2004 Chrysler Sebring on 2040-cars

Auto blog

SRT belatedly claims Plymouth Prowler as one of its own

Before Chrysler had Street and Racing Technology, it had Performance Vehicle Operations. What the two entities have in common, before SRT became its own brand, of course, is that each was created to take Chrysler and Dodge (and Plymouth, before it was unceremoniously killed off) vehicles to the next level of style and performance.
We'll leave the question of whether or not the old Plymouth (and later Chrysler) Prowler was ultimately a stylish, performance-oriented car to you, but the boys and girls currently leading the SRT charge at the Pentastar headquarters are keen to accept the retro-rod into the fold.
According to the automaker, all of SRT's current high-performance models owe a debt of gratitude to the old Prowler, due mostly to that car's use of lightweight bits and pieces and innovative construction techniques. If nothing else, the fact that the Prowler's frame is "the largest machined automotive part in history" is pretty cool. Read all the details here.

Share price falls on skepticism of Chrysler-Fiat five-year plan

Following this week's Fiat Chrysler extravaganza, where the Italian-American manufacturer announced its plans for the next five years, the Autoblog staff was cautiously optimistic of the company's future. Investors? Not so much.
Fiat saw its shares tumble 12 percent in Wednesday's trading, falling from 8.67 euros ($12.06 at today's rates) to 7.44 euros ($10.35) as of this writing, with blame partly going to the Italian half of the FCA marriage, which recorded a pretty significant drop in profits during the first quarter of this year.
The plan, which will cost around $77 billion over the next several years, is facing criticism from investors thanks in part to a 1.4-percent drop in Fiat's first-quarter profits, to 622 million euros ($862 million). That figure is also short of Bloomberg analysts' projections, which predicted $1.18 billion in profits before taxes, interest and one-time items.

2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Long-Term Update | Nokian winter tires in a winter wonderland

Winter is technically over now, but the cold and snow are maintaining their grip here in Michigan. While much of the country is bouncing right along into a warm spring, we're happy to still be wearing our Nokian Hakkapeliitta winter tires on our long-term Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. You can't count out another massive blizzard even into late April here. That said, we're hoping the worst is over, so it's time to take stock of how the winter tires performed on the front-wheel-drive minivan. Nokian produced the first winter tire ever in 1934, so one could say that they've had awhile to figure this out. The tire model we were provided for our van is the Hakkapeliitta R3 SUV. The Pacifica is obviously no SUV, but at almost 5,000 pounds it's perfect for this flavor of tire. Nokian says they're designed for high performance SUVs and are made with Aramid sidewalls to resist punctures or cuts. Chrysler fits the Pacifica Hybrid with all-season tires from the factory, but we were determined to make it a proper seven passenger sleigh. We got a fair amount of snow this year in Michigan, but I encountered the worst conditions on a road trip to Buffalo, N.Y. I was actually sort of hoping a lake-effect blizzard might present itself as a challenge, and my snow prayers were answered with authority. Inches of snow don't usually pile up on highways here easily with the amount of plows and salt typically employed, but it did in this storm. The Pacifica hardly flinched from the deep tracks of powder on the road. Near-whiteout conditions forced slow driving, but the Pacifica never felt like it was going to slip and slide out of its lane as I tracked around highway bends with increasing speed. Braking was impressive, as the tires managed to find grip in the snow that all-season tires just can't match. Thankfully, I never needed 100 percent lock in any emergency situations, but I tried it out in some empty parking lots to see how well it does at hauling everything to a stop. The Nokians performed admirably here, too. With ABS firing away, the winter rubber finds grip in places all-seasons would just slide on by. Starting wasn't much of an issue, either. We tested the tires in anything from dustings to snow that was about six inches deep and largely untouched by other vehicles. The front tires would scrabble for grip initially with greater throttle inputs in the deep stuff, but they'd hook and pull the van forward with authority after a quick second.