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2015 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak previewed

Dodge and Mopar have never strayed far from success in drag racing, be it on run-what-you-brung nights at the local strip or at the highest levels of the sport. Hoping to both add to that heritage and capitalize on some of the media spotlight that's shown so brightly on the brand of late, Dodge has given us our first look at the 2015 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak test car.
Though this first iteration doesn't make use of the 707-horsepower Hellcat engine, it seems to be a pretty formidable racing package. Starting with a stock '15 Challenger, Mopar adds a full roll cage built to National Hot Rod Association specs. Rubber front and back is drag racing-ready as well, with 28x4.5-inch tires in the front, and fat 30x9-inch tires out back - all from Hoosier.
Powering the beast is a massive 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) Hemi Race V8, with output levels that are still unspecified. A Chrysler 727 automatic transmission connects up to a racing style shift lever, with integral line lock.

2021 Dodge Durango to get SRT Hellcat limited edition

In January, spy photographers caught what we thought might be a mild hybrid version of the coming Dodge Durango, based on information Mopar Insiders gleaned from the UAW contract with Fiat Chrysler. Turns out we were correct, Mopar Insiders citing info from sources at Fiat Chrysler that the base engine on the 2021 Durango will be a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 with eTorque. We don't have output figures yet, but he current Durango's base engine is the non-hybrid 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 making 293 hp and 260 pound-feet of torque in SXT trim. The V6 hybrid powertrain is offered in the Ram 1500 making 305 horsepower and 269 pound-feet of torque, and the Jeep Wrangler making 285 hp and 260 lb-ft., but doesn't increase output compared to the non-hybrid engine in either of those models. We're sure buyers would love for Dodge to bump the numbers up into Ram territory, but the eTorque unit serves the god of fuel economy and low-end refinement, so we shouldn't be surprised if there's no change. The MI report says Dodge has three other powertrains coming for 2021. The 5.7-liter Hemi V8 that comes standard on the Durango RT will carry over, adding eTorque as an option. That's the same standard and optional configuration Ram offers on the 1500 equipped with the 5.7-liter Hemi V8. The Durango's V8 produces 360 hp and 390 lb-ft., versus 395 hp and 410 lb-ft in the Ram. On the Ram, the eTorque system improves fuel economy by 2 mpg in the city, 1 mpg on the highway. The 6.4-liter Hemi V8 on the Durango SRT moves into 2021 as well. But the Durango SRT will need to cede its crown to a Durango SRT Hellcat coming next year. Dodge has already put the Hellcat engine in a Durango Pursuit model for law enforcement, making the full 797-hp wrought by the Hellcat Redeye motor. A couple of months ago, Road & Track caught a Hellcat badge on a Durango in a now-removed trailer for the new "Fast & Furious" film, leading all to believe a civilian-use version of the muscle SUV was on the way. MI claims we'll get the Hellcat's 707 hp and 645 lb-ft., but the trim will launch as a limited edition bearing numbered plaques on the instrument panel.  The only bad news in all this is that production shutdowns have delayed the 2021 Durango and the brand new three-row Jeep Grand Cherokee "at least three months from their original launch dates." Related Video:    

Auto Mergers and Acquisitions: Suicide or salvation?

We love the Moses figure. A savior riding in from stage right with the ideas, the smarts, and the scrappiness to put things right. Alan Mullaly. Carroll Shelby. Lee Iacocca. Andrew Carnegie. Steve Jobs. Elon Musk. Bart Simpson. Sergio Marchionne does not likely view himself with Moses-like optics, but the CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles recently gave a remarkable, perhaps prophetic interview with Automotive News about his interest and the inevitability of merging with a potential automotive partner like General Motors. Marchionne has been overtly public about his notion that GM must merge with FCA. For a bit of context, GM sold 9.9 million vehicles in 2014, posting $2.8 billion in net income, while FCA sold 4.75 million units and earned $2.4 billion in net income, painting a very rosy FCA earnings-to-sales picture. But that's not the entire picture. Most people in the auto industry still remember the trainwreck that was the DaimlerChrysler "merger" written in what turned out to be sand in 1998. It proved to be a master class in how not to fuse two companies, two cultures, two continents, and two management teams. Oh, it worked for the two individuals at both helms pre-merger. They got silly rich. And the industry itself was in a misty romance at the time with mergers and acquisitions. BMW bought Rolls-Royce. Volkswagen Group bought Bentley, Bugatti, and Lamborghini, putting all three brands into their rightful place in both products and positioning. No marriages there, so no false pretense. Finally, Nissan and Renault got married in 1999. A successful marriage requires several rare elements in this atmosphere of gas fumes and power lust. But a successful marriage requires several rare elements in this atmosphere of gas fumes and power lust, the principle part being honesty. Daimler and Chrysler lied to each other. The heads of each unit, the product planners, and finance all presented their then-current and long-range forecasts to each other with less-than-forthright accuracy. Daimler was the far greater equal and no one from the Chrysler side enjoyed that. The cultures were entirely different, too, and little was done to bridge that gap. Which brings me back to the present overtures by Marchionne to GM. "There are varying degrees of hugs," Marchionne stated in the Automotive News piece. "I can hug you nicely, I can hug you tightly, I can hug you like a bear, I can really hug you." Seriously?