2012 Dodge Grand Caravan Sxt on 2040-cars

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Autoblog's guilty pleasure cars

Guilty pleasures are part of life – don't even try to pretend like you don't have one (or two, or six). In the non-automotive space, this could come down to that secret playlist in your iPhone of songs you'll only listen to when you're alone; or think of that one TV show you really do love, but won't admit to your friends. I've got plenty, and so do you. Going back to cars, here's a particularly juicy one for me: several years ago, I had a mad crush on the very last iteration of the Cadillac DTS. Oh yes, the front-wheel-drive, Northstar V8-powered sofa-on-wheels that was the last remaining shred of the elderly-swooning days of Cadillac's past. Every time I had the chance to drive one, I was secretly giddy. Don't hate me, okay? These days, the DTS is gone, but I've still got a mess of other cars that hold a special place in my heart. And in the spirit of camaraderie, I've asked my other Autoblog editors to tell me some of their guilty pleasure cars, as well – Seyth Miersma, as you can see above, has a few choice emotions to share about the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Read on to find out what cars make us secretly happy. Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG This decadent convertible is the epitome of the guilty pleasure. It's big, powerful, fairly heavy and it's richly appointed inside and out. It's a chocolate eclair with the three-pointed star on the hood. Given my druthers, I'd take the SL65 AMG, which delivers 621 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque. That output is borderline absurd for this laid-back convertible. I don't care. You don't need dessert. Sometimes you just crave it. The SL line is about the feel you get on the road. The roof is open. The air, sun and engine sounds all embrace you. It's the same dynamic you could have experienced in a Mercedes a century ago, yet the SL gives you the most modern of luxuries. An Airscarf feature that warms my neck and shoulders through a vent embedded in the seat? Yes, please. Sure, it's an old-guy car. Mr. Burns and Lord Grantham are probably too young and hip for an SL65. I don't care. This is my guilty pleasure. Release the hounds. – Greg Migliore Senior Editor Ford Flex I drove my first Flex in 2009 when my mother let me borrow hers for the summer while I was away at college. The incredibly spacious interior made moving twice that summer a breeze, and the 200-mile trips up north were quite comfortable.

A look at the Dodge Demon's drag settings, modes, and go-fast tech

In the same video that gave us a peek at the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon's performance stats, there's a serious dump of info on the tech and tools that will likely help this muscle coupe slaughter drag strips. Dodge has outlined a few of them for us and we're using the power of inference to figure out the rest. Here's what we've gathered. A lot of these hints come from the Demon's version of Performance Pages, the infotainment screens that show what SRT models are doing and let the driver change the powertrain and chassis setup. There are a lot of Demon-only features, including line lock, a quick cooldown mode for the supercharged engine, and data recording. And of course there are pages to show a digital time slip with acceleration and braking figures, a g-load plot, and lots of gauges to track temps and levels. The engine output is shown in the video on a special Dyno page. It tracks horsepower and torque over time on the upper graph, and engine rpm and shift points on the lower graph. And we think it's still hiding something. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Any good drag car has a line lock, allowing the driver to lock the front brakes and leave the rears free to do a nice tire-warming (or tire-shredding, depending on length) burnout. Ford has it on the Mustang, Chevy puts it on the ZL1, and now Dodge is adding it to the Demon. It should help get the giant Nitto tires up to temp for a drag run. And once the tires are warm, there's launch control, just like on the SRT Hellcat, with selectable rpm to dial things in for the conditions. The Demon also has a shift light in the cluster, and the driver can set a shift point individually for each gear. After each drag run, you can activate Quick Cooldown, which Dodge says uses the first production application of After-Run Chiller – it runs the cooling fan and intercooler coolant pump with the engine off until the coolant reaches its target temp. It's shown in one of the slides above. The checklist on the left side of that page suggests it requires a set of conditions be met to work: engine off, hood open, and sufficient battery level. This further reinforces our theory that the supercharger is going to make big boost, beyond the Hellcat's 11.6 psi. And while you're waiting for the supercharger to cool off for another run, you can review the performance data the car records.

2013 Dodge Dart gets all Moparized

Last year, Chrysler announced it would be offering more than 150 Mopar parts and accessories on the 2013 Dodge Dart, and we got a look at some of these parts firsthand at the Chicago Auto Show. Showing off all the optional parts at once would surely create a gaudy monstrosity, so Chrysler chose to equip this particular Dart GT with just a handful of Mopar goodies, which still gave the car a nice and tasteful custom look that is available straight from the dealership (and with a full warranty, too).
Decked out in a factory color called Header Orange Clear Coat - also a very appropriate show car hue - this car added exterior styling parts such as the vented, carbon fiber hood, the bolt-on front chin spoiler and a matte black decklid spoiler. Looking inside the car, you'd think the red-accented interior is part of the Mopar parts bin, too, but this is actually what the standard Dart GT cabin will look like when it goes on sale.