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Get a peek at the Dodge Demon in the new Fate of the Furious trailer

Will all of the news that comes out, Thursdays should now be referred to as Demon Days (no relation to the 2005 album by Gorillaz), at least until April. In addition to this morning's news on the Dodge Demon's Launch Assist and beefed-up components, the automaker released a trailer/commercial for The Fate of the Furious that shows a Dodge barrage and a few quick looks at the new car. The film, which opens days after the Demon's debut at the 2017 New York International Auto Show, is packed full of Dodge, SRT, and FCA products. While the few cars shown in the garage look superficially like Demons, they appear to just be standard Hellcats – the hood is wrong, and they are missing the fender flares. On the other hand, the ones in the trailer's chase scene appear to be the real deal, or at least made to look like it, with the big AirGrabber hood scoop and wide-body fender flares. We've seen a few of these cars already on the film's set, so this is no real surprise. The ad itself is a bit strange. The shots of the woman standing in front of the SRT lineup appear to be cut into footage from the film, so she's not actually talking to the cast in these scenes. That's why a narrow-body car bursts through the wall and becomes a wide-body Demon-like thing. Well, the Fast and Furious franchise was built on bad dialog and over the top car stunts, so par for the course? The film debuts on April 14, and expect the Demon around that time, too. Related Video: News Source: Dodge/YouTube TV/Movies Dodge Performance dodge demon dodge hellcat the fate of the furious

NHTSA investigating 110,000 Ram 2500s and 3500s, one death alleged

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an investigation focusing on 110,000 Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups from model years 2004 to 2006. One death has already been reported, according to NHTSA, due to a potential fault with the clutch interlocks on manual-transmission versions of the heavy duty pickup.
According to the report, these trucks can be started without depressing the clutch. There have been three reports so far, and as we mentioned above, one very sad incident seems to have resulted in the death of a child.
"One complaint involved an incident that occurred when a child was able to enter the vehicle and start the ignition without depressing the clutch. The vehicle then moved forward striking another child resulting in a fatality," NHTSA said in the investigation bulletin, which you can view below.

Performance doesn't matter anymore, it's all about the feel

We've just had a week of supercars and high-end EVs revealed. Many of them boast outrageous performance specs. There were multiple vehicles with horsepower in the four-figure range, and not just sports cars, but SUVs with 0-60 mph times under 3.5 seconds. And it's not just a rarified set of supercar builders, comparatively small tuners are also building this stuff. Going fast is easy nowadays and getting easier. So what will distinguish the greats from the wannabes? It's all about how a car feels. This may seem obvious. "Of course it matters that a car should have good steering feel and a playful chassis!" you say. "Why are you being paid for this stuff?" But a lot of automakers have missed the memo. This past week I spent some time in a BMW M4 Competition convertible, and it's a perfect example of prioritizing performance over experience. It boggles my mind how a company can create such dead and disconnected steering; the weight never changes, there's no feel whatsoever. The chassis is inflappable, but to a fault, because it doesn't feel like anything you're doing is difficult or exciting. The car is astoundingly fast and capable, but it feels less like driving a car and more like tapping in a heading on the Enterprise-D. I also happened to drive something of comparable performance that was much more enjoyable: a Mercedes-AMG GT. It was a basic model with the Stealth Edition blackout package, and even though it had a twin-turbo V8 instead of a six-cylinder, it only made 20 more horsepower. The power wasn't the big differentiator, it was (say it with me) the feel. While not the best example, the steering builds resistance as you dial in lock, giving you a better idea of what's happening up front. Pulses and vibrations come back to you as you move over bumpy pavement in corners. The chassis isn't quite as buttoned down, either, providing a little bit of body roll that tells you you're pushing it. It's also easier to feel when the car is wanting to understeer or oversteer, and how your throttle and steering inputs are affecting it. The whole thing is much more involving, exciting and fun. 2021 Mercedes-AMG GT Stealth Edition View 8 Photos That's also to say nothing of the Merc's sounds. That V8 is maybe not the best sounding engine, but its urgent churn through the opened-up exhaust gets your heart racing. It also seems like it's vibrating the whole cabin, so you feel it as much as you hear it.