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2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Drivers' Notes | Wide awake

Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore — I've always wondered how Dodge would evolve the Challenger. There was only one real generation, not counting the rebadged Mitsubishi. Past and present, it's always looked the same. With the Hellcat, Demon, and now my personal favorite, the Hellcat Redeye Widebody, it makes total sense. There's no need to redesign it every few years. Just tweak it and add cool features — like flared fenders and the 797-hp Hellcat engine. It's all you need. This thing makes a statement. The Redeye is the car your neighbors want a ride in. I parked in our office building's basement, and co-workers heard me gunning the engine — two stories up. It's a growl. It has bass. It's angry. It gets a little metallic sometimes, depending on how and when you lay on the gas. I launched fairly hard at every traffic light. Sometimes I'd rev at idle. The Monroney that came with our test car lists the fuel economy as zero (it actually gets 13 city and a respectable 22 highway). But still. You get the point. I've always liked how the Challenger drives. It's big. It's heavy. The hood looks like the deck of an aircraft carrier. It's not trying to be a track rat. Go fast in a straight line. That's what you do. Take a hard left and maybe you skid a little bit. Maybe that's the idea. You don't eat cheeseburgers because they're good for you. You eat them because they taste good. Hey, cheeseburgers have protein. And vitamins. Healthy isn't the right description, but there are some benefits. The same reasoning applies to this Challenger. The interior is attractive, well-furnished and comfortable. The leather-trimmed seats are supportive. I love the saddle brown color. I used to say the coupe's low roof and bulky A-pillars were a problem. Then I got over that. You're driving nearly 800 hp, so sit up and be on your toes. The trunk is huge, too. I could have put a car seat in the back, had I needed to. You can live with the Challenger. And the Redeye is perhaps the best version yet. The starting price is about $60 grand. That's a steal. The price of our tester is $92,290. That's insane. The $6,000 widebody pack is the thing I'd recommend most out of all the options. Get the nice leather, too. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Question of the Day: Most heinous act of badge engineering?

Badge engineering, in which one company slaps its emblems on another company's product and sells it, has a long history in the automotive industry. When Sears wanted to sell cars, a deal was made with Kaiser-Frazer and the Sears Allstate was born. Iranians wanted new cars in the 1960s, and the Rootes Group was happy to offer Hillman Hunters for sale as Iran Khodro Paykans. Sometimes, though, certain badge-engineered vehicles made sense only in the 26th hour of negotiations between companies. The Suzuki Equator, say, which was a puzzling rebadge job of the Nissan Frontier. How did that happen? My personal favorite what-the-heck-were-they-thinking example of badge engineering is the 1971-1973 Plymouth Cricket. Chrysler Europe, through its ownership of the Rootes Group, was able to ship over Hillman Avanger subcompacts for sale in the US market. This would have made sense... if Chrysler hadn't already been selling rebadged Mitsubishi Colt Galants (as Dodge Colts) and Simca 1100s as (Simca 1204s) in its American showrooms. Few bought the Cricket, despite its cheery ad campaign. So, what's the badge-engineered car you find most confounding? Chrysler Dodge Automakers Mitsubishi Nissan Suzuki Automotive History question of the day badge engineering question

Dodge, Hyundai crowdsourced-funding sites deemed successes

What's not to love about crowdsourcing? This idea, after all, has given us Kickstarter as well Local Motors, but automakers are starting to use the social platform to sell more cars (or just drum up a little PR). Both Dodge and Hyundai have used "crowd-funding" recently, and while Automotive News is reporting that neither has racked up big sales with this gimmick, both automakers are pleased with the attention.
For Hyundai, it teamed up with website Motozuma.com to help customers crowdsource money for a down payment, and the automaker matched this amount up to $500. Last year, this helped Hyundai sell an extra 1,600 units, a fraction of its total 2012 sales. That figure is far larger than Dodge fared with the Dodge Dart Registry - it netted only two sales and a small number of individual options. This registry did help University of Southern California fraternity crowdsource $18,000 to buy a Dart for a local Meals on Wheels, however. Despite the low sales figures, Dodge and Hyundai are considering their crowdsourcing programs a success since it helped them connect with younger buyers.