2008 Dodge Charger Police Package 4dr Sedan, Former Ncshp Vehicle on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Dodge engineers trying to shoehorn Pentastar into Dart?

The fact that the Dart's launch has been a pretty dismal affair isn't what we'd call secret. Judging by its mounting inventories and poor critical reception, Dodge's successor to its unloved Caliber has struggled since it hit the market. And while both of those are difficult problems to address, at least their cause is well known - the powertrain.
Even Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has acknowledged that the powertrain options in the Dart are substandard, admitting at January's Detroit Auto Show that the powertrains are "less than ideal." Leading with the 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder found in the Fiat 500 Abarth left a bad taste in the mouths of consumers thanks to the laggy engine and dead throttle response (to say nothing of the manual and dual-clutch gearboxes that needed more refinement). The addition of the 184-horsepower 2.4-liter Tigershark in the Dart GT has helped matters some, but apparently Auburn Hills doesn't think it's quite enough.
If rumors are to be believed - get that salt ready - a possible solution may be in the works. A report from Allpar is claiming that Dodge is considering fitting a Pentastar V6 into the Dart's engine bay. As the Mopar-obsessed website points out, the critically acclaimed Pentastar is available in three different sizes - 3.0 liters, 3.2 liters and the original 3.6 liters. We don't get the 3.0 here in the US, but the 3.2 can be found in the new Jeep Cherokee and the 3.6 has been seemingly fitted to every model Chrysler can shoehorn it into.

Ford, Chrysler and Mazda expand scope of Takata airbag recalls

The scope of the Takata airbag inflator recall is ballooning once again across the United States. Where Honda has elected to take its driver-side airbag campaign nationwide, Chrysler Group and Ford have now announced expanded regional actions to cover some passenger-side airbag inflators. Mazda is adding more regions, as well. For Chrysler Group, the campaign covers the inflators on 149,150 examples of the 2003-model-year Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups. The recall is limited to vehicles sold or ever registered in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. The company will begin notifying affected customers on January 19. According to Chrysler's announcement of the action, the passenger side inflators in these trucks "are of a type that is not used in any of the other vehicles affected by Chrysler Group's regional field action." The automaker says that it's not aware of any actual failures or accidents in these pickups and even claims there are no "observed failures in laboratory testing of its airbag modules." The company is continuing to study the problem, though. Ford is taking a similar step by issuing a recall of inflators for 38,500 examples of the 2004-2005 Ranger and 2005-2006 Ford GT. The campaign only affects vehicles originally sold or ever registered in Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Certain zip codes of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa are also covered. There's already precedent for passenger-side airbags to be covered under the Takata inflator recall. When many automakers announced campaigns in June, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota all included that side in some of their repairs. Subaru subsequently did, as well. In addition, Mazda is expanding the scope of its recall to add Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Saipan, Guam, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to the affected areas. The company estimates that it has a total of 86,773 vehicles in need of repair. Mazda is also teaming with Toyota to begin independent testing of the Takata inflators. Scroll down to read all of the automakers' announcements of these newly expanded recalls. Statement: Air-Bag Inflators December 3, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich.

2020 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak will debut at SEMA

Mopar fans have countless reasons to get hyped about the 2019 SEMA show. Speedkore is bringing a twin-turbocharged, all-wheel-drive Dodge Charger Hellcat Widebody, Mopar is bringing a done-up 1968 Dodge D200 "Lowliner," Ram is bringing a diesel 1500 overlander, and Jeep is bringing a custom off-road Wrangler. But the launch of the new 2020 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak might garner the most attention from the brand's most serious customers. Prior to the show, Mopar teased a photo and a short video clip, both showing a new Dodge Challenger from the overhead view. The white Challenger showed a wide blue stripe down the center of the car with two pinstripes along each side. "Powered by SRT" runs across the top of the windshield, and Mopar logos grace both sides of the car just beneath the side windows. Red decals run back from the rear quarter panels and connect across the rear of the car. It also has hood pins on the SRT Hellcat hood and a parachute attached the rear. There's a parachute because this is the factory turnkey drag-race-focused Dodge Challenger racecar. Mopar released no other information on what type of hardware the Drag Pak will be using, or what's under the hood, but the video gives a great preview of the exhaust note in full tire-smoke mode. As some Drag Paks in the past have dropped roughly 1,000 pounds from their production starter vehicles, the 2020 model will surely utilize plenty of weight-savings methods such as the removal of all interior comfort features that don't apply on the racetrack. Mopar has also previously altered the position of the engine and changed the wheelbase to the benefit of better weight distribution. Mopar is set to livestream the unveiling starting at 7:26 p.m. ET (that's 4:26 on the West Coast, which not coincidentally coincides the the displacement of the vintage 426 Hemi engine) on Nov. 5, 2019. Until then, check out the 2009, 2010, 2011, or 2016 Drag Paks.