+) has really grown on me after seeing a few around (especailly in SRT guise) .
The terribly named "scat pack", brings the more aggressive SRT fascia, 6.4 liter V8, bilstein sport suspension and 4 pot brembo brakes to the equation for around 40k (46k loaded). After seeing one in person and watching a bunch of reviews i have this almost inexplicable desire for one. I think it looks really good (in the right colors), love the forged aluminum wheels and the sound is amazing. Seems to get some very good reviews from various sources. Kind of blows my mind that they're selling it for mid-range 328i money.
Yeah, it's huge and automatic only but it just seems like a lot of fun. The interior is also kind of nice now in a high-end pickup truck sort of way. In some ways, i'd say its actually similar in quality to the current 3 and 5 series. The exterior fit/finish seems on par now as well. And you can get pretty much all of the German sedan tech features. The touch screen appears to give you way more flexibilty in configuring the various systems in the car as well (you can even turn on/off the autodim feature on the mirrors for example). The steering ratio and turning radius are surprisingly good (much better than standard 5 series or A6) meaning that its more manuevarable than its large size would suggest. And with cylinder deactivation, it gets better highway mileage than the v8 germans.
Intellectually, I understand that the Chevy SS is the better car in this class (and the only one with a manual) but it just doesn't appeal to me in the same way.
The only real downsides I can see are: parking it, the redneck image, and probably the insurance cost. I'd probably feel ridiculous driving it. I'm guessing that another possible downside is that a 3 or 5 series (even a 550) is likely cheaper to lease. Still might be fun to try for a few years and atleast get it out of my system. My wife had a horrified look on her face when I shared this with her.
Anyone else share this affliction? Kind of a guiity pleasure.
