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Dodge Charger Hellcat hitting 60 in 2.9 seconds on drag radials?

The Dodge boys and their cousins from SRT have shoehorned the same 707-horsepower, 6.2-liter supercharged V8 into both the Dodge Challenger and Charger. The former being a two-door, it's lighter than the latter four-door sedan. So it would stand to reason that the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat would be the quicker of the two, right?
Only that's not necessarily proving to be the case. On stock rubber, yes, the coupe beats the sedan: Dodge quotes a 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds for the Charger SRT Hellcat and 3.5 for the Challenger. Same gap across the quarter-mile: 11 seconds flat for the Charger versus 10.8 seconds for the Challenger. But according to recent reports, the story changes when you put both on drag radials.
While visiting Chrysler HQ in Auburn Hills, MI, TorqueNews.com caught wind of performance figures for the Charger Hellcat on drag tires: 0-60 in a mind-blowing 2.9 seconds and a quarter-mile in just 10.7. The latter figure just barely pips the Hellcat-powered Challenger's NHRA-certified figure of 10.8, making the Charger not only the fastest sedan on the market, but also the fastest muscle car. What isn't immediately clear, however, is whether the drag radials in question have any tread on them and are street-legal, or if they're pure slicks confined to a closed strip.

China-FCA merger could be a win-win for everyone but politicians

NEW YORK — Fiat Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne has said the car industry needs to come together, cut costs and stop incinerating capital. So far, his words have mostly fallen on deaf ears among competitors in Europe and North America. But it appears Marchionne has finally found a receptive audience — in China. FCA shares soared Monday after trade publication Automotive News reported the $18 billion Italian-American conglomerate controlled by the Agnelli family rebuffed a takeover from an unidentified carmaker from the Chinese mainland. As ugly as the politics of such a combination may appear at first blush, a transaction could stack up industrially, and perhaps even financially. A Sino-U.S.-European merger would create the first truly global auto group. That could push consolidation to the next level elsewhere. Moreover, China is the world's top market for the SUVs that Jeep effectively invented, so it might benefit FCA financially. A combo would certainly help upgrade the domestic manufacturer; Chinese carmakers have gotten better at making cars, but struggle to build global brands, and they need to develop export markets. Though frivolous overseas shopping excursions by Chinese enterprises are being reined in by Beijing, acquisitions that support the modernization and transformation of strategic industries still receive support, and the government considers the automotive industry to be strategic. A purchase of FCA by Guangzhou Automobile, Great Wall or Dongfeng Motors would probably get the same stamp of approval ChemChina was given for its $43 billion takeover of Syngenta. What's standing in the way? Apart from price (Automotive News said FCA's board deemed the offer insufficient) there's the not-insignificant matter of politics. Even as FCA shares soared, President Donald Trump interrupted his vacation to instruct the U.S. Trade Representative to look into whether to investigate China's trade policies on intellectual property. Seeing storied Detroit brands like Jeep, Chrysler, Ram and Dodge handed off to a Chinese company would provoke howls among Trump's economic-nationalist supporters. It might not play well in Italy, either, to see Alfa Romeo and Maserati answering to Wuhan instead of Turin — though Automotive News said they might be spun off separately. Yet, as Morgan Stanley observes, "cars don't ship across oceans easily," and political considerations increasingly demand local manufacture of valuable products.

FCA recalls 894k total vehicles worldwide in two campaigns

FCA is recalling a total of 893,698 vehicles worldwide in two campaigns to fix problems with inadvertent airbag deployment, failure of the anti-lock brakes, and stability control systems in the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Liberty, Dodge Journey, and Fiat Freemont. 559,703 of these vehicles are in the US. The larger recall affects 284,089 examples of the 2003 Jeep Liberty and 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and there are also 13,411 of them in Canada, 6,277 in Mexico, and 48,212 outside the NAFTA region. Because of "electrical noise beyond the tolerance of the airbag electronic control module", part of that component can fail, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This can cause the front and side airbags to deploy and the seatbelt pre-tensioners to activate inadvertently. FCA US has seven reports of alleged injuries from this problem. To fix the situation, the Jeeps need their Occupant Restraint Control modules replaced, as well as the front- and side-impact sensors. According to the NHTSA, the replacement parts won't be available until early 2016. Still, FCA US will advise owners about the problem in a letter by the end of December and will send a second notification when the components are ready. The second campaign affects 275,614 examples of the 2012-2015 Dodge Journey in the US; plus 78,148 of them in Canada, 36,471 in Mexico, and 151,476 left-hand drive units outside of NAFTA where it's sold as the Fiat Freemont. On these vehicles, water intrusion can disable the anti-lock brakes and electronic stability control, although a warning light often illuminates when this issue occurs, and the problem doesn't affect regular braking. There are also no reports of injuries or accidents. To fix the issue, dealers will seal the ABS wiring harness and will replace any already affected components as necessary, like the ABS module or the headlamp and dashboard wiring harness. Statement: Occupant Restraint Control Modules October 30, 2015 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - FCA US LLC is voluntarily recalling an estimated 284,089 older-model SUVs in the U.S. to replace their Occupant Restraint Control (ORC) modules and front and/or side-impact sensors, as required. Within this vehicle population, FCA US became aware of seven injuries caused by inadvertent air-bag deployments and advised NHTSA accordingly. The affected vehicles are not equipped with Takata Corp. air-bags. The Company is unaware of any related accidents.