Archive for April, 2010

Dodge Viper – Final Edition Coupe Will Soon Strike

Friday, April 30th, 2010

If ever there was a time to buy a car like the Dodge Viper, this would be it. A limited production run of 50 2010 Viper SRT10 Final Edition Models packing a V10 will captivate you with the design.

The graphite exterior body with black center stripe gives the look of an all out race car. The Viper is a car that has a significant statement to make with it’s power and appearance. This final look will preserve the respect the Viper has earned since it debuted the First generation in 1992-1995.

Viper has been synonymous with extreme performance, and it’s made countless appearances in TV shows. The straightforward design took the enthusiast crowd by storm and delivered an answer to the American dream of owning a Ferrari, Lamborghini or the like.

The Viper was a unique car in that it had every bit of a full blown race car capability but allowed the owner to realize a street version that could be fully out of control should the need arise. It had all the look and feel that was necessary to intimidate and it rightfully had the power to cash in on nearly any occasion.

The details like having the gas cap positioned much like you’d see in a Nascar or track only vehicle. It made getting gas an event that would have others looking over wondering if you’d need to make up time for that pitstop to get gas as you brought the engine back online with a deep rumble.

Why any street car should be capable of 200mph, I don’t know. What I do know is that in order to be capable of 200mph, the power requirements to get there, you would want take advantage of that power at lower speeds.

Unimaginable torque and mind numbing speed sends signals to the brain that having a vehicle like the Viper may be become habit forming. Restraint and modesty must coincide this unnerving spectacle.

A V10 with 100% throttle for even only a few seconds would translate to a serious sense of responsibility in a car of such potential.

Chrysler Kicks Off Production of Pentastar V6 Engine

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

Chrysler Group LLC and green auto enthusiasts are pleased with news coming out of Chrysler Group’s new 822,000 square foot plant in Trenton, MI. The flex-fuel Pentastar engine, an all-aluminum, 60-degree, dual-overhead cam (with variable valve timing)—which is their powertrain offensive has now begun production. At this time Chrysler foresees the Pentastar V-6 taking the place of a whooping seven V-6 engines in use now by several models. The company, ramping up R&D, poured $730 million into this endeavor with a goal to produce 400,000 engines per year.

The very first Pentastar will be placed in the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee available to the public the second quarter of 2010 and offering 280 horses (a nice increase), 6,400 rpm and 260 pound-feet of torque. Fuel economy, according to Chrysler, with the all-new Pentastar will be 11 percent better than the prior engine when using 87-octane or E85.

According to Chrysler the Pentastar V-6 is the most advanced V-6 engine in company history. This new innovation will offer Chrysler customers 25 percent in fuel economy over current models in the Ram Truck, Jeep, and Dodge product lines. Because
Chrysler foresees great things from the Pentastar engine, technologies ‘from their Fiat alliance like Multiair, direct-injection and turbocharging’ could be used when updating vehicles in the product lines.

Allpar.com Web site reports that the Pentastar engine “features high-flow intake and exhaust ports, which in combination with VVT via dual independent cam phasing, allows optimum volumetric and combustion efficiency over the full speed and load range. This results in an exceptional, flat torque curve along with high specific power. The engine’s torque exceeds 90 percent of its peak value from 1,600 to 6,400 rpm, which provides outstanding drivability and responsiveness.”

Chrysler Group LLC jumps into the added fuel economy race impressively with a Pentastar engine to be on the roads in the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee early 2010.