Caprice PPV

[kevm14]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bIQmJneLmvc

I presume this car sold for around $12k. I don't find it particularly exciting for $12k. If we were surrounded by early 90s econoboxes a used police car would be exciting, as it was to me 20 years ago. But everything has at least some performance now. Plus even the 9C3 isn't that nice...

I love the SS but these really don't do anything for me, sadly.

[Adam]

How about if it was $8k?

[kevm14]

I dunno. I think once I realized that I could have a car that was comfortable and big (with 4 doors), performed well AND was fancy, my standards are a lot higher than they used to be. That car is not fancy and doesn't perform that well by modern standards. It does have a V8 and it is quite comfortable. But for $12k you can get a C5 Z06. No that is not a big sedan but there is a huge gap between a PPV and C5 Z06, and the Z06 is at least 10 years older, or more. And for $12k and actually less, you can get a V1. At price parity, even though the Holden is a pretty large car on WM, I can't see getting one over a V1, ever. For $23k you can get a CTS-V2 and have C5 Z06/Camaro gen 6 SS performance in a very nice package (with a manual). I just don't find it hits my pareto curve the way other vehicles do. It's just lateral at best, trading some performance and fanciness of the V1 for a large car with DoD issues you need to deal with...that doesn't even come in a manual trans.

I still like B-bodies of course. But my Roadmaster was CHEAP. But buying an $8k, $10k, or $12k car and then dumping a bunch of money into it isn't really something I am going to do for the foreseeable future. So it better be what I want out of the box. I think I captured this well above.

[kevm14]

C&D got 13.9 @ 103 from a PPV. I mean that's not bad. But a V1 is faster for the same money. And doesn't have DoD. And has a manual.

[Adam]

If you are looking for a big comfortable car, you are not going to be cross shopping a C5 Z06 which is neither big nor comfortable. The V1 is comfortable-ish but is not big (unless you compare it to an Elise or even a Z06). The discussion would obviously be different if performance is more of a discriminator. For many people 355 hp can provide sufficient performance in a large car.

[Adam]

It sounds like vehicle performance is more important than size or comfort for you.

[kevm14]

It is big and comfortable but it's not fancy enough. I mean I think I'd rather have my STS as a daily driver than a PPV. I know, craziness. But I like the features, the stereo, the chassis (and yes, the AWD in the winter). It's fast enough (more is always better). And it is really just a midsize car but I guess it is big and comfortable enough. So what do I need a PPV for? Yes another 6 mph trap is not insignificant but it's lacking so many other things. For more money. I could basically get an STS-V for what a halfway not destroyed PPV 9C3 goes for. STS-V runs 13.2 @ 107.

The one thing I see for a PPV is kind of a B-body-like blank slate on which to build. Work the engine, work the chassis, work the stereo, work whatever. But it is way too expensive for that, in my opinion.

[kevm14]

Guess what else.

I'd probably buy one of these over a Caprice PPV. And that kills me.

2007 Charger SRT8, 123k, $10,900
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sal ... e1=DODCHAR

2007 Charter SRT8, 124k, $11,995
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sal ... e1=DODCHAR

13.2 @ 109. Now that's starting to get pretty damn quick. Maybe the fastest unmodified vehicle for the money, with 4 doors anyway.

Is the Charger SRT8 garbage to drive? That all depends what you are comparing it to.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/20 ... rison-test

In a test comparing these: 2006 BMW M5 vs. Cadillac STS-V, M-B CLS55 AMG

C&D said this about the SRT8:

And for About 40 Grand Less . . .

You know what they say: 10 grand here, 10 grand there, pretty soon you're talking real money. So when a Dodge Charger SRT8 — base price, $38,095 — showed up at Hogback Road just as the Bahn Burners were heading to Grattan, we thought it would be interesting to see how this relatively low-priced missile would measure up against the high-priced execu-rockets.

The answer: very well, indeed. Better, in fact, than we expected.

Propelled by a DaimlerChrysler 6.1-liter Hemi V-8 — 425 horsepower, 420 pound-feet of torque — the 4274-pound Charger rumbled to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds, covered the quarter-mile in 13.2 seconds (a tie with the Cadillac) at 109 mph, pulled 0.90 g on the skidpad, and stopped from 70 mph in 168 feet.

The basic test numbers were impressive, but the Charger's agility on the Grattan road circuit was truly revelatory. Even though we experienced brake-fade problems during the full-tilt process, we were able to herd the bad-boy Dodge around the track in 1:32.65, just 0.1 second behind the CLS55 Benz and almost a full second quicker than the Cadillac STS-V .

That's a tribute to excellent work by DC's Street and Racing Technology skunkworks guys, as well as a testimonial to a superb job by the chassis engineers.

I proclaim that the performance sedan bargain buy for the $10k range. Add a little finesse, give up some space and a little bit of speed, and the V1 would be my other selection for more of a driver focused vehicle.

The PPV is just too new. It will depreciate more with time but it is not a good value right now.

[Adam]

I think if they kept making PPVs the used prices would be more reasonable. I agree, $13k is too much for one of those cars for the performance/size/fanciness/comfort. Some people like having rare cars which is probably affecting the value of the PPV. I'm not sure where these cars should be if rareness wasn't a consideration.

I think the STS is a good comparison to the PPV. You swap some straight line performance for fanciness and a slightly smaller car. That could be a good discussion, but not when the PPV is twice as much.

[Adam]

I proclaim that the performance sedan bargain buy for the $10k range. Add a little finesse, give up some space and a little bit of speed, and the V1 would be my other selection for more of a driver focused vehicle.

I'd agree with that. Fortunately for enthusiasts, Dodge sold quite a few of those SRT cars which has probably contributed to the deprecation.