Car Throttle

News Bites for today include Dodge's hot Dart,  Audi's new diesel, teaser shots of the upcoming 2013 Dodge Viper, some good ole' fashioned intellectual property theft, an electric crossover thing, and Super Bowl advertisements from Audi and Honda.  Read on for the News Bites! Dodge's Dart subcompact was just revealed a few weeks ago, but we've already got two pieces of future speculation on where the lineup could expand.  First, Mopar will be bringing a concept Dart to the Chicago Auto Show, called the Dart GTS 210 Tribute.  It previews the two "stages" of Mopar upgrades for the new sedan.  Stage 1 will be aesthetic goodies, like the carbon fiber hood with Viper-esque scoop, and matte black side skirts, front diffuser, and other trim - along

The automotive world is filled with rivalries.  STI owners think EVO drivers are mentally handicapped, Mustang owners laugh at Camaros, Prius drivers have those "pissing on Insight" stickers, and Holden owners like to pull Ford drivers out of their cars at stoplights and beat them to death with pipe wrenches.  Another to add to the list: Cobalt SS and Neon SRT-4 owners.  On the surface, both cars are pretty similar: high performance versions of domestic economy cars, with drastically more power and braking abilities and not a lot of interior luxuries.  I love both; I love the Cobalt SS Turbo more. One way to settle the whole argument is to quit the bullshitting and bench racing, assemble some teams, slap them on a dyno (or

The Detroit Auto Show actually starts Monday.  But in this business, all the news arrives before its due date.  That's the case with the Dodge Dart, which they've been teasing for a little while now.  We've had some preview posts on the Dart before, which you can find here and a snarky editorial on the Dart's EPA-pleasing 9-speed gearbox here. The full press release on the Dart will likely drop Monday (or before), but they've released a batch of images showing the R/T (Red) and Limited (White.)  Finally seeing the whole car for the first time, I'm pleasantly surprised.  Mainly because they've ditched the goofy pseudo-SUV look of the Caliber, which never really worked, but it's a decent looking little car on it's

In order to keep you, our reader, more abreast with current news without taking up an inordinate amount of your time, I'm introducing this column - "News Bites."  One paragraph and picture per topic of today's automotive news.  One article.  If we were a paper publication, we'd say we were going green.  Let us know what you think! Fiat has dropped a load of new photos of the 3rd-generation Panda supermini today.  This pint-sized product (which I still believe Fiat should be selling in the US pitched against the Fit, etc) debuted at the Frankfurt show in September, and is going on sale next year.  Engines are all tiny, ranging from an 800cc TwinAir 2cyl up to a 1.3L diesel.  Full high-res gallery here.

Pictured: ZF's 8-speed Automatic for BMW's, about to be "old hat."

Luddite.  The term originated from England during the industrial revolution in the early 1800's.  Luddites went out at night, destroying wide-frame fabric looms that were taking away the jobs of skilled textile workers.  It was a man-against-machine revolution that got to the point of military intervention.  Technology was minimizing their usefulness in society, so the solution was to destroy the technology.  A noble fight, but today the term Luddite has been boiled down to mean someone not fond of technological advances. I am not a Luddite.  There's plenty of technology I'm fond of.  I like fuel injection.  I even like direct injection in some forms, particularly Toyota's D4S direct and port system.  Twin-clutch automated

Charger, Challenger, Aspen, and now Dart.  It's simple:  Chrysler has fired the person in charge of coming up with new names for their products.  Dodge released some CGI renderings today of the 2013 Dart, which will replace the awful Caliber.  Those who've been around a lot longer than me will remember the Dart as Dodge's low-end offering that ran in various forms from 1960-1976.  Hey, if you're going to resurrect a name, I'm glad it's not Volare. Unlike the original Dart, there will be no three-on-the-tree and indestructible Mopar straight-six.  The Dart is based on the platform of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta hatchback, enlarged for US tastes.  It's both wider and has a longer wheelbase, and the platform is referred to as the CUSW (Compact US

The yearly SEMA (Special Equipment Manufacturers Association) show happens in Las Vegas.  That's enough reason to want to go to it.  But more than the exotic locale (way better than, err, Detroit), SEMA is a hotbed of aftermarket parts.  If you're inclined to think this is a no-big-deal sort of affair, that's not the case.  The SEMA show attracts so much attention that manufacturers themselves have been getting into the SEMA game for a few years now, whether directly or through various 3rd party companies.

There are so many "new car" debuts prior to SEMA that I would literally flood your RSS feed with them.  I don't want to do that.  Plus, I can't write an entire article about a Chevy Sonic

In a recent review of the Mustang GT 5.0, I alluded to it's desirability over a Dodge Challenger for various reasons.  A friend of mine who works at a Dodge/Fiat dealer shot me and email basically saying "have you driven a 392 yet?  They're awesome."  Considering my limited experience the LX cars in general, and my overall fondness (on paper) for the new 392ci Hemi V8 (6.4L for you continental types), I figured I'd jump on it.  I mean, who would say no to driving a 470 horsepower sports car? The primary difference between the 2011+ Challenger SRT-8's and the previous (2008-2010) models is under the hood.  I've written plenty on the new 6.4L Hemi V8, but here are the basics: more displacement (6.4L vs

We've already covered the new lineup of Chrysler's SRT-8 vehicles here on CarThrottle. The new Chrysler 300C SRT-8, Dodge Charger SRT-8, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8 all pack Mopar's trick new 6.4L Hemi, which manages to make more power and torque overall, significantly more torque at low RPM's, and much improved gas mileage over the old, smaller 6.1L Hemi.  We've gone over all the goodies they'll come packed with, how fast they'll be, all that - but how much will they cost? Chrysler dumped information on pricing for the new SRT-8 models today, and it's a surprisingly wide spread considering the mechanical similarity. The cheapest will be the Challenger SRT-8 2-door, with a base price of $44,070, although that doesn't include the

The world's filled with boring, mundane, unremarkable automobiles. For every SVO Mustang, there are 10,000 Camry LE's.  For every Alfa Romeo Guilia Super sedan, there are an untold bazillion Honda Fits.  That's just how it is: mainstream sells.  As it turns out, very few people actually want the diesel, all wheel drive, manual-transmission station wagon that internet car enthusiasts say would sell like hotcakes. Sometimes, though, some of the most interesting cars out there are born out of some of the most dishwater-dull transportation appliances.  Here's my top ten - as always, feel free to leave a comment telling me what I left out at the bottom!  On we go. 10) Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 Mitsubishi's Galant sedan is... hold on, let me go to Wikipedia, I can't