Shelby Dakota 1989 Pickup Sport Red 318 V-8// 2 Wheel Drive on 2040-cars

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Ram exec: first 30-mpg pickup truck will 'win'

It is totally possible, today, to take the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel pickup truck, load it up with gear and people, and drive it from Texas to Michigan while getting 38 miles per gallon. We know because we did it. Officially, though, the 1500 gets just 20 mpg combined. A more impressive number is the 28 mpg on the highway. Bob Hegbloom, the Ram brand director, thinks that there's a more important fuel economy target to hit: 30 mpg. Whichever truck company can manage that feat, he recently told Automotive News, "wins." It's kind of an obvious thing to say, but in the 1500 with both the EcoDiesel and the V6 Pentastar engine, Hegbloom said, "fuel economy is so important." Hegbloom didn't promise that the next EcoDiesel truck will manage to get on up over the 30 hump, but he did say that Ram is not sitting still when it comes to fuel economy. "I just want to have continuous improvement and to keep gaining every day," he said. "We sat still in the past and it doesn't lead to a great place."

Total auto recalls already on record pace in 2014

If you've noticed that there have been more recalls than usual this year, you may be on to something. According to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the US market is on pace to break a record for recalls. In 2013, 22 million cars were recalled. We're only a third of the way through 2014, though, and we've already halved that figure, with 11 million units recalled. That's wild.
Considering the past few months, it shouldn't be a surprise that General Motors is leading the charge, with six million of the 11 million units recalled coming from one of the General's four brands. Between truck recalls, CUV recalls and the ignition switch recall, 2014 hasn't been a great year for GM.
Other recall leaders include Nissan (one million Sentra and Altima sedans), Honda (900,000 Odyssey minivans), Toyota (over one million units in a few recalls), Volkswagen (150,000 Passat sedans), Chrysler (644,000 Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs) and most recently, Ford (434,000 units, the bulk of which were early Ford Escape CUVs). So while it's been a bad year for GM so far, its competitors aren't doing too well, either.

2020 Dodge Durango SRT Drivers' Notes | When excess is a good thing

Performance SUVs and crossovers from non-luxury brands are still in a nascent stage of development. Models like the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, BMW X5 M and others are on subsequent generations of their high-performance high-riding machines. Meanwhile, the 2019 Dodge Durango SRT is still refreshingly new. It’s also about as American as it gets. Dodge shoehorned in the 6.4-liter V8 and gave it an exhaust system that screams ‘Murica at anyone who strays too close. It makes a glorious 475 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque, completing the sprint to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds. An eight-speed automatic transmission sends power to all four wheels, which means you have traction — something the Challengers and Chargers with this engine could use a bit more of. Despite the Dodge being far cheaper than other big, high performance luxury SUVs out there, it still isnÂ’t cheap. The SRT has a base price of $64,490. Ours stickers for a much higher $78,235. Unsurprisingly, Dodge makes you pay the big bucks for most of the luxury features and customization options. A $2,395 Technology Group adds adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and forward collision avoidance systems. Fancy interior materials like a suede headliner, nicer materials on the instrument panel and carbon fiber inserts can be had in a $2,495 package. The stripes are $1,295, and the 20-inch wheels cost $995. To get the second row console with an armrest and storage, youÂ’ll have to pay an extra $595. A $78,235 Durango might sound like a completely egregious amount of money, but itÂ’s still far below what youÂ’ll pay for a BMW X7 or Mercedes-Benz GLS that goes just as fast. ItÂ’s no muscle SUV for the people, but it is a muscle SUV for more people than could afford one previously. Assistant Editor Zac Palmer: An American SUV with a giant V8 feels like a superior descendant of muscle cars than most other “muscle cars” on sale today. Both the Mustang and Camaro slant toward the sports car side of things, leaving FCA to carry on the muscle car tradition. And man, Dodge carries it on well. FCA could slot its 6.4-liter V8 into nearly anything and IÂ’d love it, so it was no surprise that I enjoyed it thrashing it about in this behemoth of an SUV. Traction off the line was one major benefit in the Durango over the Charger and Challenger. Matt the throttle and it just leaps forward, similar to the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT.