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Dodge Viper GTS-R goes back to old-school livery

The Dodge Viper may have been around now for over 20 years, but as far as racing achievements go, 2000 was its finest season. That's when it won the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the GTS class trophy at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and its second consecutive title in the American Le Mans Series.
Since then, SRT Motorsports hasn't quite had the same success, withdrawing from Le Mans this year and shedding the Dodge name and its emblematic red and white livery for the SRT badge and a silver snakeskin theme. But now that the Viper is back under the Dodge banner, so too is the racing team returning to its classic livery.
Starting from the six-hour race at Watkins Glen next week, both the No. 91 and No. 93 Viper GTS-Rs will wear the red base color with twin white racing stripes that its more accomplished forebears wore on circuits around the world. And with it, maybe the Viper will return once again to the winner's circle at home and abroad.

Dodge Challenger Shaker cars get Shakedown package stripes

In 2016, Dodge brought a custom 1971 Dodge Challenger to the SEMA show called the Shakedown. It melded modern Challenger parts with the classic model's body, and did so almost seamlessly. It of course featured a shaker hood scoop, and it also had a set of stripes to one side that gradually decreased in size to give the feeling of vibration and movement. The reception was clearly good, because Dodge has created a set of stripes just like those on the show car for modern shaker Challengers and made them available in a package with the Shakedown name. The Shakedown package is new for 2018 and available only on Challengers with the shaker hood scoop. These include the R/T Shaker, R/T Plus Shaker, and 392 Scat Pack Shaker. Just like on the concept, the stripes are all to one side and wrap around the hood scoop. The only difference is that they're all one color, whereas the '71 custom car had one stripe in red. In addition to the stripes, the package adds white-face gauges and an upgraded Alpine audio system. On R/T and R/T Plus models, this system has six speakers with a 275-watt amplifier, while the system on the Scat Pack has nine speakers with a 506-watt amplifier. The cost of the Shakedown package is $995, and it's available with any color of Challenger Shaker. And on the topic of colors, Dodge has also revived Plum Crazy and B5 Blue for 2018 Chargers and Challengers. Those colors will be available on any Charger or Challenger regardless of trim level. Related Video: Dodge Coupe Performance

Hypermiling a Ram 1500 EcoDiesel to 38.1 mpg

You never quite know what Wayne Gerdes has up his sleeve. The man who coined the term hypermiling is always looking for adventurous ways to prove that anyone – even you... yes, you – can eke out more miles per gallon just by changing the way you drive. Saying that is easy. Proving it by going on outlandish cross-country drives is hard. But for Gerdes and his team of fuel economy fiends over at CleanMPG, hard is half the fun. Our latest adventure appeared, at first glance, to be nearly impossible. Which is why we always answer the phone when Gerdes calls. He likes to take journalists along on his drives, not only to try teach us how to hypermile but also to prove that we can be taught. The first time I 'helped' him and his team was when we got over 30 miles per gallon in a 2011 Ford F-150 XLT with the EcoBoost 3.5-liter V6. The EPA rated that truck with at just 16 mpg in the city and 22 on the highway. So, we'll count that trip as a success. Next up was a cross-country drive last fall in a trio of Audi TDI vehicles to prove that you don't need to drive extra slow to beat the EPA numbers. In fact, we made it from Los Angeles to New York City in just over 46 hours, cramped but not cranky. We had once again proven that how you drive is hugely important to your fuel usage. Our latest adventure appeared, at first glance, to be nearly impossible. The EPA says that the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel we would be driving gets just 22 combined mpg (19 city and 27 highway). Gerdes' idea was to drive it as far north from Houston, TX towards Detroit, MI as we could go on one tank. The day before we left, our itinerary got an extra stop. Instead of taking one of the official Shell Eco-marathon prototype vehicles to Detroit, it was decided to bring the winning diesel-powered prototype from the just-finished event to The Henry Ford Museum, where it had been arranged the car would be displayed. The winning car was built by a small team (just four students) from Sullivan High School in Sullivan, IN, who managed to beat a number of college teams with a score of 1,899.32 mpg. That target would be a bit out of reach for the Ram, but could we get 1,000 miles from the tank? Since the truck has a 26 gallon tank (officially, anyway), that would mean the EPA says we could only go 702 miles, assuming all highway driving. Could we make up 300 miles with careful driving? That spells both challenge and fun.