Historically, just about every muscle car ever made had a V6 base model.

 

I think it is silly to think that offering a V6 would be a sin since the orginal had a slant six which had much less hp & tq than the 3.5L does. In fact the 3.5L offers more hp than the 318 did. The 3.5L would be good for a base engine. If they gear it correctly they could be very competitive. Here is another idea. I think it would be cool if they dropped in the new 4.0L. That would be sweet.

I agree with Nick that dropping in the 2.7L would be the real sin. A 2.7L feels kind of weak to me in an Intrepid (no offense Nick) because it has a mountainous power and torque curve unless you really push it due to the fact that it is a DOHC design. The 3.5L has a flatter power and torque curve than the 2.7L does, due to the fact that it is a SOHC design. I have seen upper 7s to low 8 secs for 3.5L LX cars. A manual will help with out a doubt. Take the 95-00 Dodge Stratus/Breeze manual 2.0L. It rivaled the 2.5L V6 automatic in the 0-60 acceleration times.

I think it needs a base V6 for the sake of volume sales. They need volume sales or else they will probably over charge for V8 models. If it is a low volume car it will end up like the Prowler, over priced and dropped in a few years due to lack of demand. For this car to succeed they need to make a profit and a V6 model is necessary in order to do that.

 

IMHO, there will be a V6 model. I would bet money it would be the 3.5, as a 2.7 isn't even available in the Charger.

 

Except the rental fleet model.

 

It will have a V6 version base model just as it should. This is very similar to the transmission debate, should it be automatic or manual, and it should be both. There should be a V6 base model with V8 mid models and bigger better V8 high end models, all of which should come standard with a manual transmission and have an automatic transmission as an option. Plain, simple and easy and will keep everyone happy.

 

[sm=icon_ladiesman.gif]Good call!