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Chrysler patents smarter minivan folding seats

It's frightening to think of how quickly the mice would have overtaken us if we hadn't stayed one step ahead of them with better mousetraps. We'll never have to worry about that in our relentlessly re-engineered world, though. Case in point: Chrysler has been granted a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office for an improved design of the already wondrous Stow 'n' Go seating found in the automaker's Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans.
Introduced in 2005, the Stow 'n' Go was improved in 2008, and based on the drawings of this third-generation improvement, the new design appears to allow stowage of the second row of seats without having to move the front-row seats forward as much. It look like it also involves fewer operations and moving parts, with a portion of the seatback being incorporated into the flat floor when the seats are stowed, as opposed to having a completely separate cover.
It's possible that the innovation may appear on the next-generation minivans expected in 2015, but Chrysler isn't commenting on the patent.

Feds fretting over remote hack of Jeep Cherokee

A cyber-security gap that allowed for the remote hacking of a Jeep Cherokee has federal officials concerned. An associate administrator with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday that news of the breach conducted by researchers Chris Valasek and Charlie Miller had "floated around the entire federal government." "The Homeland Security folks sent out broadcasts that, 'Here's an issue that needs to be addressed,'" said Nathaniel Beuse, an associate administrator with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Valasek and Miller commandeered remote control of the Cherokee through a security flaw in the cellular connection to the car's Uconnect infotainment system. From his Pittsburgh home, Valasek manipulated critical safety inputs, such as transmission function, on Miller's Jeep as he drove along a highway near St. Louis, MO. The scope of the remote breach is believed to be the first of its kind. The prominent cyber-security researchers needed no prior access to the vehicle to perform the hack, and the scope of the remote breach is believed to be the first of its kind. A NHTSA spokesperson said the agency's cyber-security staff members are "putting their expertise to work assessing this threat and the response, and we will take action if we determine it's necessary to protect safety." A Homeland Security spokesperson referred questions about the hack to Chrysler. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has already been the subject of a federal hearing this month, in which officials scrutinized whether the company had adequately fixed recalled vehicles and repeatedly failed to notify the government about defects. But cyber-security concerns are a new and different species for the regulatory agency. Only hours before the Jeep hack was announced by Wired magazine earlier this week, NHTSA administrator Dr. Mark Rosekind said hacking vulnerabilities were a threat to privacy, safety, and the public's trust with new connected and autonomous technologies that allow vehicles to communicate. NHTSA outlined its response to the cyber-security challenges facing the industry in a report issued Tuesday. In it, the agency summarized its best practices for thwarting attacks and said it will analyze possible real-time infiltration responses. But the agency's ability to handle hackers may only go so far.

2023 Chrysler 300C Final Drive: Saying goodbye to an American great

DETROIT — ItÂ’s easy to dismiss the Chrysler 300 as an automotive has-been. A relic of another time. A once-powerful, now-dusty piece of history relegated to another era — and the taxi fleet. A weathered 300 is ubiquitous in this area, and the car has disappeared from non-domestic-leaning parts of the country, long overshadowed by the brasher, more powerful Dodge Charger and Challenger. ThatÂ’s also a short-sighted view. When a car is on its way out, its long-standing supporters cling to sepia-toned memories while everyone else has already moved on. In this case, the 300 is going out right. In style. At full power. After a few years of slow sales and solid yet unspectacular power, Chrysler restored the 300C to the lineup, complete with the 6.4-liter V8 and its 485 horses.  IÂ’m testing one of just 2,000 300C models that will be produced for the 2023 model year. After that, the 300 as we know it is done. The entire run (plus 200 for Canada) solid out in 12 hours, so IÂ’m cognizant IÂ’m driving something significant this week. As a refresher, this isnÂ’t the 5.7-liter V8 with a respectable 363 ponies available on the 300S Touring. This is the 392-cubic-inch hooligan offered in the Dodge Scat Packs. ItÂ’s worthy of the “C” — signifying performance — that 300 models have worn since 1955.  The 6.4-liter rumbles and has a deep echo. ThereÂ’s bass to it and a sense of menace. ItÂ’s not that common to drive naturally aspirated V8s these days, even in large sedans, and it makes a difference. Sixty miles per hour comes on in 4.3 seconds. The 300C still has its fastball. The 6.2-liter supercharged V8 in the Hellcat Dodges is loud and then howls. The 6.4-liter simmers angrily and then barks. Reports say Stellantis simply didnÂ’t have enough Hellcat engines to go around to further boost the 300, but IÂ’ve long felt the NA 392 is a more visceral experience. It certainly feels right in the 300C. It also hews closer to history: The original 300C SRT-8 ran a naturally aspirated 6.1-liter. “The performance factor of the car was always there,” Stellantis design chief Ralph Gilles said. It reminds me of the scene in “Gladiator” when Maximus (Russell Crowe) emerges from a fight at the Colosseum. Bloodied and dirty, the crowd and the Centurians guarding him realize this isnÂ’t a random fighter thrust out for the entertainment of the crowd. Unmasked, heÂ’s revealed to be one of RomeÂ’s great generals. With this engine, the 300C no longer feels dusty.