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A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.

Make Your Dodge Durango Even Better | MoPar Options for R/T, SRT | 2018 Chicago Auto Show

Fiat Chrysler is showing new performance add-ons for the 2018 Dodge Durango R/T and SRT models at the Chicago Auto Show, including the familiar Dodge dual center stripes and a new Mopar exhaust system. The 475-horsepower SRT model, which is powered by a 6.4-liter Hemi V8, will also offer a lowering spring kit and a carbon-fiber instrument panel. Chicago Auto Show Dodge Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video SRT

Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody expected for 2021

As of writing, Dodge still won't confirm that a Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody exists, even though camouflaged and debadged versions have already been spotted. Furthermore, before the automaker was forced to cancel this year's LX Sprint Fest 15, a poster advertising the event pictured a Charger SRT with a Dodge Demon-like hood, thought perhaps to be a "concept" version of the sedan in question. Once expected as a product for the 2020 model year, the sedan according to Mopar Insiders is now on the way for 2021 with tweaked looks to go with the centerpiece 6.2-liter Hemi V8 with 797 horsepower and 717 pound-feet of torque. The biggest cosmetic change will be the hood, a larger, redrawn center scoop dominating the front and feeding a cold-intake system pulled from the Demon. The two heat extractors move further back on the hood and rotate 90 degrees to face the sides of the sedan instead of facing the windshield. It will be available only in widebody form, and Redeye badges will adorn the grille, fenders, and decklid. Under the skin, changes compared to the Charger SRT Hellcat include a 6,500-rpm redline, 500 rpm higher than the 707-hp Charger Hellcat, a second dual-stage fuel pump, fitment of the SRT Power Chiller and the SRT After-Run Chiller also from the Demon, as well as stronger prop shafts and half-shafts. MI also mentioned the availability of either a standard 2.62 final drive ratio or an optional 3.09 final gear, production intent for concept wheels that were slated to show at LX Spring Fest, and a new SRT Performance Spoiler. The changes could drop the dash to 60 miles per hour a couple of tenths to 3.4 seconds, and get the widebody's top speed back over the 200-mph mark.  The question now is when the sedan will make its debut. MI thinks the Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody will first greet the public at FCA's What's New media roundup this summer. However, with this month still obscured by coronavirus clouds and even late summer events still being canceled, its impossible to know when we'll get a look at the new muscle sedan. Related Video: