2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is a rear-driver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88Z1UYuMAD4It appears the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is rear drive—not all-wheel drive.

This week’s video teaser on the hellacious street car that will be unveiled on April 11 in New York, includes a revealing set of parts, including spare wheels in a box. Sure looks like the car is ready to trade out its front runners for a day at the track. The tools are all there.

The customized crate in the video includes: Direct Connection Demon Performance Parts, Demon-branded track tools, matching Demon spare wheels, and a Demon Track Pack System.

FCA has been teasing the Demon on a weekly basis with a series of videos leading up to the New York auto show. So far we have learned that it is dropping 215 pounds by removing all but the driver’s seat and door speakers and using lighter components including a manually adjustable steering wheel, smaller and hollow sway bar, lighter 18×11-inch wheels, and four-piston brakes.

Dodge execs caution us not to conclude the Demon is just a “single-seat, gutted-out, purpose-built drag car.” This is a street car as well, and as we have suggested before, the additional seats are likely an option.

“The Challenger SRT Demon provides a platform from which each customer can design their own ultimate “Street/Strip muscle car,” FCA says. “It’s not intended for a road course; rather, each customer can decide at the time of order, or once they own the car, or even on a moment’s notice that they want their car to favor street performance, drag strip performance or something in between.”

Past videos also show the Demon, with its wider body, rides on wider wheels and will have widened fenders to match. They are wrapped in Demon-branded 315/40R18 Nitto NT05R tires that are specifically made for the car.

One curious Easter egg is still unanswered. A past video showed the license plate “#2576@35.” Speculation has ranged from the new supercharger’s displacement: 2,576cc or roughly 2.6 liters. Or a reference to 35 psi of manifold pressure, which would equate to 20.3 psi of boost. Or the price of a Mopar part.

Dodge execs say no one has got it right yet. And all will be revealed April 11, including horsepower and how quickly it’ll go from 0 to 60 mph and complete the quarter-mile.

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Refreshed 2018 Subaru Legacy will Debut at the Chicago Auto Show

Subaru unveiled its refreshed 2018 Legacy, which features styling changes, a retuned CVT, and additional infotainment features. The sixth-generation Legacy launched for the 2015 model year and 2018 brings changes needed to keep this all-wheel drive sedan competitive.

With wider, lower grille openings and a new front bumper that compliments the new grille, Subaru aims for a sportier looking Legacy. The redesigned C-shaped headlights now feature the “Konoji” daytime LED running lights. Two new exterior colors – Magnetite Gray Metallic and Crimson Red Pearl – and two new wheel designs lend a hand in the sportier appearance. Now integrated into the lower fascia, the tailpipe also receives a slight redesign.

Subaru combed through the Legacy’s chassis in an effort to improve comfort and drivability. Starting with the suspension, the dampers were retuned to help reduce initial impacts of bumps while also helping to reduce body roll. In order to offer a more engaging drive, improvements were made to the electric power steering and the brake pedal feel.

Subaru carries over the same 2.5-liter flat-four engine and the 3.6-lter flat-six engine but improves the CVT on the 2.5-liter engine with a quieter ultra-short pitch chain and adjusted engine timing under acceleration to reduce powertrain noise. Sound-insulating inner glass film and reshaped exterior mirrors also help to reduce noise entering the cabin.

The 2018 Subaru Legacy debuts with improved interior materials, a redesigned center console, and a new, sportier looking steering wheel. Subaru’s latest Starlink multimedia system now offers quicker performance, eight additional available apps, and smartphone integration with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard. Additionally, the newly available Steering Responsive Headlight (SRH) system will aim the headlights into a turn as the driver steers.

Competing with some of the best-selling cars in the industry – Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, and the Nissan Altima – the refreshed 2018 Subaru Legacy hopes to take more of the market share from its fellow Japanese competitors.

Source: Subaru

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2017 Kia Sportage EX AWD Update 7: Six Interior Details I’ve Come to Love

2018 Mercedes-AMG E63 S Wagon Debuts Later this Year with 603 HP

Still think wagons are boring and staid? Mercedes-AMG begs to differ. Set to debut at this year’s Geneva Motor Show in March is the 2018 Mercedes-AMG E63 S wagon, the more family-friendly alternative to the E63 S sedan unveiled last year.

AMG’s superwagon returns with even more power than before. A 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V-8 churns out 603 hp and 628 lb-ft of torque, which is 26 horses and 38 lb-ft more than the outgoing E63 S wagon (that has a 5.5-liter twin-turbo V-8). The new wagon’s nine-speed automatic has two more cogs than before and its AMG-tuned all-wheel drive system mimics the sedan–a Drift Mode allows the system to send 100 percent of the power to the rear wheels.

That said, AMG claims its new superwagon will run to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds. We think it’ll be quicker given that the outgoing E63 S wagon did the deed in the same amount of time during our testing. Top speed is limited to 180 mph.

Other fancy performance bits include adaptive air suspension and damping, adaptive engine mounts, and six-piston brake calipers paired with 15.4-inch ventilated rotors up front (single piston floating calipers and 14.2-inch rotors at the back). Like the sedan, the E63 S wagon will have a wider track than other E-Class variants.

The opportunity to quickly haul your kids and groceries around town will come this fall when the 2018 E63 S wagon is expected to arrive in showrooms. Pricing will be announced at a later date.

Source: Mercedes-AMG

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Tesla and BMW Electric Vehicles Miss the IIHS’s Top Safety Awards

Two all-electric cars, the 2017 Tesla Model S and the 2017 BMW i3, failed to achieve the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s awards criteria for Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+.

To earn the Top Safety Pick award, vehicles must earn the institution’s highest rating of “Good” in all five crash test evaluations – small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength, and head restraints and seats – and a rating of “Advanced” or “Superior” for the front crash prevention system, if available. The “+” is awarded for meeting all the above criteria in addition to a rating of “Good” or “Acceptable” for the headlights evaluation.

The Tesla Model S received the highest rating of “Good” in all crash evaluations except for the difficult small overlap front crash test, in which the large luxury sedan earned the second highest rating of “Acceptable.”

According to the IIHS, “Tesla ran into problems in the test when the safety belt allowed the dummy’s torso to move too far forward. That allowed the dummy’s head to hit the steering wheel hard through the airbag.” Tesla claims production changes were made on January 23 to address the head-contact issue.

The Model S comes standard with automatic braking hardware, but Tesla hasn’t activated the software for all vehicles. Additionally, the IIHS has yet to rate the sedan’s front crash prevention system. The 2017 Model S is equipped with headlights rated as “Poor” and the automaker says it’s working to remedy this issue.

The BMW i3’s rating of “Acceptable” for the head restraints and seats evaluation kept this small electric car out of the winner’s circle. Nonetheless, the i3 did earn the highest rating of “Good” in all other crash test evaluations and a rating of “Advanced” for the front crash prevention system. The IIHS claims the head restraint and seat evaluation “measures a vehicle’s ability to protect against neck injuries in a rear crash.” The i3’s headlights received a rating of “Acceptable.”

Two plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), the 2017 Toyota Prius Prime and the Chevrolet Volt, have the ability to run on hybrid power or on all-electric power (for short distances), were awarded the IIHS’ highest honor of Top Safety Pick+.

“There’s no reason the most efficient vehicles can’t also be among the safest,” says David Zuby, IIHS executive vice president and chief research officer.

Source: IIHS

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Spied! Next-Gen Porsche 911 Begins to Take Shape

There’s no rest for the wicked, and there’s no resting on laurels when it comes to the almighty Porsche 911. It’s been through a gradual evolution ever since it first debuted, leading to what is universally considered one of the best sports cars in the world. Now, we’re getting our first peek at what the next evolution will look like, its eighth generation, likely internally coded as the 992.

From the spy photos we’ve assembled here, it appears that the upcoming replacement for the wonderful 991.2 looks to further the 911’s gradual evolution in body style. The front is more angular, diving forward, and the headlights and hood appear to resemble the forthcoming Mission E fully electric vehicle Porsche showed off not too long ago.

Moving rearwards, the hips of the car appear wider than the current 991.2 and housing some fairly massive rubber, as well as a set of Porsche superb carbon ceramic brakes. Could this be a hotter version of the 992? We’re not sure, but moving further back, it does appear that this specific test mule houses Porsche’s all-new 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged flat-six engine that debuted in the 991.2. The vents at the edges of the rear bumper are larger than on the current car, and the vent above the engine bay extends all the way to the base of the rear window.

Furthermore, the rear wing has been enlarged to encompass the entirety of the rear, spreading from the ends of each taillight. Overall length will likely increase as well, as will the car’s wheelbase. The car also appears to have a different exhaust system from what we’ve come to expect from Porsche. Could this be a new sports exhaust or just a test rig for the mule? Again, we must wait for Porsche to answer.

A few key things we do know about the eighth-generation 911 is that, for the first time, we will see a hybrid- drivetrain, and after the Mission E’s production debut, likely a fully electric 911. However, all isn’t pure electricity at Porsche as the company still maintains that it will offer both old and new technologies.

“Porsche needs to launch puristic racing cars like 911-we will go both strategies, new and old,” Porsche’s chairman Oliver Bloom told Car Magazine. “For the simple reason that electrification still carries a substantial weight penalty, sports cars will hold on to classic propulsion solutions a little longer than other vehicle types. But even the 911 must eventually adjust, and according to analysts and the media, even plug-in supercars are making headway!”

We likely won’t see the 992 debut until next year, possibly as a 2019 or 2020 model year.

Photo Source: CarPix

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