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Fiat-Chrysler shows its SEMA lineup

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles already previewed its 2014 SEMA show lineup with some slick renders. Now, the automaker has finally showed us the actual cars, and among the group there are definitely some that stand out more than others.
Dodge is really showing off its muscle at this year's show with four concepts that all pump up the power of the brand's models. Perhaps most interesting among them is the Challenger T/A Concept (pictured above) in striking Sublime Green and matte black. It's meant to resemble the classic Trans Am racer from the '70s. Under the hood is a 6.4-liter V8, and to fit the vintage style there's a pistol-grip gearshift inside.
The Charger R/T also gets some attention with the Mopar concept that shows off what FCA's aftermarket performance arm can do. Mods include an updated body kit, cold-air intake for the 5.7-liter V8 and a coil-over suspension kit. Beyond that, the Dart R/T Concept looks a lot meaner with a black hood with duct work that leads straight to the air intake. The rest of the compact sedan is dolled up in O-So-Orange paint and is fitted with upgrades to improve handling like a coil-over suspension and big brake kit from the Mopar catalog.

Ram wants its midsize truck situation 'fixed soon'

The rumors of a midsize Ram pickup are like a metronome — sometimes in motion, sometimes dead. This week the rumor is alive, so reports Automotive News. Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley admitted during an earnings call that the lack of a mid-sizer is "a clear hole in our portfolio," and that the Ram product development team is "focused on it." Puzzling that out means finding "a cost-effective platform in a region where we can build it with low cost and it still being applicable in the market." But he wants a solution found soon. During the product roadmap presentation FCA made in June last year, late CEO Sergio Marchionne said the middling pickup would be built in Mexico. That tidbit came after years of Marchionne saying the brand would get in the segment, only to have the idea shot down by Ram bosses. At the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, a year after the midsize Dodge Dakota went off the market, Marchionne said the brand would reinstate a new-generation Dakota, with a better-than-50% chance it would be unibody. In 2013, then-Ram president Reid Bigland said the chances were tiny because the numbers didn't add up. The two men got on the same page, in favor of, in 2014. In March 2016, Marchionne said, "I like that space a lot," and "It's a good space to be in." Exactly one month later, then-Ram CEO Bog Hegbloom said the idea was dead because he couldn't make a business case for it. Come early 2018, even Marchionne had joined the naysayers. He told Automobile, "We did not think it was necessary to re-enter that market after our last experience." The snag was, and remains, that a smaller truck has "a cost structure very similar to our Ram 1500. We have not found an economic way to get this done." Four months later, there's a midsize pickup on the product roadmap. Then, at this year's New York Auto Show, Ram Trucks boss Jim Morrison told us Ram had no plans yet for a smaller pickup, although the division continues to look at its options. Last September an Automotive News report forecast the truck to be built in Toledo alongside the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator pickup. When Car and Driver asked for clarification about Toledo or Mexico, FCA pointed to Marchionne's comments referring to Mexico. It appears that's the angle Manley and his team are still trying to make work. The Saltillo, Mexico, assembly plant now builds Ram's heavy-duty trucks, but observers expect HD production to move to the U.S. to make room for the smaller pickup.

Rebel Ram TRX prototypes spied on video playing in Michigan dunes

A group of Ram Rebel TRX prototypes has been caught on video testing in Michigan's Silver Lake Sand Dunes. This marks a change of scenery from our last prototype views, which took place on city streets in Detroit and in Arizona. Jordan Denhoed caught the video from a camera mounted on his truck, following the prototypes through the hills. The type of terrain and the presence of a Ford F-150 Raptor reinforce the idea that no matter what else the production Rebel TRX can do, it wants to compete with the Raptor on the Raptor's home field. Denhoed was able to get close enough once to hear the sound of the supercharger working in the 6.2-liter Hellcat V8. Unlike the Rebel TRX concept that was billed with 525 horsepower, the expectation now is that the production version will work up the Hellcat's typical 707 horsepower and shift through a 10-speed automatic. The power figure might have something to do with the staggered wheel lug pattern on the most recent prototypes — six lugs in front, eight lugs in back. The Rebel TRX proto caught in Arizona in August last year used the six-lug pattern all around. Other engine details are fuzzy. Motor1 credits an "insider source" with info that Ram has 40 test mules running, 10 of them in white, 30 of them in black, and one of those testers supposedly has an 840-hp Dodge Demon engine under the hood. The same source said the production version won't use the dial shifter, but a traditional shifter on the center tunnel. At the opposite pole concerning engines, Mopar Insiders reports that the less powerful, less expensive Rebel TR version, using a 7.0-liter V8 with roughly 520 hp, has either been canceled or delayed so Ram can devote resources to the Rebel TRX. The crew-cabbed prototypes in the video all wear the blacked-out treatment and Laramie Black front ends, fender flares over beadlock-looking wheels, and twin pipes. It's hard to tell how much lift comes with the remote-reservoir Bilstein shocks since the wheel arches have been cut out to make more room, but the concept had 13 inches of travel. It's rumored that ARB locking diffs will come on each axle. Having been promised for showrooms by 2022, it's likely we have a couple of years to wait we see the Rebel TRX's final form. We should get our first look at the F-150 Raptor fitted with the Mustang Shelby GT500's Predator V8 around the same time.