2014 Dodge Challenger Srt-8 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Dodge explains why it will build the Durango SRT Hellcat for only six months

Dodge will manufacture the 710-horsepower, Hellcat-powered Durango SRT only for approximately six months. The company explained that, while it won't stop production after building a pre-determined number of SUVs, it won't be able to extend the model's life cycle due to several manufacturing- and government-related hurdles. "The Durango SRT Hellcat is not limited, it's not serialized like what we did with the Challenger SRT Demon, but we're only building it for six months. With all of the changes we made in the plant to come back up to production post-COVID-19, with the sequencing and spacing in the plant, it's changed the numbers we can build," explained Tim Kuniskis, the head of Dodge, in an interview with enthusiast website Muscle Cars & Trucks. He added no one on his team knows precisely how many SUVs the Jefferson North factory on the outskirts of Detroit will put a Hellcat engine into. It largely depends on customer demand. Asked to provide an estimate, Kuniskis revealed he expects "less than 2,000" units will be made. They will all be 2021 models. In theory, Dodge could at least double that number by bringing the Durango SRT Hellcat back for the 2022 model year. It's not that simple in application, however, because the company won't be able to drop a supercharged, 6.2-liter V8 in its biggest SUV after 2021 without leaning on the wrong side of looming emissions regulations. "When we switch to the 2022 model year, there are new evaporative emission requirements that come in that the Hellcat engine does not meet in that platform," Kuniskis said. He also noted the Jefferson North factory will be busy retooling for production of the next-generation 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee tentatively due out in 2020. Still speaking to Muscle Car & Trucks, Kuniskis clarified that the Hellcat-powered variants of the Charger and the Challenger will stick around in the foreseeable future; making them compliant with the upcoming emissions regulations is easier. And, he stressed the standard version of the Durango will carry on "completely interrupted." In other words: Act fast if you want a Durango SRT Hellcat. Dodge will begin taking orders in the fall of 2020, and production is scheduled to start in early 2021, with deliveries following shortly after. Pricing information hasn't been announced yet, but we expect its base price will be pegged in the vicinity of $90,000. Related Video:    

Could self-driving cars stop terrorist attacks?

Terrorists have taken to using a weapon that's easy to obtain and can do a lot of damage: ordinary vehicles, driven into crowds. A Department of Homeland Security-FBI bulletin from 2012 warned that "vehicle-ramming offers terrorists with limited access to explosives or weapons an opportunity to conduct a homeland attack with minimal prior training or experience." CNN recently listed nine vehicle-based terrorist attacks that have occurred within the past year, and in just in the past three months incidents in New York, Edmonton and Barcelona have claimed more than 20 lives and injured dozens after ISIS-affiliated drivers plowed into pedestrians. The deadliest so far was a Bastille Day attack in Nice, France that killed 86 people after a terrorist drove a truck into a crowd following a fireworks display. CNN also reported that "Al Qaeda's Yemeni branch encouraged its recruits in the West to use trucks as weapons," and noted that a 2010 article in the terrorist group's webzine called for deploying a truck as a "mowing machine, not to mow grass but mow down the enemies of Allah." Such attacks have been more common in Europe and other places where guns are harder to get, making vehicles violent and readily available weapons. But it's not only ISIS and Al Qaeda terrorists that have turned cars into weapons. A man with white nationalist ties drove a Dodge Challenger into a crowd of counter-protesters at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in August, killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring dozens more. Some believe that autonomous vehicle technology could help stop these tragedies. "Terrorist attacks like the one in New York are a good example of why we need AVs more quickly," Caleb Watney, technology policy associate at the R Street Institute, a D.C.-based think tank, recently told the website Inverse. Dr. Junfeng Jiao, director of the Urban Information Lab at the University of Texas, told Inverse that "these tragedies may be taken into account by the makers such as Tesla and Google" when developing autonomous technology. "This is a huge opportunity for the next generation to de-weaponize cars," he added. Many vehicles already have forward collision warning with emergency autonomous braking, and a few combine it with pedestrian detection, although the latter technology typically works at speeds below 20 mph.

2020 Dodge Challenger Review & Buying Guide | The most muscular muscle car

Despite going more than a decade without a complete redesign, the Dodge Challenger is alive and well, and still worth your consideration. Primarily, it offers more of a classic muscle car experience focused on straight-line performance and comfort that its rivals from Ford and Chevy that skew closer to sports car dynamics. The Challenger has the brash, broad-shouldered design to match that muscle car feel, too. And its big body brings more space and practicality than the competition. The 2020 Dodge Challenger also has a few unique bragging points. It's the only one of the modern pony cars to offer all-wheel-drive, which is a boon to people living in snowy parts of the country. And the Hellcat Redeye is still the most powerful pony car on the market with a whopping 797 horsepower from its supercharged 6.2-liter V8. Of course, there is a multitude of other Challenger models beyond those two examples, though, with many customization options from colors to wheels and trim. We think pretty highly of them all, proving that just because something is getting on in years doesn't mean it's any less relevant.  What's new for 2020? The 2020 Dodge Challenger brings a small number of updates. There are new wheel designs for every trim except the base rear-drive SXT. Three new colors are available with typically excellent Mopar names: Hellraisin, Sinamon Stick and Frostbite. Dodge has also made some welcome efforts to spruce up the interior with stitched dash and door panels on leather-equipped Challengers, carbon fiber trim and faux suede options for V8-powered cars and caramel-colored Alcantara for the GT, R/T and R/T Scat Pack trims.   What's the interior and in-car technology like? The Challenger's interior certainly isn't as characterful and flamboyant as its exterior would suggest. The Mustang and Camaro are more interesting and distinctive inside. Still, there are some interesting design flourishes that spruce things up, from the base trim's standard houndstooth cloth to the two-tone leather choices available as options. Besides, we're not sure how flamboyant you need the interior to be in a car available in electric orange, blue, green and purple paint colors. Furthermore, what the Challenger interior may lack in visual pizzazz, it makes up for with space (see below) and technology. A 7-inch touchscreen is standard, but all trim levels have an 8.4-inch version available as an option or standard.