| Chrysler's 'Full Throttle Test Drive Event' Puts Consumers Behind the Wheel at Los Angeles' Wild Rivers on Oct. 28 and | | Posted Thursday, November 09, 2006 2:47:05 PM by Blog57 Team | | AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Oct. 24 -- Have you ever wanted to be a professional test driver? Going fast on a tight course and squealing the tires in the turns, just like on TV? Or maybe you've always wanted to take a 4x4 on an off-road adventure over logs and through rivers? Los Angeles-area residents will have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to try out all of these things in a controlled setting when Chrysler Group's "Full Throttle Test Drive Event" comes to Irvine's Wild Rivers Waterpark on Saturday, Oct. 28 and Sunday, Oct. 29. Consumers are being invited to test drive the full line of 2007 Chrysler, Jeep(R) and Dodge products, including the all-new Chrysler Sebring, Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and Dodge Nitro, on three specially designed test tracks. One track will showcase the ride and handling of the Chrysler Group's passenger cars and a second track will feature the off-road capability of sport-utility vehicles like the Jeep Wrangler, Grand Cherokee and Commander.... | |
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| | | 2007 Dodge Caliber SRT-4 | | Posted Thursday, October 19, 2006 12:46:07 PM by Blog57 Team | | What Edmunds.com Says:You usually don't think of a four door hatchback when it comes to performance, vehicles, but the Caliber SRT will change all that when it goes on sale next year. What We Know: Dodge unveiled the Caliber SRT4 at the Chicago auto show and few were disappointed. Loaded with a turbocharged, 2.4-liter four-cylinder, the SRT4 cranks out 300 horsepower and 260 pound feet of torque. A six speed manual transmission sends all that power to the front wheels through a standard limited slip differential. Wheels are 19-inches in diameter and wear 255/45 Goodyear tires. Dodge claims a 0-to-60 time of less than 6 seconds. Like all SRT vehicles, the Caliber SRT4 gets exterior mods like a hood scoop, revised lower bodywork and a larger rooftop spoiler. Interior upgrades include heavily bolstered sport seats, a turbo boost gauge and metallic petals and dash accents.... | |
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| | | Up to Caliber | | Posted Tuesday, October 17, 2006 6:46:07 AM by Blog57 Team | | Barbara: Thanks to the price of fuel today, the demand for small economical compact vehicles is on the rise. That's good for all of us because the manufacturers are becoming more competitive, and that makes the consumers winners. Dodge's latest entry into the segment is the 2007 Dodge Caliber. It's not only economical and flexible, it is surprisingly well-equipped with a good-looking exterior. Bill: When the big guns at Dodge told the designers to think outside the box, they really did. Replacing the Neon compact four-door sedan with a stylish crossover seems like an unusual move, but I think it was brilliant. The crystal balls in the planning department must have been set on fast-forward, where they could see a market was ready to embrace the roomy, utilitarian crossovers.... | |
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| | | Jalopnik Reviews: 2006 Dodge Charger SRT8, Part 1 | | Posted Sunday, September 24, 2006 6:46:14 AM by Blog57 Team | | Fire up any vehicle that breaks the 400 hp threshold -- no matter who makes it -- and you know you're in for a hoot. But it takes more than an engine tuned by ADD cases to create a car that's truly exciting -- one that makes cartoon wolves turn and whistle as it lopes by; one that morphs the schlub behind the wheel into Steve McQueen. You guessed it. The Dodge Charger SRT-8 is most definitely that type of a car. The SRT8 continues the Chrysler Street & Racing Technology group's charter of Hemifying -- and in some cases, Hemifying plus some more umph -- Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler work product. In the case of the Charger, the SRT8's 6.1-liter Hemi provides 85 hp over the already potent 5.7-liter version found in the R/T, giving it more power per liter than the 426 street Hemi of yore.... | |
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| | | Herr Dominant In Road America SPEED Touring Car Run | | Posted Thursday, August 24, 2006 4:46:00 PM by Blog57 Team | | ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 19, 2006) - Chip Herr, of Lititz, Pa., captured his second SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car win of the season in his Audi A4 at Road America's Generac 500 weekend. Charles Espenlaub, of Lutz, Fla., and Robb Holland, of Denver, Colo., completed the top three. Starting second in his No. 17 International Autos/North Shore Audi/Clear Capital Audi A4, Herr rocketed into the lead off the standing start, utilizing his all-wheel-drive system. Once out front, Herr kept his advantage over polesitter Espenlaub to between one and two seconds for the entire run to take his second career victory in the 17-lap, 68.815-mile race by 1.677 seconds. "Since I was starting second, it was nice to be able to focus on launching from the lights and not focusing on driving around the guy in front of me," Herr said.... | |
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| | | Jorgen Moller of RaceDeck Racing, Sets a 221 MPH Land Speed Record in a 4 Cylinder Dodge SRT-4 Production Car: 'The | | Posted Wednesday, August 23, 2006 10:45:59 AM by Blog57 Team | | Bonneville, UT (PRWEB) August 16, 2006 -- Jorgen Moller of Salt Lake City,Utah, a "Member of the prestigious Bonneville 200 mph Club" set his 5th land speed record this week in a Production Dodge SRT-4 Car. The record was set at 221mph average speed for both runs on the five mile course. To achieve a record you must run the same 5-mile long course twice, first you have a qualifying run higher than the current MPH record and then you must make a return pass and have a speed that when averaged with you first run, exceeds the existing record. On the first pass Jorgen piloted through with an average of 222.416 mph and then backed it up with a return run of 220.351 mph giving him the record." It was a great ride, the car was still pulling hard as I exited the mile with our GPS showing 235.86 mph and climbing," said Moller.... | |
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| | | Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation | | Posted Tuesday, August 01, 2006 8:46:07 PM by Blog57 Team | | July 30, 2006 - Im never good with introductions so since you know this is a review of Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation (a strategy RPG with giant robots for those who really dont know) just going to skip that part. This review will be broken down into the sections that are set by IGN (i.e. Presentation, Graphics etc.) Presentation: The Super Robot Taisen: OG is based upon the original characters that the game developers, Banpresto, have created over the past 15 years in their Super Robot Taisen game series. Before I continue, please do not ask questions like Where is Eva? or Why isnt Gundam Wing in?. The game only features Banprestos ORIGINAL characters, hence the games name, so there are no licensed anime and manga mechs or characters. Im telling you now so that you dont look like a fool when you ask something similar on a forum.... | |
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| | | The Dodge Caliber: New and unimproved | | Posted Monday, July 31, 2006 6:46:05 AM by Blog57 Team | | If you do any research on the new Dodge Caliber, you'll run into a curious example of duck speak, a kind of echo-chamber thinking to the effect that the Neon -- the Schmoo-styled compact sedan that the Caliber replaces after more than a decade in production -- was somehow awful and out of date, a low-functioning relative that Dodge would just as soon cut from the family album with an X-acto knife. In fact, when Dodge introduced the Caliber at the Detroit auto show in January, it hired Zen sneer-master David Spade to dis the outgoing Neon, which sold more than 2 million units worldwide. Of the Caliber he said, "Dude, anything looks better when you compare it to the Neon.'' Dude, really? Because from the seat of my finely calibrated pants, the old Neon would absolutely crush the new Caliber, a car that does for driving fun what Ryan Seacrest does for international monetary theory.... | |
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| | | Forget the warranty, but feel the power | | Posted Sunday, July 09, 2006 8:46:02 PM by Blog57 Team | | When it comes to performance mods on brand-new showroom stockers, one has visions of those cartoon angels and devils perched on their shoulders. The Dealer Angel has a few notable kits and bits, however the end result can be somewhat sugar-free to contend with warranty compliance. The Aftermarket Devil has plenty of hi-po whispers to tempt you. I hate to judge, but considering that Nishanth Jayaranjan's 2005 Dodge SRT-4 is now putting out 516.92 peak ponies, he is either suffering from a low-grade temptation disorder, or he has some unresolved warranty-hatred issues. (Sadly/gladly, there is no cure.) "I think the warranty was voided about 10,000 kms into the vehicle," said Jayaranjan. His original intention was to install the various Stage kits from Mopar Performance. With the SRT-4s vast following, Jayaranjan discovered how to achieve impressive horsepower, which was also cost-effective.... | |
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| | | Muscle losing its appeal? | | Posted Saturday, July 08, 2006 2:46:01 PM by Blog57 Team | | Rushing through torrential rain on Interstate 44, the Shelby Mustang GT 500 splashes smoothly through road pools at speed. This extreme 500-horsepower muscle car -- the newest factory hot rod from Detroit -- weathered that storm with ease and grace. But the GT 500 and other domestic muscle cars may face tougher tests ahead. Demand for the GT 500 is so high that it has pushed the car's $42,000 base price to $50,000 or more at many dealerships, but some industry observers think it could be the last 500-horsepower muscle car out of Detroit. With gas prices high and baby boomers nearing retirement, the sun may be setting on traditional American muscle cars. Moreover, as General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. struggle financially, the money to develop these cars may be limited.... | |
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