First off..... Those numbers are just GUESSING, the car doesn't even flipping exist yet. Furthermore, if you think you're going to run 13-flat in a 4,200 lb car with only 425 h.p., then maybe I can interest you in a bridge, or some waterfront property in Florida, to buy with that extra money you save over the Shelby.
Do the math.
The existing Charger SRT8 weighs in at 4180 lbs. It has the same 425 h.p. 6.1L Hemi. Road tests vary, as is to be expected, but google around and you'll find that everybody winds up with rather similar 0-60 5.0 seconds and 1/4 mile in the 13.4-13.6 range at 105-107 mph..
Hey, that's nothing to snooze at.... but it's a long way away from the Shelby, especially mph in the trap, and with MSRP's only 4-5K apart, I'm not seeing the "bargain" here. The ONLY buoy to this argument is that currently most dealerships are trying to cash-in on the new Shelby's "the IT car" status. Mark my words, the Challenger will be the next "IT" car, and the same pricing nonsense will be going on, and you same guys crying about the Shelby price, and threatening to go Mopar, will still be crying the blues having to wait for things to simmer down, and the impulse-idiot buyers to get out of your way.
When it comes to how MANY Challengers Dodge plans to produce, read my lips, IT DOESN'T MATTER, at least not for the 1st several months of production... Why? Because they can only build them so-fast from the get-go, so dealers will be sold-out for the first 4-6 months just like the Shelbys are, due to realities of rate of production... The only difference is that Ford will build it's 8,000 units and stop. Dodge will keep on building as much as demand will absorb. No matter, the first 4-6 months will still be just as hectic, just as frustrating. Especially with a car that's a bit cheaper, attracting yet a LARGER rabid audience of capable buyers..
I'm not poo-poo-ing the Dodge whatsoever. I wan't one too. I just think it's hopelessly naive to delude yourself into thinking the playing field will be more level when those suckers hit the road. The Shelby is just a new "Cobra" that happens to reincarnate the long-dormant Shelby name on a Mustang. The Mustang has been available and in production, un-interrupted, for 40+ years, with a litany of performance models in its wake.
The Challenger has been extinct for how many years now?? How much "pent-up" demand and excitement is there for this car, by Mopar loyalists, who haven't had a true 2-door V8 pony car available to them since 1975?? Wake up... And no, the Dodge Aspen doesn't count....