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Chevy Corvette Stingray defeating rivals where it matters most

Everything is coming up roses for the award-winning Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, as new data from the North American Dealers Association dissected by GM Authority reveals that America's sports car is handily outselling two of its more expensive rivals.
Through June of 2014, the NADA notes that the Corvette has rung up 17,744 sales, handily besting the Porsche 911 and positively spanking the SRT Viper. Of course, you're sitting there thinking, "Corvette is outselling the much more expensive Porsche and Viper. Sky blue, water wet." But what's impressive here is just how thoroughly the Chevrolet is beating its two rivals, with this data serving as a testament to just how popular the seventh-generation sports car has become.
So far this year, Porsche has managed to move 5,169 911s, according to NADA. Considering that the base model starts at nearly $15,000 more than the most heavily optioned Stingray, and that Porsche owners have a vast, expensive options catalogue to select from, Stuttgart's sales are still plenty impressive in relation to the nearly 18,000 Corvettes sold.

Weekly Recap: FCA hit with record fine as NHTSA crackdown continues

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration slapped Fiat Chrysler Automobiles with a record fine this week that could reach $105 million. The punishment comes after NHTSA found problems with the automaker's execution of 23 recalls that affect more than 11 million vehicles. The consent agreement, announced Sunday, calls for FCA to pay a $70-million cash fine and requires the company to spend at least $20 million over a three-year period on industry outreach programs and to beef up old recall campaigns. Failure to comply will result in another $15-million fine. FCA also agreed to federal oversight, which includes an independent monitor to oversee the company's recalls. The $70-million cash fine equals a penalty NHTSA levied on Honda in January. "Fiat Chrysler's pattern of poor performance put millions of its customers and the driving public at risk," NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind said in a statement. "This action will provide relief to owners of defective vehicles, will help improve recall performance throughout the auto industry, and gives Fiat Chrysler the opportunity to embrace a proactive safety culture." FCA called the deal a "consensual resolution," but admitted that it "failed to timely provide an effective remedy" during certain recalls. "We are intent on rebuilding our relationship with NHTSA and we embrace the role of public safety advocate," the company said in a statement. The announcement kicked off a busy week for the automaker. NHTSA agreed FCA did not need to recall 4.7 million vehicles after an investigation failed to find defects with a power module used in some Jeep, Dodge, and Ram vehicles. A Georgia judge also reduced a civil verdict involving a death in a Jeep Grand Cherokee crash. Amid all of that, the company reported net profit of about 333 million euros, or $364 million in the second quarter on Thursday. OTHER NEWS & NOTES FCA ramps up Hellcat production Despite a decidedly legal and financial week for FCA, there was still time for the performance side of the business to briefly grab the spotlight. The automaker is more than doubling its production of the Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcats in response to strong demand. The order bank opens the second week of August and production begins in September. FCA will finish up its scheduled 2015 model-year Hellcat builds, and cancel any "unscheduled" versions, though customers will get discounted pricing for 2016.

How to update and secure a vulnerable Chrysler Uconnect system

If you own one of the 1.4 million vehicles affected by the recent Chrysler software recall, you may want to watch this video. In it, we explain how to get the latest infotainment software loaded onto the 8.4-inch Uconnect system. The recall was a response to the findings of researchers who were able to hack into and remotely control a 2014 Jeep Cherokee through its cellular connection. Although Fiat Chrysler has worked with Sprint to plug most of the holes on the carrier side, there are still some vulnerabilities that only this latest software version can patch. Owners have three options to get the update: download it now, wait for a USB stick in the mail, or take the vehicle to an FCA dealer. Chrysler will be sending USB sticks loaded with the software update to customers. Anyone with an internet connection and a USB stick of their own with at least 4 GB capacity can speed things up by downloading the patch from the Uconnect website. We cover that process from start to finish in the video, with the final portion still applicable to those using the FCA-supplied USB stick. If after watching this you still don't want to tackle the patch yourself, you can take your vehicle to the dealer to have it done. Also note that this process is the same for all Uconnect updates, not just the one patching the exploits. Our demonstrator vehicle is a 2015 Ram 1500 pickup. The procedure should be very similar on other products with the 8.4-inch Uconnect system, with only the location of the USB port varying. Once you have the USB stick with the software on it – either after having downloaded it yourself or receiving it in the mail from Chrysler – the installation process is relatively simple. It takes about 15 minutes to perform the update; we edited out the wait in the video. To check whether or not your car's 8.4-inch Uconnect system is running the latest software, go to System Information on the touch screen's Settings page and look at Software Version. The update related to the recall is version 15.17.5. Related Video: Recalls Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM Safety Technology Infotainment Videos Original Video hacking