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Fiat Chrysler recalls 4.8 million U.S. vehicles for cruise control defect

WASHINGTON - Fiat Chrysler said on Friday it is recalling 4.8 million U.S. vehicles over a defect that could prevent drivers from deactivating cruise control and warned owners not to use the function until they get software upgrades. The Italian-American automaker said no injuries or crashes are related to the large recall campaign but said it had one report of a driver of a 2017 Dodge Journey rental car unable to deactivate the cruise control. Fiat Chrysler, which in 2015 was hit with penalties from U.S. regulators totaling $175 million for safety lapses, did not say how much the recalls would cost. The recall addresses what Fiat Chrysler called an "extremely rare" series of events that could lead to drivers being unable to cancel cruise control. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Friday it "strongly encourages vehicle owners to follow a warning" to stop using cruise control on the recalled vehicles until repaired. NHTSA said drivers could overpower the system by forcefully applying the brakes until the vehicle stopped. Fiat Chrysler also said the vehicle could be stopped by shifting into neutral and braking. Fiat Chrysler shares fell more than 2 percent in premarket trading in New York on the recall. Fiat Chrysler noted that at times cruise control systems automatically initiate acceleration to help vehicles maintain driver-selected speeds, including when going up an incline. If an acceleration occurs simultaneously with a short-circuit in a specific electrical network, a driver could be unable to deactivate the function. Fiat Chrysler said vehicles may be placed in park once stopped, at which point cruise-control is canceled. The recall involves a group of gasoline-powered vehicles with automatic transmissions from various model years built from 2014 through the 2019 model year. Most of the vehicles being recalled cover the 2014-2018 model years. Among the vehicles being recalled are the Chrysler 200, Chrysler 300, Chrysler Pacifica, Dodge Charger, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Journey, Dodge Durango, Jeep Cherokee, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Wrangler and Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks and Ram 3500/4500/5500 cab chassis trucks. Fiat Chrysler made the announcement going into the busy Memorial Day weekend, which traditionally kicks off the summer driving season.

NC dealer creates the convertible Challenger that Dodge won't build

Dodge still hasn't turned the Challenger into a convertible, and the odds of seeing a factory-built drop-top muscle car appear in showrooms are decreasing annually. Tired of waiting, a dealership in North Carolina teamed up with a Florida-based body shop to create a topless alternative to the Ford Mustang and the Chevrolet Camaro. It's the real thing, and it's for sale. Keffer Dodge, Chrysler, Ram and Jeep shipped three 2019 Challengers to a shop named Convertible Builders, according to Motor Authority. After losing their lid, they gained a cloth soft top that opens and closes at the push of a button. There's no word on what effect the conversion has on handling, or what Convertible Builders did to offset the loss of structural rigidity. The build didn't include mechanical modifications. Two of the convertibles are R/T Scat Pack models equipped with a 6.4-liter Hemi V8 engine that serves 485 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque. It's not a supercharged Hellcat V8, but it's potent enough to spin the rear wheels in third gear. The third, R/T-based model features a 375-horsepower, 5.7-liter V8. While our dream build would use a six-speed manual transmission, all three come with an eight-speed automatic that sends the engine's power to the rear wheels. Keffer's website lists the gray, white, and red cars at $64,000, $60,000, and $56,300, respectively. The regular R/T Scat Pack Widebody model starts at $46,245, and the eight-speed automatic adds another $1,595, so the convertible conversion adds about $16,000. It's your only option, unless you're brave enough to chop the top yourself, or patient enough to wait until the early 2020s. Dodge has already started developing the next-generation Challenger, so the current car is unlikely to spawn a convertible before it retires. Its replacement due out in 2021 or 2022 will allegedly ride on a wider, longer evolution of the Giorgio platform found under the Alfa Romeo Giulia, among other models, and unverified rumors claim it's being designed with a topless variant in mind from the get-go. It might resurrect the Barracuda nameplate originally assigned to Plymouth when it makes its debut. Auto News Dodge Convertible Performance

Cars with the most reckless drivers are full of surprises

Insurify is a site for comparing auto insurance quotes. Because insurance shoppers need to submit information like the vehicles they're driving and the infractions they've compiled while driving those vehicles, Insurify has quite the database of correlations tying certain models to a habit of breaking certain laws. When the site's data analysts decided to compile a list of the top ten models for reckless driving citations in the decade from 2010 to 2019, the ranking contained a few wild entries. The Dodge Challenger making the countdown will surprise precisely zero people. But the Saturn L200? First, a definition: USLegal.com defines reckless driving as "driving with a willful or wanton disregard for safety. It is the operation of an automobile under such circumstances and in such a manner as to show a willful or reckless disregard of consequences." So this list is a caution about particular drivers more than the cars. For a baseline, according to Insurify data, for any random model, 15 out of 10,000 people who drive that model have picked up one citation for reckless driving. Back to that Challenger, then. No shocker for being here, but it's actually number 10, with 44 out of 10,000 Challenger drivers nabbed for a willful disregard of consequences on the road. That's better than the first surprise entry, the Saturn L200, a sedan only on sale for six years, with the least horsepower on the list, and out of production since 2005. The data set put drivers of GM's extraterrestrial sedan at 45 reckless pilots per 10,000 drivers. There are two pickups on the list, the only modern one being the Ram 1500 at eighth, with a rate of 46 in 10,000. Somehow, drivers of the third-best-selling pickup in the U.S. outrun the overwhelming numerical superiority of the best-selling vehicle in the States, the Ford F-150. The other pickup is the Chevrolet K1500 at number five, with a rate of 56 in 10,000. This is not only the oldest vehicle on the list, it went out of production in 2002, before any other vehicle on the list. Between the trucks, the Volkswagen CC slotted in at seven with 47 in 10,000 reckless driving chits, the Cadillac ATS slipped into sixth with 48 in 10,000.  The top four is a bag of unexpected. The Nissan 370Z is the first hardcore sports car on the list at number four, with 61 in 10,000 Z drivers flaunting their Fairladys in the face of Johnny Law.