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2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye is the Demon spawn

The Demon has passed from us, but the Demon's spawn are here, so please allow them to introduce themselves. A new demi-Demon trim level has been anointed as the 2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye. Plus there's an updated Challenger SRT Hellcat and new Challenger R/T Scat Pack Widebody. Like with the Charger introduced this morning, they have inherited some of the best parts from the Demon. The Hellcat Redeye is possessed by the Demon's howling supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi, making 797 horsepower and 707 pound-feet of torque. Dodge proclaims it the "most powerful production V8" and "quickest production muscle car," with a 0-60 time of 3.4 seconds and quarter-mile time of 10.8 seconds at 131 mph. Top speed: 203 mph. Dodge can claim these superlatives, of course, because the 840-horsepower Demon's limited production run has ended. The Hellcat Redeye's Hemi is paired with an eight-speed automatic. Dodge says the powerplant gets 25 major component upgrades, including a larger supercharger (2.7 liters, up from 2.4) with higher boost pressure (14.5 psi, up from 11.6), strengthened connecting rods, pistons and valve train, high-capacity fuel injection system and improved lubrication. It gets a second fuel pump and a higher redline of 6,500 rpm. Theoretically, if you were someplace where you could operate at full throttle without letting up, Dodge says the Hemi would drain the fuel tank in under 11 minutes. Yet the car gets a 22 mpg highway rating from the EPA. View 30 Photos It also has the Torque Reserve system that starts building boost before launching, as well as the air conditioned intercooler to provide extra cool intake air. Both of these were features in the Demon. Furthermore, if the standard 2.62:1 final ratio isn't quick enough for you, Dodge offers a 3.09:1 rear axle. The Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye also comes with the Demon and Hellcat Widebody's fat fender flares. It's an unsurprising inclusion, since you'll want as much tire as possible for all that power. Now, a mere clear-eyed Challenger SRT Hellcat gets a 10-horse boost for 2019 to 717 horsepower, and a smidge more torque at 656 pound feet. A six-speed manual transmission is standard, and an eight-speed automatic is an option. Both Hellcat models get the new dual-snorkel hood we've seen in spy shots. It's meant to evoke 1970s Dodge muscle cars. Dodge says the airflow from the hood alone reduces engine temperature by 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

2016 Dodge Viper ACR racks up lap records

With 645 horsepower and an adjustable spoiler nearly six feet wide, the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR would look at home on the runways of most any airport, air base, or aircraft carrier in the world. But it's not built for the runway. It's built for the race track. And it has positively mastered them one after another. In fact, the new Viper ACR has not only beat the lap times of its own predecessor as it set out to, but took the production-car lap record at 13 tracks across the country. The endeavor started out at the Inde Motorsport Ranch in Arizona, where development engineer Chris "The Wolf" Winkler set a lap time of 1:33.75 on the Configuration 4 track to beat every other street-legal vehicle to ever lap the circuit. Then it was off to Buttonwillow, the MotorSport Ranch (in Cresson, TX), Big Willow, VIR, Grattan, Pittsburg, GingerMan, the Motown Mile, Nelson Ledges, Waterford Hills, and Road Atlanta. And with the new American Club Racer, Dodge took the lap record at each and every one. The journey culminated just days ago at Laguna Seca, where track expert Randy Pobst climbed into the Viper ACR and set a lap time of 1:28.65. That's 5.27 seconds faster than the previous ACR's time, and 1.24 seconds faster than the Porsche 918 Spyder that held the record until now. The sum total is a bragging-rights sheet of lap records set at 13 tracks across these United States. And you don't have to take Dodge's word on that. The records have been certified by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), cementing the ACR's place in the record books. Nice work if you can get it, and you can scope it out in the video above and press release below. Related Video: 2016 Dodge Viper ACR Is Undisputed Track Record King - Ultimate street-legal race car sets new high-performance benchmark with more track records than any production car in the world - Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) has certified lap records at 13 road courses, including world-famous Laguna Seca, Road Atlanta and Virginia International Raceway - With 645 horsepower and more torque than any naturally aspirated engine in a production car, the ACR is purpose built for weekend club racers who want the most extreme, but street-legal, track car available - Significant aerodynamic and suspension upgrades, new Carbon Ceramic brakes with six-piston calipers from Brembo and high-performance Kumho tires, specifically designed for the new 2016 ACR, set this Viper apart on any road course November 3, 2015, Auburn Hills, Mich.

How fracking is causing Chrysler minivans to sit on Detroit's riverfront

It's fascinating the way that one change to a complex system can have all sorts of unintended consequences. For instance, there are hundreds of new Chrysler Town and County and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans built in Windsor, Ontario, sitting in lots on the Detroit waterfront because of the energy boom in the Bakken oil field in the northern US and parts of Canada.
The huge amount of crude oil coming from these sites mostly use freight trains for transport, and that supply boom has resulted in a shortage of railcars to carry other goods. According to The Windsor Star, North American crude oil transport by train has gone from 9,500 carloads in 2008 to 434,032 carloads in 2013. Making matters worse, some North American rail infrastructure is still damaged because of this year's harsh winter, and that's slowing things down even further.
Chrysler admits to The Star that it has had some delivery delays due to the freight train shortage. In the meantime, it's using more trucks to deliver its vehicles. Trucking is a far less economical solution, partially because a train can carry so many more units at one time, but alternatives are slim. The Windsor plant alone has a deal for 33 trucks to distribute the minivans around Canada and the Midwestern US.