Auto Blitz: Dodge Challenger

Showing posts with label Dodge Challenger. Show all posts

2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392: Limited Production Model with 470HP Teased Ahead of SEMA

The new Dodge Redline Charger and Mopar-prepped Fiat 500 will certainly grab everyone's attention at the SEMA Show, but without doubt, the most exciting proposal at the firm's booth will be a limited edition run of the yet-to-be-revealed, 2011 Challenger, which will be making its world premiere at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

On a side note, the only thing we know about the standard 2011 Challenger is that it gains a reshaped lower intake up front, a 305-horsepower 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 for the base model and new door handles, while it loses the Ram nose emblem on the hood.

Back to the limited edition model which is called the SRT8 392, Dodge will build a total of 1,492 examples of the car. Based on the SRT8, the 392 introduces a -you guessed it- a new 392-cubic inch [equal to 6.4-liters] HEMI V8 producing 470 horsepower and 470 lb.-ft. of torque. According to Dodge, that's 90 lb.-ft. more torque at 2,900 rpm compared with the previous 6.1-liter V-8 engine.

Now here's a dream come true: taking an old-school muscle car - in this case, a black 1970 Dodge Challenger - out on the Autobahn and winding it out. This bad-to-the-bone vintage ride appears to have been lightly modified or restored so as to not rattle to pieces, although there's no way of knowing for sure until the owner drops us a line (do it, 66PaleRider).

Whoever the driver is, there's no denying that the long-haired fiend has got a pair; pushing old muscle up to 130+ mph in any instance has been known to get a little shaky. The last time yours truly tried such a feat in the old Stang, I recall a trail of white smoke about a mile long and desperately seeking an off ramp (but man was it fun).

The Chrysler Group's new Pentastar V6 gasoline engine will either replace current six-cylinder units or be introduced for the first time on a total of 13 vehicles across the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep range by 2013, the company announced this week.

The 3.6-liter V6 unit will be offered with different levels of output, the most powerful [for now] iteration being the one fitted on the upcoming 2011 Dodge Challenger, which will be rated at 305 bhp at 6,350 rpm and 268 lb.ft. at 4,800 rpm, representing a 55 horsepower increase over the previous 3.5-liter V6.

A new recall announced by the Chrysler Group will affect 26,397 owners of Chrysler and Dodge brand vehicles in the USA. The recall includes certain 2010MY Chrysler 300 and Sebring, and Dodge Charger, Avenger, Challenger and Journey, and some 2011MY Ram pickup trucks, because a power steering pressure hose may leak fluid onto a hot engine and cause a fire.

Dodge is ready to keep fighting the Mustang Cobra Jet a quarter mile at a time. With its latest Drag Pack, available on the 2011 Challenger, Dodge has decided to ditch the 6.1-liter V8 and drop in the Viper's 8.4-liter V10 backed by a two-speed automatic racing transmission.

The new Dodge will make its debut at the Viper Owner's Invitational taking place in Salt Lake City, followed by a stop at SEMA in November on its way to Orlando.

Thankfully, the 2011 Dodge Challenger has earned itself a boost in technology and performance. The outputs of the new and expected power trains have been revealed, as well as the cars' specific targets through some leaked documents. And we're happy to say the power outputs are a pleasant surprise.

Scroll down for the full details, but here's the gist of it. The base Challenger model gets the new Pentastar V6 that puts out 305 horsepower to truly compete with the other two V6 Pony cars (let's hope Dodge did something about that heft, though).

A couple of weeks ago, Chrysler announced details on the Dodge Mopar 10' Challenger special, but kept the pictures under wraps simply teasing us with a single illustration of the muscle car.

Today, the company published a full set of images on the Mopar '10 Challenger, which is available for pre-order now in a limited production of 500 units with pricing set at $38,000 for an automatic transmission and $39,000 for a manual gearbox.

The limited edition model is based on the 2010 Challenger R/T with the 5.7-liter HEMI V8 engine. Mopar, the parts and accessories arm of Chrysler, has spruced up the car with a raft of cosmetic and performance enhancements.

Now here's a nice surprise for Dodge fans. A member of the Mopart forums has snagged some photos of what appears to be the facelifted 2011 Dodge Challenger in R/T trim without a single trace of camouflage. The cosmetic changes over the 2009/2010 muscle-coupe are extremely subtle and it will take a trained eye to spot the differences.

These include the reshaped lower intake up front (basically, the designers turned it upside down) and the elimination of the Ram nose emblem on the hood, plus a new set of door handles. It is possible that the 2011 Challengers could feature more changes on the outside and in particular the rear end as we don't have any other photos of the car.

If one thing has come out of Fiat's involvement in the Chrysler Group the past year or so, that would be an abundance of limited edition models, the most recent being the "Mopar '10" Dodge Challenger. We've already shared details along with a single teaser sketch, but here's a video that shows the muscle-coupe (or at least parts of the car) in the flesh.

As a reminder, the 'Mopar 10' is based off the Challenger R/T with a 5.7-liter Hemi V8 featuring a series of cosmetic and performance upgrades. Only 500 examples will be built, with all of them coming in a black shade with blue, red or silver strips on the outside and matching accents inside.

Set to arrive in dealerships in August, the Mopar '10 Challenger is a special edition version of the muscle-coupe that will be built in a limited number of 500 examples. Based off a Challenger R/T with the 5.7-liter Hemi V8, the Mopar '10 edition gets numerous performance and styling parts straight out of Mopar's shelves.

The special edition Challenger will be available exclusively in Brilliant Black and a choice of three accent colors (Mopar Blue, Red or Silver) that appear on side stripes as well as in the stitching on the steering wheel and seats.

After last week's [official] announcement that the Fiat Group will drop the Chrysler nameplate in Europe as its models will be rebadged integrated into the Lancia brand, a forecasting firm now says that the automaker will begin building Lancias and possibly Alfa Romeos at its Brampton plant in Canada beginning from 2012.

U.S.-based industry research company AutomotiveCompass said that Chrysler will produce a Lancia Thesis replacement based on the soon-to-revealed 2011 300 sedan, which will continue to make use of the previous generation Mercedes architecture .

Doug Shepard, forecasting manager for the research firm said that the Lancia version of the redesigned Chrysler 300 won't differ radically in appearance from the American sedan.

Yesterday we learned that the refreshed and more powerful 2011 Ford Mustang sold 10,225 units in May 2010 beating GM's Chevrolet Camaro by almost 1,300 units (8,931 sales monthly total).

The General's reaction? Early this morning, the Detroit automaker came out with a press release stating that from May 2009 (the 2010 Camaro's first full month of sales) to May 2010, Chevy's pony car posted 99,872 total sales, outselling the Ford Mustang by nearly 20,000 vehicles (80,340 units total).

The company added that the Camaro has led the pony car sales race for 11 of the last 12 months.

Challenger turns 40-ish this year. Well, actually, it's like a 40-year range over which the Challenger name was used a few times and to celebrate, Chrysler has given a photo-run-through of the model's rich history.

Over the course of its first generation, ranging from 1970-74, the Challenger was offered with an inline six-cylinder and many choices of V8. The 8-cylinder options ranged from a 318 cubic inch unit making 230 horsepower to the 425-horse 426 Hemi and 390-horse 440 (output numbers dipped consistently as the oil crisis developed).

Today's recall comes from the Chrysler LLC group that is calling in 40,131 vehicles over a glitch with the ignition switch. The Detroit automaker said that the recall includes certain 2010 model year Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger and Charger, Jeep Commander and Grand Cherokee, and Dodge Ram vehicles.

In another move to get potential Camaro buyers to look elsewhere, Ford has announced that the 2011 Mustang's MSRP will be starting out below that of its crosstown rival.

What kind of difference can you expect to find in your wallet? How about $535 on the V6 and before regional gouging? That's got to be worth at least an option or two.

Official prices are $22,995 (about €17,200 at today's rates) for the Mustang and $23,530 for the V6 Camaro. With the base GT starting at $30,495 (around €22,800), it appears that the Mustang will be undercutting the Camaro in V8 territory as well (the GT Premium comes in at $33,695).

Dodge is celebrating forty years of muscle car badness in a fruity tropical colorful high-impact way. The latest vehicle in Dodge's blitzkrieg of brightness (see Top Banana, Go ManGo, Detonator Yellow, Sublime Green, Plum Crazy, B5 Blue, Hemi Orange, TorRed) is the Furious Fuchsia package, available on R/T Classic and SRT8 models.

"Commemorating four decades of Challenger performance, the new R/T Classic and SRT8 Furious Fuchsia editions modernize one of the most memorable hues from 1970 to create a modern muscle-car that exudes more performance, passion and even more nostalgia," said Ralph Gilles, President and Chief Executive Officer.

For $35,140 for the R/T Classic with the 372HP 5.7L V8 and $45,150 for the SRT8 with the 425HP 6.2L V8, the Furious Fuchsia Challengers won't offer any additional performance goodies, but what they do come with is that eye-searingly floral hue along with all the standard trim.

The R/T Classic model gets "A-line" side stripes in Bright White (or Matte Black) along with all the other "heritage" bits that usually come with the Classic such as the 20-inch polished-aluminum wheels, egg-crate grille, body-color rear spoiler, functional hood scoop and bright racing style fuel-filler door.

Inside, monotone Dark Slate Gray leather performance seats and center console armrest with Furious Fuchsia accent stitching are standard while Pearl White performance seats accented with Dark Slate Gray and Furious Fuchsia French-seamed stitching are optional.

For buyers who opt for a clutch, the pistol-gripped, 3.92-geared, anti-spin-enhanced Trak Pak comes standard.

At the top of the spectrum, the big-dog Fuchsia SRT8 - limited to 400 units - gets its wheels done up with Satin Black eyeliner, a plaque on the dash, accent stripes on the standard Pearl White leather SRT performance seats, and "retro-inspired chromed quad exhaust tips".

The Furious Fuchsia Challengers will debut at the Chicago Auto Show this week.

By Phil Alex

Dodge Challenger gets New Mopar Appearance Packages for 2010

The New Year brought new exterior and interior appearance packages from Mopar for Dodge's reborn Challenger muscle car. Available as a factory production option, the exterior kit includes a unique body-color hood with scoop, body-color rear "Go-Wing" spoiler and strobe stripe performance graphics. The exterior package can be yours for $1,995.

For the interior, Mopar's set includes a Mopar-branded T-handle shifter, bright pedal kit (only for automatic models), bright door-sill guards, premium carpet floor mats and a full vehicle cover. Dodge prices the interior package $945 for Challenger's equipped with an automatic transmission and $780 for cars fitted with a manual gearbox.

Both styling packages are available on Challenger SE (3.5-liter V6) and R/T (5.7-liter HEMI V8) models but only with these exterior colors: TorRed, Bright Silver Metallic, Brilliant Black Crystal and Bright White.

The Muschallaro: Part Challenger, Part Camaro, Part Mustang

A talented modeler named Robert D. came up with the wacky idea of creating a scale-model that combines elements from the latest editions of Detroit's pony cars: the body of a Chevy Camaro, the front end of a Dodge Challenger and the rear-end of the Ford Mustang. And this here is the result.

"I like the main body of the Camaro better than the Challenger. I like the Challenger front end better than the Camaro. Once the idea was in my head to add Mustang to the equation, it all came together, because I found out pretty quickly that the three could combine into one," Robert stated in a forum for model cars.

We don't have to tell those of that you have ever attempted to make a custom model that it's easier said than done. Nevertheless, after four painstaking months of work, Robert pulled it off.

And even if you disagree with the aesthetics or the parts of the three muscle cars that were chosen for the model, you can't but admire the result from a technical point of view.

Now, any ideas what the tri-pony car should be named?

Source: Fotki , Via: Model Cars and Car Domain - Thanks for the tip Marcus!