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Dodge Journey to get a performance-focused replacement in 2022?

The Dodge Journey is neither fast nor agile, but it has proved a hard-to-hit target for everyone trying to figure out what the next generation will hold, including Fiat Chrysler. In 2014, the automaker's five-year plan for Dodge included an all-new Journey in 2016, and a hotted-up SRT version of the crossover come 2017. In 2016, "supplier sources" told Automotive News a new Journey on rear-drive Alfa Romeo's Giorgio platform would show for the 2019 model year, and production would be moved from Mexico to Italy, Those prognostications came to naught, the 11-year-old Journey riding on its Mitsubishi-based platform into 2020 with fewer options. Now Mopar Insiders says the next-gen Journey could come in 2022 as an early 2023 model, still on the Giorgio platform and given a performance-focused brief. According to MI, the new Journey — and it's not clear if the name will be retained — comes in strict two-row, five-seater guise. It "will be around the size of the Stelvio," the Alfa Romeo coming in at 184.5 inches. Previous reports have said the Journey will be shorter than the current 192.4-inch model, but longer than the Stelvio. The Dodge Charger is said to donate major styling cues, and there will supposedly be a Scat Pack trim. Under the hood, the entry-level engine will be the same GME 2.0-liter four-cylinder in that makes 276 horsepower and 306 pound-feet of torque in the Stelvio. MI believes a Hemi V8 will make the options list, hence the Scat Pack. Previously, other outlets have figured a turbo V6 like that in the Alfa Quadrifoglio models will stand in as the upgrade, although the model is "being developed with V8s in mind." Any engine choice is expected to be paired with an eight-speed transmission. All of those options far outdo the 2.4-liter four-cylinder with 172 hp and 165 lb-ft, shifting through a four-speed automatic, which is the only powertrain possible for the 2020 Journey. The platform switch and the change to rear-drive will greatly enhance on-road manners and performance, but MI believes an all-wheel-drive option should make the transition. If Journey production moves to Italy from Mexico, Fiat Chrysler will open up capacity in North America for big-profit crossovers and trucks, and get more from its underutilized European operations. Rumor says the Journey would roll down the same lines as the Stelvio in the Cassino Assembly Plant; the crossover is still sold in Europe and other markets as the Fiat Freemont.

The biggest gas-guzzlers of 2024: 'The Meanest List' is the opposite of greenest cars

In some circles — especially some automotive circles — bigger is better. This explains the Hummer, for example. In its so-called “Meanest List” of a dozen models, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) makes no apologies for berating “the worst-performing mass market automobiles” sold in 2024 in the U.S. The most diminutive car on the list is a Chevy Corvette Z06. At the top of this particular heap is the Mercedes-Benz AMG G63, a gas-powered SUV that the environmental agency says was “the worst-performing vehicle of the more than 1,200 models assessed by Greener Cars and has an annual fuel cost over $4,000.” Not to mention its MSRP of around $184,000. Rank Make & Model Powertrain Green Score MSRP Estimated Annual Fuel Cost* 1 Mercedes-Benz AMG G63 Gas 20 $184,000 $4,242 2 Ram 1500 TRX 4x4 Gas 22 $98,335 $3,819 3 Ford F150 Raptor R Gas 24 $79,975 $3,777 4 Cadillac Escalade V Gas 26 $152,295 $3,388 5 Dodge Durango SRT Gas 26 $74,995 $3,332 6 Jeep Wrangler 4dr 4X4 Gas 27 $35,895 $3,260 7 Jeep Grand Wagoneer 4x4 Gas 28 $91,945 $3,058 8 Mercedes-Benz G550 Gas 28 $143,000 $3,186 9 GMC Hummer EV SUV EV 29 $98,845 $1,746 10 GMC Sierra Gas 29 $37,700 $3,069 11 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Gas 30 $114,395 $3,169 12 Mercedes-Benz Maybach S680 Gas 30 $234,300 $3,031 *ACEEE analysis using EIA data of the annual cost of driving 15,000 miles In terms of numbers, the dirty dozen of the meanest includes seven SUVs and three trucks. Lonely at the middle of the list is the sole electric, the GMC Hummer EV, which weighs in at 9,000 pounds. The council notes that “though EVs have lower emissions than similarly sized gasoline models, the Hummer demonstrates that size and efficiency, not just fuel source, are important factors in a carÂ’s environmental impact.” ItÂ’s also worth reminding prospective buyers that the average fuel cost of a vehicle on the “Greenest List” eats up only a fifth of the fuel cost of a vehicle on the Meanest List, “showing that greener options can also be more affordable.” The ACEEE also put out a "Greener List" of efficient gasoline and hybrid cars that don't require plugging in.  By the Numbers Green Cadillac Chevrolet Dodge Ford GMC Hummer Jeep Maybach Mercedes-Benz RAM Emissions Fuel Efficiency Green Automakers Truck SUV Electric Hybrid

Experience the Woodward Dream Cruise in a Dodge Challenger Hellcat

While Autoblog was consumed by coverage of the increasingly important Monterey Car Week last weekend, there was another big even going on. The Woodward Dream Cruise is significantly lighter in terms of news, but there's no denying that it's a far bigger, and far more egalitarian than what the wine-and-cheese crowd experience on the links at Pebble Beach. The Dream Cruise crams tens of thousands of cars and over a million spectators along a four-lane ribbon of asphalt between Ferndale and Pontiac, MI. What's remarkable aren't these numbers, though, so much as the distances they travel. Owners and admirers come from far and wide, across the United States and in some cases across the globe, to take in the spectacle. This year, local radio and television coverage featured fans that traveled from Japan, Australia, and Europe, just to take in the cruise. Of course, we realize that not everyone can make the pilgrimage to Woodward Avenue. With that fact in mind, we decided to bring a bit of the Dream Cruise to Autoblog with a time-lapse video of the cruise route. You can experience the good (a Lamborghini Gallardo, Chevrolet Chevelle, and Oldsmobile Cutlass 442), the bad (the traffic jams), and the ugly (no, your 2003 Ford Focus does not qualify as a classic, get the hell out of the cruiser lanes). So join us, as we turn off 8 Mile Road behind the wheel of our 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and run north, through Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak, Huntington Woods, Berkley, Bloomfield Township, and Bloomfield Hills, before ending up on Wide Track Drive in Pontiac.