2011 Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi Sport Lifted 4x4 Quad Cab Pickup, Low Mileage! on 2040-cars

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Lackluster Dodge Dart sales trigger layoffs

Hidden amidst the overall very positive sales figures that Chrysler released earlier this week were a few disappointments, the biggest of which may be the Dodge Dart. While Dodge sales in general were down 11 percent from a year ago, the Dart's poor figures stood out from the rest - with 4,888 units sold, the Dart was down 37 percent in February.
It comes as little surprise, then, that the automaker has announced layoffs at its assembly plant in Belvidere, IL. According to The Daily Herald, Dodge will temporarily lay off 325 workers "to balance vehicle supply with current sales demand." Put more simply, there are more Darts than buyers at the moment...
We don't think the Dodge Dart is a bad car, but it's playing in a market that offers a few standout sellers, like the Chevy Cruze, Ford Focus, Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. According to AutoPacific analyst Dave Sullivan, as quoted by The Daily Herald, "great incentives on the Dodge Avenger" are also partly to blame for the Dart's poor showing.

That thing got a Hemi? Mopar engine kits make it easier to say yes

Thanks to a new kit from Mopar, classic car owners will have an easier time dropping Hemis into their muscle cars. The kit works with Mopar's 345 and 392 Hemi engines (5.7 and 6.4 liters respectively) and with cars built before 1975. The kit will run $1,795 and has everything needed to get one of the above engines running. The parts include a power distribution system, engine computer, engine and chassis wiring harnesses, O2 and intake air temperature sensors, ground wiring and a gas pedal. The kit is also designed to work with a manual transmission, but Mopar says a transmission such as the Torqueflite 727 and 904 can be made to work with the system. As for examples of the kit in action, take a look at the Jeep CJ66 and Dodge Challenger Shakedown that Mopar revealed this week at the SEMA show. Mopar also offers a few other parts to help complete the project, including various oil pans to clear subframes, a set of headers, and accessory drives for power steering and air conditioning. All of these parts are extra cost though. You'll also need an engine, and the 345 starts at $6,070, and the 392 runs $9,335. However, if you happen to already have one from 2014 or newer, that will work, too. Muscle car fans are getting more choices for their engine conversions. Chevrolet Performance already sells crate engines with "Connect and Cruise" kits to get its engines working in classic cars. The General also offers it with more engines. However, for people who want to keep a Mopar engine in their classic Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth, or Jeep, this is a cool new option. Related Video: Featured Gallery Mopar Hemi V8 Engine Swap Kit Image Credit: FCA Aftermarket SEMA Show Chrysler Dodge Performance Classics FCA engine swap SEMA 2016

Daily Driver: 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

Daily Driver videos are micro-reviews of vehicles in the Autoblog press fleet, reviewed by the staffers who drive them every day. Today's Daily Driver features the 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, reviewed by Greg Migliore. You can watch the video above or read a transcript below. Watch more Autoblog videos at /videos. VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: [00:00:00] Hey, everybody. It's Greg Migliore and today I am driving a 707-horsepower Dodge Charger. That can only mean one thing: I'm driving the Hellcat. Naturally, the spotlight feature of this car is the 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8. Makes 707 horsepower and 650 pound feet of torque. [00:00:30] Now naturally the engine sounds great and you can hear all of those horses going out the exhaust in back, which I think the Dodge guys have tuned really well. I think it's got one of the more unique sounds in the industry. All that horsepower will do that, but they've tuned it so there's a low kind of growl, and then it burbles and it's angry [00:01:00], it's visceral. I like it. It's intoxicating. It's different than other muscle cars. It's different than European exotics. I think it sounds great. I'm driving in sport right now which allows me to use the paddle shifters. I think it sounds a little better and the shifts of the eight-speed automatic transmission are a little bit more aggressive. For such a powerful car, Dodge did a nice job of tuning it to be actually pretty drivable. I just took a corner right there and the [00:01:30] steering offers you satisfying weight to your inputs. It's a little bit of a heavier steering, especially compared to some of the earlier generation Chargers. It's sporty, but it's not crazy. The design of the Dodge Charger is a critical element. That's why a lot of people buy this car, is it gives them that muscle car heritage look. The Hellcat has some special design cues that are also functional. You've got a couple of extra air intakes up front, keeps everything cool and breathing, the air flowing through; a nice spoiler in back [00:02:00] that helps keep the aero, and the downforce keeps you on the ground. The HID projector headlights really pop, especially at night, and in back you've got the LED taillights that spread out wide across the back end of this car like some of the great Chargers of the past. This car rolls on 20-inch black wheels with a spiderweb design. I think they look good. They're kind of low-key, which I think is great.