The Proof Is In The Numbers

The Entire Dodge Car Lineup Is Old As Hell

This figure came to us from a Jalopnik reader by the name of Tom, which I appreciate, as I hadn’t really thought about the lineup of Dodge cars myself for quite a while. I think the last time that I thought about a Dodge car was when my coworker Mike Ballaban pointed out that literally tens of thousands of Americans bought a Dodge Journey last year. Why remains a mystery. Anyway, here’s Tom’s very good email to Jalopnik:

Hey guys:

I don’t if it has escaped your attention, but while we’ve been nice pricing and crack piping, the Dodge lineup of vehicles has slowly aging into what has to be the oldest lineup of vehicles of any full line maker in modern times. Every vehicle in their lineup is at least seven years old, with some starting their second decade.

Challenger – 2008

Grand Caravan - 2008

Journey – 2009

Charger – 2011 (or 2006, if you don’t consider the 2011 update to be all new, which many people don’t)

Durango – 2011

This is an average age of 8.6 years (and that is using the more generous 2011 date for the Charger).

Get this: The no longer available Dart(introduced in 2013) was actually the newest vehicle in the Dodge lineup!

As near as I can tell, there FCA has no plans to update any of these vehicles any time soon, and the sole reason Dodge continues to exist appears to be for subprime buyers.

To try to put that in some context, I checked how it compared to its competitors. Toyota has a bunch of old vehicles, for instance. (If you’re curious, the Sequoia and the 4Runner are both from 2008 and the lovely 86 is from 2012, as examples.) But even Toyota only has an average age of 5 years across its linup of cars, SUVs and crossovers.

(Jalopnik.com)

I'm Curious To See If It Does Become A Collectible

Despite Demand, Dodge Demon Won’t Return As 2019MY, Flippers Rejoice

Dodge has confirmed that there will not be a Challenger SRT Demon produced for the 2019 model year.


When the drag-focused Demon was unveiled last year, the automaker said it would only be built for the 2018 model year and limited to 3300 examples worldwide. Despite this, a number of rumors have surfaced indicating that due to demand, Dodge has decided to build the Demon for one more year.

Speaking to Allpar, however, Dodge boss Tim Kuniskis denied the possibility of the Demon returning in 2019.

“2018 only, one-and-done. The people who sit back and wait for next year are going to miss out,” he confirmed.

(CarScoops.com)

How To Be Profitable Frienemies

Ford And Dodge Are Secret Best Friends, And Here’s Why 

On the face of it Ford and Dodge are enemies; two sharks competing to survive in a shrinking sea, but in truth they'd be lost without each other 

The mission for both of these iconic American brands is always ongoing. Sometimes Ford has the advantage, sometimes Dodge, but these two brilliant car-makers have yet again pushed each other to do truly great things that they never would have done alone.

They work in opposition, but also together toward common goals, advancing every market sector they compete in. They make the buyer’s world better. For that, I make Ford and Dodge more than close friends: I’d almost call them brothers.

(CarThrottle.com)

Never Skip Leg Days

(CavemanCircus.com)

The Demonic Hype, Clarified

The Hidden Meaning In All of the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon Teasers

Demon Teaser: Body

The Demon is the first production car capable of doing a wheelie. #2576@35 refers to the 2,576 pounds of weight transfer to the rear wheels and the 35 inches the car travels with the front wheels in the air. If told us you guessed this, we're not sure we'd believe you.

Demon Teaser: Crate

The numbers 0757 and VIN001121 weren't so easy. This was the first appearance of 757, something that would come back later on. 001121 is supposed to be a date, 11/21, or November 21. That's the date the Demon set its 9.65-second quarter-mile run. Inside baseball kind of stuff and again, not guessable.

Complete list (AutoBlog.com)

I'm Kinda Disappointed After All The Hoopla

840 hp 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon has arrived: 

Here are all the details We never thought the Hellcat would look so tame.

After months of teasers, rumors, cryptic messages, and veiled hints, the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is finally here, and it's as wonderfully insane as we hoped it would be. Finally we know the facts and figures that Dodge has been hinting at for so long. 840 horsepower. 770 lb-ft of torque. 2.3 seconds to 60 mph. A quarter-mile run of 9.65 @ 140 mph. While pricing hasn't been announced, Dodge is trying to keep it under $100,000.

That horsepower figure makes this the most powerful production V8 ever. With those 0-60 and quarter-mile times, it's also NHRA certified as the quickest production car ever. All that power and all of the Demon's trick launching software and hardware will throw a driver back against their seat with 1.8 Gs. Drivers will be seeing a bit of sky, as the Demon is the first production car to pull a wheelie from a dead stop. Yes, this is all totally and 100 percent street legal.

In order to make all this power, the red-painted supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8 has been significantly improved over the Hellcat. It's equipped with a larger 2.7-liter supercharger that turns the boost up to 14.5 psi, redlines at 6,500, and what Dodge is calling SRT Power Chiller, a system that uses the air conditioning to cool the air coming in through the new Air Grabber hood scoop. In order to keep your engine running time and time again, there is an after-run cooler than cools the supercharger after the car is shut off.

(AutoBlog.com) 

Wider Than The Z/28's 305's, Not Quite As Wide As The GT3 RS' 325's

The Dodge Demon's massive drag tires are just barely street legal 

Custom tires cover 18- by 11-inch wheels.

That wheel and tire combo, meant to fill out the Demon's new wide wheel arches, is frankly impressive. Lightweight 18- by 11-inch wheels are wrapped in special Demon branded Nitto NT05R tires measuring an astounding 315/40R18 at all four corners. Not only does that trump the old Camaro Z/28's 305 section tires, it makes the Demon the first production car to come equipped from the factory with drag radials, claims Dodge. Presumably, the goal with the Demon is to provide enough power and grip to rotate the Earth underneath the car rather than propelling the car itself down a dragstrip.

(AutoBlog.com)

I Applaud The Cause

Viper owners raising money to retake the Nurburgring lap record 

The Porsche 918 currently holds the production-car crown.

Nürburgring lap times – unofficial as they may be – are the locker room comparison contest of the automotive world. For several years, the lap record of 7:12:13 was held by a 2011 Dodge Viper ACR. The Viper and America were the rulers of the roost until the usurper, the Porsche 918, came in a stole the crown. The death knell is ringing for the Viper, and a group of owners are raising money to send the car to the 'Ring for one last chance at glory.

The ViperExchange is willing to supply two ACRs and two drivers well versed in the Nürburgring in order to retake the record. The problem with attempting to set the record is mostly down to logistics. According to the GoFundMe page, the total cost to send the cars, pay for the track, the supplies, and operating expenses is about $150,000 and $200,000.

The group says this is entirely a volunteer effort and are asking for donations to fund the Viper's return. Those wishing to help replant the stars and stripes and fill the forests of Germany with the truck-like roar of an odd-firing V10 can donate online. If they fall short, donations will be returned.

(AutoBlog.com)

Moar Power!

Dodge Ran A Secret Project To Crank The Hellcat Engine Up To 707 Horsepower

What people forget about the insane 707 horsepower Dodge Hellcat engine is that it was expected to have way less power than that. Now the Detroit Free Press has unearthed the story of the legendary engine’s development, and it turns out, the thing actually was originally supposed to make “only” 600 ponies. Here’s how that number became 707.

The story of the Hellcat engine’s development is filled with all sorts of secretive behavior. The Freep says it all began in 2011, when Chris Cowland, director of advanced and SRT powertrain development, brought the idea for a Hellcat in front of FCA’s product forum, which included CEO Sergio Marchionne and 20 other head executives. Cowland pleaded his case for the engine, and got approval to build a 600 HP engine that would put the then top-dog Shelby GT500 in its place. May the horsepower wars begin.

The Detroit Free Press said Cowland’s powertrain team later succeeded in designing a 600 horsepower HEMI-based engine, but that the company caught wind that Ford had a 600+ horsepower GT500 in the pipeline.

That’s when Cowland asked executives if he could crank up the Hellcat’s target to 675 HP, and company leaders said “sure,” so long as he could develop the engine in the same timeframe and with the same fuel economy goals.

But Cowland didn’t really mean 675 HP, because Cowland admitted that he was hiding an Ace up his sleeve: “The timing was a real concern... Internally, the team’s target had always been 700 HP. We like to over-deliver, but we’d expected more time.”

(Jalopnik.com)