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The Dodge Demon gets a Drag Mode and a lesson in Newtonian physics

It's Thursday morning, which means we have more news on the upcoming Dodge Demon, the pumped-up Challenger Hellcat variant that's looking to cause mayhem at a drag strip near you. This week's video, "Third Law," shows the Demon's revised suspension in action and displays another one of SRT's cryptic messages. Dodge claims that the 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8 in the Hellcat twins is compromised because it's fitted to a car that needs to be comfortable on the street in addition to a performer on the drag strip. Not so with the Demon, as Dodge says the car is "designed to be highly competent in all drive modes and configurations," including the all-new Drag Mode. Dodge says details about the new mode will trickle out over the next few weeks, but all the info this week focused on suspension. The "Third Law" in this week's title refers to Isaac Newton and motion: "When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body." We're not sure what Newton would have thought seeing the sidewall wrinkling Nitto NT05R drag radials in action, but he'd probably have a reaction of some sort himself. An ideal suspension setup for the drag strip makes for a poor setup on the road. As Dodge puts it, the "old school" way to set up a drag car was to "get the quickest reacting springs upfront, the softest rebound front shocks that wouldn't restrict the springs' reaction, remove any restrictions (sway bar) and increase the compression of the rear shocks." This would give a car great front to rear weight transfer but made for very poor lateral direction control, meaning minor corrections were difficult. The Demon's Drag Mode will use electronics to give the car the best combination of launch and lateral stability. Dodge listed some of the parts to help aid in this goal. They also gave us a few equations that we can't make sense of. Let us know if you have any clues. Hardware: 35 percent lower rate front springs/28 percent lower rate rear springs 75 percent lower rate hollow front sway bar/44 percent lower rate rear sway bar Drag-tuned Bilstein Adaptive Damping Shocks Software: Rear = F/F and Front = F/S F/F – F/S maintained @ wide open throttle (WOT) F/F – F/F < WOT Traction control disabled/ESC maintained Result: 13.5=575@500 Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Queens man knows how to party, disrupts Mets game with van

A New Yorker and all-around true American hero took his weekend festivities a little too far and landed himself in front of a judge last week. According to NBC New York, Nelson Hidalgo drove his unassuming Sprinter to Citi Field on Saturday, June 18, around 10:45 p.m. While the Mets were getting thrashed by the Braves, Hidalgo pulled up to the intersection of 127th street and 35th avenue. Hiding within the van's cargo area were 80 speakers driven by powerful amps, around $20,000 worth of car audio. Hidalgo opened the Sprinter's rear doors, deployed his amazing speaker system, cracked a cold Coors Light, and unleashed hell. Noise complaints immediately started flooding in to the police, including one from the Mets' bullpen. Soon, Hidalgo amassed a sizable crowd who had come to rock out and marvel at the lunacy of the Sprinter's sound system. The NYPD showed up eventually and, undaunted by noise and the crowd, clapped the irons on poor Nelson. The Sprinter was impounded and Hildago was charged with second-degree criminal nuisance, general noise prohibition, disorderly conduct, and obstructing the driver's view. "I know it's illegal, but it's the weekend," he explained to the cops as they hauled him away. Once they had him in custody, the NYPD realized that Hidalgo was the person they had been looking for in connection with absurdly loud music coming from various city junkyards in the dead of night. Hidalgo, who has no prior record, spent the night in the slammer but was released the next morning with no bail on the promise that he return for his court date on August 1. Related Video:

2014 Dodge Durango teaser reveals new 'racetrack' taillights

Not wanting to let Jeep get all of the SUV attention for the 2014 model year, Dodge is unveiling a refreshed version of its Durango at the New York Auto Show. Teased in this image, all we can really tell about the 2014 Dodge Durango is that it will be getting Dodge's "racetrack" taillights similar to the Charger and Dart.
The chrome or painted strip currently between the Durango's Zorro taillamps have been removed to allow for a full-width LED array with "DODGE" lettering displayed more prominently above the license plate pocket. Parent company Chrysler also promises that the updated Durango will add "several new class-exclusive features," but stops short of saying what those are. Earlier reports suggest that among the changes, buyers will be able to look forward to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, which ought to improve the three-row SUV's fuel efficiency.