2011 Dodge Grand Caravan Crew on 2040-cars

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Tesla Model S P85D shows 707-hp Dodge Challenger Hellcat how to drag race

Street Car Drags hosted a bang-up event at the Palm Beach International Raceway last weekend, with a list of massive horsepower ICE cars going up against one another and a trio of Tesla Model S P85Ds. One of those duels pitted the 691-horsepower Tesla against a 707-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, and the result was an old-school beatdown and a world record for electric cars. The Model S P85D ran the quarter in 11.6 seconds at 114.6 miles per hour, the new mark for BEVs at the drag strip. Proving its pace, it ran three more times in 11.69, 11.72 and 11.76 seconds. It got from the start line to 60 miles per hour in 3.1 seconds. The Hellcat, well, it wasn't a race, really. It was the Hellcat's driver's first time at a drag strip and his first time trying to launch it, so after an excellent burnout ahead of the lights, he rolled to the line, almost jumped the start, balked at the real start and spun his tires for the first 100 feet down the strip. The theory is that he overheated his street tires during that burnout, and the resulting greasy rubber did what greasy rubber does. By the time he got to the other end 17.46 seconds later the Tesla driver had showered and was enjoying a funnel cake. When things go right, though, Dodge estimates the Hellcat will do 11.2-second runs on street tires and it has been clocked at 10.85 seconds at 126.18 mph on street-legal drag radials. There's video of the not-quite-a-race above, and Drag Times says there'll be a rematch between the two in a couple of weeks. News Source: Street Car Drags via YouTube Green Motorsports Dodge Tesla Coupe Electric Luxury Performance Videos Sedan drag racing dodge challenger srt hellcat

Dodge Viper saved from crusher by students, but will it last?

The saga of the Washington state community college hoping to keep its allegedly pre-production Dodge Viper out of the maw of the crusher is going strong. Not only does the school still have the car, but there's a chance that the college might even get to keep it.
The whole situation flared up in March when the South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, WA, received a notice from Chrysler Group that requested that the school's Viper be destroyed. The automaker had loaned the muscle car to it about a decade ago to use for educational purposes in its auto tech classes. With the Dodge growing long in the tooth, "it is unlikely that these vehicles offer any educational value to students," the company said in its press release on the matter.
However, the college balked at destroying its Viper, despite the fact it had signed a contract with Chrysler Group to do so. The school further claimed that its car was incredibly special because it was a pre-production example and just the fourth one made back in 1992. Although, as we pointed out at the time, the photos of the school's vehicle showed a coupe that looked like a newer Viper GTS.

This government surveillance van is both cool and creepy, and it could be yours

Whether you're planning a heist and need to gather information, or you're a government agency tracking down the leader of a crime ring, Hollywood has taught us that the unmarked van is the ideal machine for gathering intel. And apparently that's not just a Hollywood trope, because you can buy this actual, honest-to-goodness ex-government surveillance van: a 1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager. It's being sold by the Chicago suburb of Streamwood, Ill., on the government surplus auction site GovDeals. According to the description, the van was acquired by the town as part of a drug seizure and converted to surveillance duty. It looks like a plain white Grand Voyager for the most part, except for the amber flashing light on the roof. Or at least it looks like a light. It's actually the disguise for the camera periscope. Open up the sliding door of the van and you'll discover a swivel mount for the camera, a TV mounted to the back of the driver's seat, and a toolbox that holds all the electronic equipment, including battery chargers for the van and the camera. There are also solid panels behind the windows so that people walking by can't peer in and see all the equipment. It's a bit less wild than some of the vans we've seen on film, but those Hollywood vans are usually larger commercial vans that can store more people and stuff. Less interesting details include the fact that this Grand Voyager has a 3.3-liter V6 with an automatic transmission. It has just over 100,000 miles and was good for a little more than 150 horsepower and 200 pound-feet of torque when it was new. The interior looks impressively clean, as does most of the exterior, but the description and photos highlight the fact that the front strut towers are rusty and in need of repair. Included are new strut towers, but obviously the welding in and painting is the expensive part. Also, while we think this van is pretty neat, since it's an actual surveillance van like we've seen on film for years, we would feel creepy actually owning it. After all, it's a vehicle for watching people, and while a government might have a legitimate reason for doing that, your average person doesn't. Unless you need a prop for a film, are going to show it off at car shows, or are another city government needing a cheap surveillance car, we think having this would be a little too weird. But if you have one of those reasons, or are less worried about what people think, you have a few more days to bid.