Dodge Challenger Srt8 Coupe 2-door on 2040-cars

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Demon's NHRA competition ban: Good talking point, bad feature

One of the biggest headlines for the Dodge Challenger Demon is that, in stock form, it's so fast that the NHRA won't allow it to compete in the organization's events. It's the ultimate humble brag, "I can't drag race my car because it's so fast it was banned by the sanctioning body." Certainly Tim Kuniskis, head of FCA brands in North America, was excited. He told the press that he hugged the guy that brought him the letter banning the Demon from competition. Unfortunately, the reality is that not being NHRA-legal is kind of silly, and frustrating for owners who would want to actually race. Before we go too much farther, we should explain exactly why the Demon is illegal for NHRA competition. The car is capable of a sub-10-second quarter-mile time both on racing fuel and 91-octane pump gas. Cars that fast are required by the NHRA to have a full, certified roll cage, and the Demon doesn't. Now there are certainly ways to get around this. The most obvious would be for a Demon owner to have a company install a roll cage. Using less grippy tires than the barely street-legal Nitto cheater slicks would probably help bring that time down, too. There's also the option of putting the car into Eco mode, and, yes, the Demon has one. In Eco mode, the Demon makes just 500 horsepower, and trips the lights at the quarter-mile in 11.59 seconds, which will avoid the roll-cage requirement. However, none of these options are ideal. For one thing, if you bought an 840-horsepower car, you're not going to want to limit it when you get to a closed course such as a drag strip. Similarly, you're not going to want to ditch your super-sticky tires at the strip, especially when they're standard equipment. Finally, having to go aftermarket for a roll cage is an inconvenience at minimum, and it seems like a strange oversight considering the rest of the car. This is a car from the factory that comes with drag radials, no passenger seats, a racing fuel tune, air conditioned intercooler, and even skinny front wheels for drag racing. Its purpose is clear, but for some reason, Dodge stopped short of giving it a roll cage that would allow it to compete. Perhaps adding a roll cage would've made it difficult to pass safety regulations, and we would be more disappointed if the car wasn't allowed on the street. Even so, it seems like an odd stopping point.

Fiat Chrysler expands Takata airbag recall to 3.3M vehicles

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is expanding its recall of vehicles equipped with Takata airbags, moving beyond Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands to the greater US, as well as Mexico, Canada and beyond. The affected vehicles, some 3.3 million in total, were built between 2004 and 2007, with many models, including the Dodge Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500, Durango and the Chrysler 300, having been affected by Chrysler's previous recall. Despite the somewhat alarming nature that comes with a recall of this many vehicles, it seems that Chrysler is moving more out of an abundance of caution (and federal pressure) than anything else, saying: "Neither FCA US, nor Takata Corporation, the supplier, has identified a defect in this population of inflators. These components also are distinct from Takata inflators cited in fatalities involving other auto makers. More than 1,000 laboratory tests have been performed on these components. All deployed as intended, but FCA US continues to study the suspect inflators, which are not used in the Company's current production vehicles." Owners of affected vehicles will be notified and asked to report to dealers for a free replacement driver's side airbag. Scroll down for the official press release from FCA. Statement: Global Air-Bag Inflator Replacement December 19, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - FCA US LLC will replace driver's-side air-bag inflators in an estimated 3.3 million older-model vehicles worldwide, in an expansion of an ongoing regional field action. Neither FCA US, nor Takata Corporation, the supplier, has identified a defect in this population of inflators. These components also are distinct from Takata inflators cited in fatalities involving other auto makers. More than 1,000 laboratory tests have been performed on these components. All deployed as intended, but FCA US continues to study the suspect inflators, which are not used in the Company's current production vehicles. Outside of Florida, one of the areas covered by the original action, no FCA US vehicle has been linked to an air-bag deployment of the type that has raised public concern. Nevertheless, the Company is replacing the Takata components tied to that concern. FCA US is aware of one related injury involving one of its vehicles, an older-model sedan. It occurred in a southern Florida region marked by persistent, high, absolute humidity – a condition believed to be a contributing factor in the air-bag deployments under investigation.

Chrysler earns $1.7B in 2012, revises product plans for US

Hot on the heels of Ford's earnings announcement for the year that was, Chrysler today reported a 2012 net income of $1.7 billion, up substantially from the comparatively minuscule $183 million profit earned in 2011 when it repaid its US government loans.
Chrysler's good year ended with an excellent fourth quarter that saw net income rise 68 percent from $225 million in 2011 to $378 million. Where are all those extra earnings coming from? Market share, which Chrysler saw increase to 11.4% last year on sales of 1.65 million vehicles. In fact, the Auburn Hills, MI-based automaker out-paced the industry's market growth of 13 percent last year with sales up 21 percent for the year.
The company also revealed an updated product plan for its Chrysler Group and Fiat brands that looks all the way out to 2016. It's an updated version of the plan introduced in 2009 shortly after Fiat took control of the American automaker, and includes such new additions as an Alfa Romeo model, likely the 4C, to be introduced in the US this year, as well five more Alfa models by 2016. Likewise, Fiat will be growing by an additional seven models in the coming few years.