2023 Dodge Charger Scat Pack Widebody on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Dodge Grand Caravan to live in fleets through 2017

After a hard-working career of hauling around families for decades, the Dodge Grand Caravan name was set to retire in 2016 under FCA's five-year plan for the US. The decision would have put all of the automaker's focus behind the next-generation Chrysler Town & Country, but that original strategy might have changed. Now, Dodge's minivan may have to work just a few more years before it can finally shuffle off. There are set to be 2016 and 2017 model year examples of the current Grand Caravan, according to an internal FCA production document obtained by Automotive News. This report suggests no changes in the minivan between those two years, and there's no mention of the company's intentions deeper into the future. "While we've announced the Grand Caravan will eventually be the minivan that goes away, we're not going into more detail at this time," a Dodge spokesperson said to AN. For the next Town & Country, production would start in Windsor, Ontario, in late February 2016. This document also suggests a brief run of 2016 Chrysler minivans based on the current model from August 2015 until February 2016. Automotive News speculates that the reprieve for the Grand Caravan could allow that model to focus on fleets and the Canadian market while the new Town and Country gets up and running. The latest generation T&C will reportedly debut at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show and will possibly carry a higher price to befit a vehicle with a more modern platform and improved tech.

Autoblog Podcast #391

Episode #391 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Mike Harley and Brandon Turkus talk about the appointment of Kumar Galhotra to run Lincoln, changes coming for Scion, the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, and which cars won't live into 2015. We also take a quick detour to talk about the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge prototype, which Mike Harley just came back from driving. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the new rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #391: Topics: 2015 Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge Prototype New boss at Lincoln Scion xB, iQ ending soon Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Cars that won't live to 2015 In the Autoblog Garage: McLaren 650S Hyundai Genesis Hosts: Dan Roth, Michael Harley, Brandon Turkus Runtime: 01:42:06 Rundown: Intro and Garage - 00:00 Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge - 30:05 Kumar Galhotra to Lincoln - 34:32 Scion Changes - 43:58 Dodge Charger Hellcat - 54:25 Discontinued Cars - 01:06:24 Q&A - 01:22:59 Get the podcast: [UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream [iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes [RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Feedback: Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Podcasts Dodge Hyundai Infiniti Lincoln McLaren Scion Supercars mclaren 650s

Why the Charger Hellcat can't be ordered with a manual transmission

Fans of truly irreverent amounts of horsepower will find lots to love in the form of the 2015 Dodge Challenger and Charger Hellcat models. Both of them send 707 ridiculous horsepower to the rear wheels; the only question is whether you want your absurdity delivered with two or four doors. Oh, and whether or not you want the option of a manual transmission.
If you prefer rowing your own gears, the choice is made for you; there is no manual gearbox option available on the Charger Hellcat, or any Charger model at all, for that matter. Wonder why? Well, besides the fact that almost nobody - sorry, clutch fans, but it's true - would choose to buy a Charger with a manual transmission, that is? The answer, according to an industry insider in a post written on Jalopnik's Opposite Lock forum, is the floorpan.
It's probably not a surprise to most of our readers that the Dodge Challenger and Charger share a large portion of their chassis structure, which is codenamed LX at Chrysler, but there are still some significant differences under the skin due to the shorter wheelbase and two-door coupe bodyshell of the Challenger, as opposed to the sedan shape of the Charger. One of the differences is the floorpan, the huge chunk of sheetmetal that makes up the floor of the car and props up such essential items as the car's seats.