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SpeedKore's 'Baba Yaga' Chrylser Pacifica will eat kids, not shuttle them

In American movies, the Baba Yaga wears a tailored tactical suit, carries an HK P30L as his primary, drives a 1969 Mustang Mach1, and answers to the name of John Wick. In Slavic folklore, the original Baba Yaga wears less exclusive garb, carries a mortar and pestle, and lives in a cottage that stands on and walks around the forest on chicken legs. The latter version would probably trade in her cottage for SpeedKore's conceptual creation named in her honor, a Chrysler Pacifica with a Demon engine. Working with virtual artist Abimelec Arellano at Abimelec Design, the Wisconsin-based tuners drew up a minivan that could put fear into any children unfortunate enough to anger the mother behind the wheel. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This isn't just about a witch, either. It's a witch with a side of demon plus an extra side of demon. The Hellcat powertrain reaches 1,025 horsepower in the limited-edition Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. That wasn't enough. The caption notes, "The 6.2L V-8 has been treated to what we're calling the 'Lilith Package.' Named for the primordial mother of demons, the Lilith Package brings the supercharged Hemi to a proper 1,514 horsepower and channels it through an 8-speed ZF transmission before the Michelin wrapped SRT wheels deliver power to the pavement." Visual treats include a hood scoop, remade grille, and larger intakes for better breathing, fender flares, tinted taillights, central-exit dual exhaust, and the appropriate badging. A sleeper this is not.  A regular Chrysler Pacifica weighs about 4,530 pounds and makes, at most, 296 horsepower when given hybrid help. SpeedKore's version not only multiplies that figure by more than five, the aerospace-grade carbon fiber body panels that are a shop specialty are claimed to drop 1,000 pounds. They'll do a fine execution of the mission statement, which we're told is "setting lap records, roasting tires, and putting a pep in your step." Anyone who hasn't been too scrambled to step out of the van at its destination, at least. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Mystery shoppers love Infiniti, hate Tesla

Infiniti, followed by Lexus tied with Mercedes-Benz took the top two spots for best sales experience according to mystery shoppers from the latest Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index, while EV manufacturer Tesla recorded the lowest overall score. Not surprisingly, premium brands dominated the top ranks. Including the three already mentioned, luxury brands occupied seven of the top ten spots and included Audi, BMW, Porsche, and the only American brand to crack the upper echelon, Cadillac. Toyota, Volkswagen, and Nissan rounded out the first ten positions. The news for domestic automakers isn't good. Aside from Caddy, the only other star-spangled automaker to score above the industry average is Chrysler. The rest of FCA, most of GM, and all of Ford fell below the line. But Pied Piper's mystery shoppers handed Tesla the biggest walloping – the company is ten full points below the next lowest brand, Volvo, and its score of 86 is 17 below the average of 103. It's baffling, considering the company's touted direct-sales model. "Tesla leaves me scratching my head," Fred O'Hagan, Pied Piper's president and CEO, told Wards Auto. "They own all of their stores, so you would think each one would be doing the same thing. But they're not. Tesla is consistent in its inconsistencies." O'Hagan added that there's a "huge variation" in Tesla's store-to-store effectiveness, and that in some cases, shoppers found showroom workers that acted more like "museum curators," Wards Auto reports. It might be popular to call Tesla the Apple of the car world, but based on Pied Piper's work, the brand has a long way to go to emulate the uniform shopping experience of an Apple Store. The news might be bad for Tesla, but even for the brands that scored below average, there's cause for celebration. Only Tesla and Mini lost points in this year's rankings, and only Mercedes and Lincoln held steady. Every other brand, including Infiniti, which topped the index for the first time, gained at least one point. The biggest improvements belong to Porsche, Land Rover, and Mitsubishi, which all jumped five points. Pied Piper's annual Prospect Satisfaction Index uses mystery shoppers – over 6,100 this year – from across the country to assess dealers and generate rankings from over 50 individual factors. News Source: Pied Piper via WardsAuto Green Audi BMW Cadillac Chrysler Infiniti Lexus Mercedes-Benz Nissan Tesla Toyota Car Buying Car Dealers study

Fiat Chrysler patent shows a turbocharged inline-six engine

The rumor that Fiat Chrysler is developing an inline six-cylinder surfaced on Allpar more than a year ago. In a follow-up report in December last year, Allpar tapped its sources to add more information, like the codename "Tornado" and the plan for the turbocharged motor to replace the 5.7-liter Hemi V8. Even so, it only made sense to speak of the engine as a rumor at the time. Now we have our first bit of circumstantial evidence, Mopar Insiders having found a patent issued to FCA that uses drawings of an inline-six to describe a system for tracking elements in exhaust gases in a turbocharged inline-six. FCA applied for the patent on November 1, 2017, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted it April 2, 2019. As with everything else in a patent application, the drawing cannot be an accident. The U.S. PTO granted two other engine-related patents to FCA on March 19 and April 2 this year, and FCA used drawings of a V6 in both of those applications. The December Allpar report presumed one version of the Tornado engine would get a single, twin-scroll turbo and slot into service with Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram. Another version with twin turbos, and perhaps revised heads, could do time with Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and perhaps SRT. Mopar Insiders doesn't break down turbo count, but cites its sources as revealing an output range of 360 horsepower up to 525 horsepower. FCA's E-Booster technology, originally mentioned as a way to help a revived Alfa Romeo 8C get 700 hp, will enable larger turbos on performance versions of the Tornado I-6. E-Booster electrifies some aspect of the turbocharger — FCA hasn't got into the details yet — to eliminate lag while providing 25 percent more power. Mopar Insiders' output figures would give the engine long enough legs to replace the 3.2-liter and 3.6-liter Pentastar V6s, as well as the 5.7-liter Hemi V8. The site said the Tornado will also replace the canceled 7.0-liter Banshee V8. The 3.0-liter Tornado Global Medium Engine Turbocharged 6 (GME T-6), based on the Hurricane 2.0-liter GME four-cylinder (GME I-4), is expected to go into FCA products around the world. We'll wait to see how the PSA merger might affect allocation. Displacement will come in a hair below three liters so as to avoid tax thresholds in certain countries, and it was said engineers were trying to keep the inline-six no more than three inches longer than the 2.4-liter Tigershark four-cylinder.