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Detroit News cruisers Tom Greenwood (left) and Henry Payne get ready to patrol the strip in their Corvette and Challenger Hellcat steeds. (Henry Payne \/ The Detroit News)<\/p>\n
Ginger or Mary Ann? Steak or lobster? Hellcat or Stingray?<\/p>\n
Vexing choices. Because there is no wrong answer. Because they say so much about you. I\u2019ll take Mary Anne to a steakhouse on Woodward in a. . . um. Er. Uhhhhhh. Which car\u00a0would<\/i>\u00a0make the best Dream Cruiser?<\/p>\n
The 707-horsepower, most-powerful-muscle-car-ever, $59,995, 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat? Or the 455-horsepower, best-pound-for-dollar-sports car-on-the-planet, $76,465, 2014 Corvette C7 Stingray convertible?<\/p>\n
Every year, thanks to the generosity of Detroit automakers, The Detroit News\u00a0auto When the Hellcat curled up on our doorstep, my Cruise colleague, Tom Greenwood, was speechless. So he tapped these classic words on his laptop:<\/p>\n \u201cDripping with testosterone, the exhaust produces a growly vibration that could churn milk into butter. Honestly, the only thing that would make it better would be if the tailpipes smelled like bacon.\u201d<\/p>\n Amen, brother.<\/p>\n Yet, given the choice, would I take the Hellcat over the C7? A week on Woodward tells the tale.<\/p>\n Begin with the visuals. The Stingray will be recognized for decades as the seventh generation \u2019Vette that took the brand from attractive to sexy. Curvy and taut, the C7 is Beyonce on wheels. Our Z51 \u201cbumble bee\u201d package is especially striking. Draped in ticket-me-yellow paint, the wheels and trim are black, meaning the black soft top \u2014 traditionally an eyesore on convertibles \u2014 fits right in.<\/p>\n Speaking of clam shells, this top will open or close while rolling. Feel rain drops? Under 35 mph, the roof will shut with the touch of a button. No stopping. No fiddling. It\u2019s a cruiser\u2019s dream.<\/p>\n As menacing as our gray and black-trimmed Hellcat looked, it\u2019s only subtly different than its brooding forebears. You\u2019ll know it by the SRT badge and \u201cSlingshot,\u201d black-matte wheels.<\/p>\n But turn the key and the Hellcat comes into its own. The Corvette sports 455 horsepower. The Hellcat sees that and raises it by 252. Two-fifty-two. It\u2019s like adding a\u00a0Ford Focus ST Stomp the pedal at a stoplight and all Hellcat breaks loose. The rear tires spin like belt sanders. The air fills with an acrid odor (bacon?). The supercharger drains oxygen from the surrounding ecosystem. A headlight-sized intake \u2014 where the inner left lamp should be \u2014 makes a shrieking sound like Dracula\u2019s mistress. Mothers hide their children. Car alarms erupt. The Hellcat explodes down the road.<\/p>\n It. Is. Epic.<\/p>\n Next to this tornado, the Corvette (3.8 second 0-60 versus the Hellcat\u2019s 3.5) seems downright civilized. But keep your foot planted over 4000 RPM and valve flaps open in the four big exhaust pipes. An addictive, thunderous roar echoes off the asphalt.<\/p>\n You want to hear it again and again. It\u2019s like the last stanza of the national anthem. Sung at the Super Bowl. By Whitney Houston.<\/p>\n So V-8s go great in a straight line, you say. So tell me something I don\u2019t know. How do they handle? Pardon my snicker. We\u2019re dream cruisers. Stoplight stompers. Ever seen an ess curve on Woodward? Still, man cannot live on burnouts alone. The open road is a symphony and you want an instrument that can play all the notes.<\/p>\n No surprise, the \u2019Vette walks away from the Hellcat in the twisties. Where the C7 can feel big and sloppy compared to say, a Porsche Boxster, it\u2019s Fred Astaire compared to Hellcat the Dancing Bear. Through the swells and dips of north Oakland County the 3,362-pound C7 is planted, predictable \u2014 while the Hellcat\u2019s 4,439 pounds must be carefully managed.<\/p>\n For all the violence outside, these beasts are remarkably comfy inside. The engineers didn\u2019t blow the whole budget on artillery. The Stingray\u2019s plush leather and suede-wrapped steering wheel are living room-comfortable. Your passenger is pampered as well with separate climate controls and two \u201coh, sh**!\u201d handles for when 4,000 revs come.<\/p>\n The Hellcat can\u2019t match the \u2019Vette\u2019s country club interior, but it boasts its own suede seats and superb 8.4-inch touchscreen. And it comes with two roomy rear seats so that a family of four can enjoy the fun.<\/p>\n My Cruise-loving wife \u2014 my real-life Mary Ann \u2014 loves convertibles. So I choose Stingray. How about you?<\/p>\n Vehicle Vehicle type:<\/b>\u00a0Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door, sport convertible with electronic, retractable top Detroit News cruisers Tom Greenwood (left) and Henry Payne get ready to patrol the strip in their Corvette and Challenger Hellcat steeds. (Henry Payne \/ The Detroit News) Ginger or Mary Ann? Steak or lobster? Hellcat or Stingray? Vexing choices. Because there is no wrong answer. Because they say so much about you. I\u2019ll take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15204"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15204"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15205,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15204\/revisions\/15205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/images.intellitxt.com\/ast\/adTypes\/icon1.png\")
<\/a>\u00a0writers land two state-of-the-art chariots so we can cruise the Cruise in style. It\u2019ll be hard to top this year\u2019s duo. They are future Hall-of-Famers. So gratifying, yet so different. A muscle-bound odd couple.<\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0turbo to the drivetrain. It\u2019s so much power that SRT provides two keys \u2014 one red, one black \u2014 to caution drivers. Red flings open Pandora\u2019s box. Black limits you to \u201cjust\u201d 500 Furies.<\/p>\n\n2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\u00a0type:<\/b>\u00a0Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, five-passenger sports sedan
\nPrice:<\/b>\u00a0$59,995
\nPower plant:<\/b>\u00a06.2-liter supercharged DOHC 8-cylinder Hemi
\nPower:<\/b>\u00a0707 hp, 650 lb.-ft. torque
\nTransmission:<\/b>\u00a0Eight-speed automatic with paddle shifters
\nPerformance:<\/b>\u00a00-60 mph, 3.5 seconds (est.); 199 mph top speed
\nWeight:<\/b>\u00a04,439 pounds
\nFuel economy:<\/b>\u00a0TBD
\nHighs:<\/b>\u00a0Earth-shaking power; Intuitive controls
\nLows:<\/b>\u00a0Might get you thrown in jail
\nOverall:<\/b>\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n2014 Corvette Stingray Convertible<\/h3>\n
\nPrice:<\/b>\u00a0$76,465
\nPower plant:<\/b>\u00a06.2-liter, aluminum V-8 with direct injection and dry sump
\nPower:<\/b>\u00a0455 horsepower, 460 pound-feet of torque
\nTransmission:<\/b>\u00a0Seven-speed manual
\nPerformance:<\/b>\u00a00-60 mpg, 3.8 seconds; 190 mph top speed
\nWeight:<\/b>\u00a03,362 pounds
\nFuel economy:<\/b>\u00a0EPA 17 mpg city\/29 mpg highway
\nHighs:<\/b>\u00a0Glorious\u00a0V8<\/a>\u00a0note; Luxury interior
\nLows:<\/b>\u00a0Might get you pulled over by a cop on a bicycle
\nOverall:<\/b>\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"