2014 Dodge Durango Sxt on 2040-cars

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The Dodge Demon isn't the only way to a 10-second quarter mile

The Demon's rear tires smoke, the front tires lift – and in under ten seconds (after having spent $85,000) you've covered a quarter mile. In short, we fully get the attention shown Dodge's SRT Demonstrator. With disruption the operative word of the times, it's good to see a representative of the movement coming from Detroit. The SRT Demon delivers disruption in spades. There is, however, a viable alternative – and it doesn't require getting on the list at your Dodge dealer. If you want to do 0-60 in under three seconds or the quarter mile in around 10, the folks at Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha – with any of their one-liter superbikes – have you covered. The gestation of what we now know as the superbike came roughly a decade after the debut of the muscle car. It was in the early '70s, as emission and safety regulations – along with rising insurance premiums – decimated the ranks of Detroit's fastest that motorcycle makers found their magical, almost mystical momentum. Honda's CB750 four was arguably the first, followed soon by Kawasaki's Mach III and Z-1. After that, it was Katie-bar-the-door, with more horsepower offered by Japanese OEMs until, invariably, insurance premiums went higher and, during the last recession, 20-somethings couldn't get affordable loans or insurance. Today, Japan's Big Four are once again engaged in a horsepower war, fueled by the rising interest in MotoGP, along with the rising profits available when selling a $20,000 motorcycle. And if that $20,000 - $10K per wheel – seems high, simple math tells you it's less than half of what you'll spend per corner if buying Dodge's Demon. The specs tell the tale. The Demon, fattened by both its flared fenders and a platform dating from the George Bush administration, supports its 4,200+ pounds on a wheelbase of 116 inches. That's in contrast to Suzuki's GSX-R1000 – redesigned for 2017 – which puts its 443 pounds atop a wheelbase of just 56 inches. To maximize its Hemi-supplied 800+ horsepower, Dodge diverts the air conditioning from the Demon's interior to the engine, which makes racing on a summer evening (you guessed it) devilishly hot. On Suzuki's GSX-R1000 – or similarly-equipped superbikes – almost all of the air at 100+ miles per hour is directed at you. To further underscore the differences, know that the GSX-R1000 and its like-minded competition can turn a quick corner, while the Demon is hard-pressed to execute a U-turn at the end of a quarter-mile straightaway.

The best cars we drove this year

Six hundred and fifty. That's roughly how many cars pass through the hands of Autoblog editors every year, from the vehicles we test here at home, to the cars we drive on new product launches, testing roundups, long-term cars, and so on. Of course, our individual numbers vary due to several reasons, but at the end of the day, our team's repertoire of automotive experience is indeed vast. But let's be honest, some cars certainly stand out more than others. So as the year's about to turn, and as we're readying brand-new daily cat calendars for our cubicles, our editors are all taking time to reflect on the machinery that made this year so special, with one simple, open-ended question as the guide – a question that we're asked quite frequently, from friends, family, colleagues, and more. "What's the best car you drove this year?" Lamborghini Huracan When I review the list of everything I drove in 2014, picking an absolute favorite becomes almost impossible. I mean, how does one delineate between the joy offered by cars as different as the Alfa Romeo 4C, Volkswagen Golf R, Mercedes-AMG GT S and even the humble-yet-wonderful Chevy Colorado? Okay fine, I'll just pick the Lamborghini. I drove the Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 on a racetrack, in the mountains, and along southern coast of Spain. It felt like the king of the car jungle in all of those places, sucking the eyeballs of observers nearly out of their heads as it drove by, and almost melting my brain with its cocktail of speed and grip and intense communication. It feels a little easy to say that the one new supercar I drove this year was also my favorite, but the fact is that the Huracan is one of the finest cars I've driven during my career, let alone 2014. Judge me if you must. – Seyth Miersma Senior Editor Rolls-Royce Wraith There are a couple of ways to look at the question, "What's the best car you drove this year?" In terms of what was so good I'd go out and buy one tomorrow, that'd be my all-time sweetheart, the Volkswagen GTI. Or if I'm just talking about sheer cool-factor, maybe something like the Galpin GTR1, BMW i8, or Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG. But instead, I'm going to write about the sheer opulence of being the best of the best. The hand-crafted, holier-than-thou, shut-your-mouth-when-I'm-talking-to-you supremacy. I'm picking the Rolls-Royce Wraith. I drove the Wraith for a week in April, and was really, really impressed. This car does everything, perfectly.

Stellantis urges owners to fix Takata airbags after another fatality

Stellantis this morning is emphatically urging owners of older Dodge and Chrysler models equipped with recalled Takata airbags to park their cars until they can have recalls performed after the company on Friday confirmed a third fatality. The company's statement includes instructions for owners and follows this article in its entirety.  This comes just six weeks after the brands comprising the former FCA business unit urged customers to park their cars after two fatal incidents involving defective Takata airbags prompted Stellantis to issue a do-not-drive order for the 2005-2010 Dodge Charger, Magnum and Challenger, along with the Chrysler 300. The company is warning any customers who have not yet had their vehicles inspected in accordance with previous recall campaigns to park their cars until they are able to do so. This order covers more than 275,000 vehicles on the road.  No new recall has been initiated to address the faulty airbags as all of the vehicles in question are within the original population of the massive 2015 campaigns carried out by virtually every major automaker. Industry supplier Takata's airbag inflators have been identified as the cause of more than 30 fatalities when moisture caused them to explode rather than deploy normally in a collision.  Here is the full statement from Stellantis: December 19, 2022 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - FCA US LLC urges owners or custodians of certain older-model Dodge and Chrysler vehicles with unaddressed Takata driver-side air-bag recalls, to immediately stop driving them and contact the Company to obtain the required repair – free of charge. We strongly reiterate our previous warning, having confirmed a third Takata-related fatality involving this population of vehicles. They are equipped with Takata air-bag inflators whose chemical properties may deteriorate over time, particularly if exposed to hot, humid climates. Such conditions may cause the inflators to rupture on deployment, scattering razor-sharp debris capable of causing serious injury or death. “Time is a critical element here because the risk increases with each day these air-bag inflators go unreplaced,” said Tom McCarthy, global head of Technical Safety and Regulatory Compliance at Stellantis. “We have the parts, and the service is free.