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Diesel Power finds the ultimate modified oil-burner

For nine years, Diesel Power magazine has run the Diesel Power Challenge, this year's grindfest being "a week-long torture test that features seven events, nine trucks, 8,000 horsepower, and nearly 15,000 pound-feet of torque." The road to being crowned "the most powerful truck" starts with a dyno run, and then continues through the completion of a CDL-style obstacle course, an eighth-of-a-mile drag race while towing a 10,000-pound trailer, a quarter-mile drag race without a trailer, a fuel economy test in the mountains and finally a sled-pulling test through a 300-foot-long packed-mud pit.
What kind of trucks get into such a fight? Last year's winner, for instance - who upgraded his truck this year to prove he didn't "luck into the win" - drives a 2008 Ford F-250 Super Duty with a 6.4-liter Power Stroke V8 upgraded with a custom intake, Elite Diesel triple turbos and a two-stage nitrous system. Another competitor has a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 powered by a 5.9-liter Cummins inline-six, upgraded with Garrett turbos, dual-stage nitrous, a seven-inch exhaust stack and twin fans built into the bed to cool the Sun Coast Omega transmission. The numbers on that truck: 1,255 horsepower, and 2,063 pound-feet of torque at the wheels. Naturally, as the image above might suggest, things don't always end well.
You'll find all five videos covering this years challenge below. A scene in the dyno video sums it all up perfectly: a competitor leaves his nitrous on too long and the crew is treated to some ominous poppings, he leans out the window, throws both hands up and shouts, "Amer'ca!"

2016 Dodge Charger and Challenger SRTs look juicy in Go Mango

The 2016 Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT models are ready to go with newly available Go Mango orange paint. The carrot-like shade is the latest in the brand's long line of vibrant, throwback colors like Plum Crazy purple and Sublime green. Dealers can start order the bright hue right now. Dodge originally introduced Go Mango on the 1970 Challenger and also offered the color on the 2006 Charger R/T Daytona and 2016 Dart. Now, it's available on the SRT 392 and Hellcat models. The orange shade highlights the vehicles' lines well and looks especially good with black stripes running from the front splitter to the rear bumper like in these photos. There's no way to blend into traffic in such a vibrant muscle car, so this hue is for extroverts only. Last year at the Woodward Dream Cruise, Dodge brought back Plum Crazy on most Challenger and Charger models. The deep purple is a nice enough color, but Go Mango seems like a better fit for the SRT's performance-oriented demeanor. Related Video: Go Mango: Dodge Launches Modernized Exterior Heritage Color for 2016 Challenger and Charger SRT Muscle Cars Dodge continues to answer enthusiast demand with the latest heritage-inspired exterior paint color Dealers can begin ordering Go Mango immediately on Charger and Challenger SRT models March 14, 2016 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - "Plum Crazy" purple, "B5 Blue" and "Sublime" green Dodge Charger and Challenger muscle cars have recently been streaming out of the FCA US Brampton Assembly Plant, bringing a sense of nostalgia and powerful bursts of high-impact paint color to highways and dragstrips across the country. Now, new for spring 2016 and shown for the first time this past weekend at the 11th annual Spring Festival in Irvine, Calif., Dodge is expanding its color palette with a new, modernized version of Go Mango exterior paint on 2016 Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT models. Dealers can begin ordering Go Mango immediately. Go Mango was first introduced by Dodge on the iconic 1970 Challenger. Following a limited production run in 2006 on specific Charger R/T Daytona models, and more recently featured on the 2016 Dodge Dart, the next generation of the legendary and limited-edition exterior hue combines orange and red tones into a high-impact color that showcases the legendary Dodge performance attitude.

Stellantis is open to putting a gas engine in its EVs to meet demand

With the EV segment caught in a tug-of-war between market demand and government regulations, carmakers are having to adapt to avoid losing both money and sales. Stellantis is keeping every option on the table, including putting a gasoline engine in its electric models. Natalie Knight, the chief financial officer for Stellantis, made the announcement while presenting the carmaker's first-quarter shipment and revenues results. She cited the Jeep Wagoneer S as an example: Unveiled in January 2024, it will go on sale with an electric powertrain, but the brand hasn't ruled out expanding the lineup with a gasoline-powered model later on, according to Wards Auto. It could be a hybrid, or it might not get any type of electrification. The call will depend on whether there is "a clear demand for that in the market," the executive said. Compare that with comments from new Jeep CEO Antonio Filosa, who has said hybridizing the Wagoneer S isn't in the cards — but making a PHEV version of the all-electric upcoming Recon, however, might be. "I don't want to ignore the fact that we want to stay close to the consumer, and if we see there's an opportunity with those models that we introduced as BEVs first, we'll look into that," Knight said. Stellantis plans to launch 25 new models globally in 2024, and 18 of those will go on sale with electric power. However, that doesn't necessarily mean they'll remain electric-only throughout their production run. The brands that live under the Stellantis umbrella can build a gasoline-powered version of an EV with relative ease because many of the cars in the group's portfolio ride on a multi-energy platform. For example, the new Dodge Charger (pictured) will go on sale with an electric drivetrain later in 2024, but the range will grow with the addition of a 3.0-liter straight-six in 2025. Across the pond, the Jeep Avenger (a small, hatchback-like crossover not designed with our market in mind) was hyped as an all-electric model when it made its debut in 2023, but it quietly gained a gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain in early 2024. The city-friendly Peugeot 208 is offered with piston or battery power, too. One of the next electric recipients of a gasoline engine might be the new-to-us Fiat 500e. The retro-styled hatchback has exclusively been available as an EV since it went on sale in Europe in 2020, but executives are reportedly looking at turning it into a hybrid due to slow sales.