So we have a Dodge Viper racing a Ferrari 355 on a mountain road. The Viper passes the 355, starts to go around a turn, and the brakes lock up. This tends to be one of those things you don’t want to happen, particularly when you’re traveling at high speeds on a road named “Deadman’s Road.”

The Viper (as you may have expected) flies off the side of the cliff, tumbles a time or two, then lands on it’s wheels, nary injuring it’s driver. Not something you see every day. And no, you can’t go use this as an excuse on your wife for a reason to go buy a Viper. “But Hunny, look how safe it is, it fell 100ft off a cliff and the driver was perfectly fine!”

Video after the jump: Continue Reading…

After days of repeatedly shoveling the snow out of my drive-way, just to repeat the task again the next day, I finally caught a break from Mother Nature and was able to make it over to the local Dodge dealer to test drive the new 2009 Journey.

Upon first glance of the Journey, images of the Hyundai Santa Fe and Acura RDX ran through my head. The smoothness of the sheet-metal begets a subtle “one-piece” view, along the side, and the black moldings used on the B and C-pillars to create a snaky singular window outline bring the Santa Fe to mind; while the sharp angular curves and declining roof line with the “sporty” rear spoiler mimic that of the RDX. The front fascia however, is all Dodge! Stemming from the Dodge Caliber, the Journey’s fascia slopes as it declines to compliment the height of the vehicle in a statuesque sort of way, whereas the Caliber’s front is in a more stern upright position which produces an aggressive stance for the Dodge crosshair, which is of course trademarked on the Journey as well.

The Journey currently has three trim levels available; SE, SXT, and R/T. My test vehicle was an SXT equipped with the heavily shared Chrysler 3.5L V6 High Output 24V MPI engine which has an output of 235 hp and 232 lb-ft of torque. The only other engine option, as of now, is a 2.4L 4-cylinder DOHC 16V Dual VVT engine which can produce 173-hp and 166 lb-ft of torque. The 4-cylinder is standard only on the SE; believe it or not, I initially had my eyes set to drive a 4-cylinder being that manufacturers today are now shifting their focus towards smaller engines with greater distribution; unfortunately the dealer was yet to receive one. So I was stuck with the BEEF, or so I thought!

Crossover vehicles are the wave of the future, no doubt, but when basing a supposedly LARGER vehicle on a car platform, in this case the Chrysler Sebring/Dodge Avenger “D” platform, it might be helpful if the power distribution were increased accordingly. Though the 3.5L wasn’t too exciting, in terms of its acceleration, the overall ride and handling was very impressive. This alone should convince the average consumer to consider a Journey, no pun intended. When I wasn’t praying that I could switch lanes quickly enough so that a massive pile-up on my behalf would occur, I was able to take in the smoothness of the ride, which in part can be contributed to the Journey’s 6-speed automatic transmission, as well as the performance suspension, which comes standard on the SXT and R/T models. The Journey was also equipped with an AutoStick feature which I neglected to use due to a personal bias (they’re just not fun!). I was, however, able to get somewhat of a feel of the AWD system when I came across a patch of snow while cruising down a residential street, and though there was minimal output, the system kicked in as needed. Continue Reading…

For the third press conference of the day, Dodge showed us the production version of the 2008 Challenger SRT8. Focusing on the classic nature of the car, Dodge made sure we know the new version is faster all-around, going from 0-60 in 4.9 seconds, ran the quarter-mile in 13.3 seconds, and has a 170mph top speed, thank to it’s 425 horsepower 6.1L V8

The performance figures, while not necessarily breath-taking, are impressive for a car with a sticker price of $37,995.

One cool feature of the car is it will have a built-in performance meter that instantly measures and displays 0-60, 60-0, and quarter mile times, as well as G-forces. Dodge received 4,300 orders on the first day it was announced, so I don’t see them having a big problem selling this car.

Live Coverage: 2008 Chicago Auto Show

OK, for me, this falls into the category of totally bitchin’.

Before Dale (and that would be senior) and before NASCAR became an irresistible beige monolith of marketing and sponsorship opportunities with some “racing” thrown in now and again, one racer stood above them all.

You don’t get a nickname like “King” lightly, and if anyone ever deserved it, Richard Petty sure as hell did.

The vast majority of the time, he raced Chrysler products, and they were always (always, always) painted a particular shade of blue.

Dodge, pulling off a move of supreme coolness, has decided to paint the 43rd Challenger off the line that very shade of “Petty Blue” (although when I was a kid, I always heard it called Petty Racing Enterprises Blue) and auction it off for

The cash raised at the auction will go to Victory Junction Gang Camp which was set up and is still run by the Petty family (real good outfit, real good family).

So hey, if you’re rich, and you’re predisposed to wanting things like this, go bid.

Dodge apparently wants to jump on the small roadster bandwagon along with the Honda S2000, Mazda Miata, Pontiac Solstice, BMW Z4 and Saturn Sky. In fact, I think from the front, it looks just like the S2000. Take a look at it:

Dodge plans to release the concept at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show, although I’m kinda pissed it wasn’t show at the Chicago Auto Show last week. Attempting to aim at the affordable roadster market just like the rest of the cars listed above, expect it to list at around the same low $20K mark. Keep reading for more info and a gallery:

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I just received my press pass in the mail today for the Chicago Auto Show! Man, this really snuck up on me. I can’t believe the show is only a few days away! With everything ready to go, there are some more cars that will be there that I’m really excited about, and I would like to share a few with you. Please also see my first post on cool cars that will be there.

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