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

It's true.  It's part of the human psyche.  In a battle between David and Goliath, people are always going to hope that the slingshot wielding man takes down the towering beast.  Perhaps it's the societal interpretation of "Rage Against The Machine."  People want to see the scrawny midget kick the stuffing out of the club bouncer. And so it is, I believe, with cars.  Or at least it seems to be that way.  Case in point:  Nissan's GT-R.  Now, this is not to say that the GT-R is a Pygmy in a room full of Amazons, or extraordinarily cheap.  In fact, if you point your browser over to Nissan's website, you'll see that $89,950 is required to put a new GT-R in your driveway.  If

I always make it out to Raleigh's Cars & Coffee event the first Saturday of every month. It's always worth it, even though I abhor waking up early, because there's always awesome stuff to see.  A lot of the same cars show up, so I won't show pictures of stuff you've already seen - for those you can check previous Cars & Coffee coverage here, here, and here. For starters, here is one of 337 Porsche 959's ever built, which was Porsche's rolling technical showcase that blew everything else out of the water in the 1980's, and set the standard for supercar performance.  None were ever imported to the US; it's likely this one has been fitted with the Canepa Design engine

Picking up where Part I left off, we find ourselves in the back of 3SX Performance's service shop. In addition to a handful of lifts in the main service bay, 3SX also has a number of other rooms filled with interesting stuff in the back of their shop - starting with the dyno room.

This is 3SX's photo, because I somehow forgot to take one of the dyno.

3SX's dyno is a SuperFlow AutoDyn 88, which is a four-wheel-drive unit.  This seems like a no-brainer, but the vast majority of dynos at private shops are only 2WD models, as they're cheaper, easier to set up, easier to keep working right, and easier to use.  But when the bulk of your business

The current Viper saga is finally coming to a close. Last year, the future of the car was in doubt as Chrysler hit financial hard times. After they attempted to sell and only received one long-shot bid from the now-defunct Devon Motor Works, many thought they would be shuttered. However, the Viper plant was actually the first Chrysler plant to resume production after the bankruptcy. It was then announced that a new model would be introduced in 2012, in cooperation with "Italian operations." The current model's production is being ended soon to preserve the value of the current run. As such, the last run of current Vipers is set to end this summer, with the 50 Final Edition models. As far as special models go, the Final Editions are pretty

Production of the Dodge Viper is set to end this year - but the car's future won't end there. Last year, Ralph Gilles, CEO of the Dodge car brand, said that production of the current Viper will end in July of this year. He said then that a run of 500 final edition Vipers will be produced before that date, and that they will be the “most special Vipers ever.” The ACR-X is one of those Vipers, a hardcore, track-only (not street legal) version of the Viper. According to Gilles, Dodge wants to end with a bang, preserve the value of the current generation car until a new vehicle (which is being developed right now, in partnership with "Italian operations") is ready in 2012. Long wait? Yes, but

Another small operation starts, only to close. With Devon Motor Works though, it isn't because the company ran out of cash. Back in the dark days of summer 2008, with Chrysler heading toward bankruptcy, Devon Motor Works made an offer for Viper while Chrysler was attempting to sell it. Being a lowball offer of only $5.5 million, Chrysler rejected. Apparently there was more to the whole thing than it first appeared. Chrysler recently announced that the current Viper will be ending production in 2010, with a new model to come in 2012. This has thrown a wrench into Devon's plans. Beyond sharing the same V10, the sharing goes deeper than that, to include the chassis and other components. Given that, all the work Devon has done to produce

News about the Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR's record-setting Laguna Seca run just came out. The Devon Motor Works GTX held the last record, with it scarcely beating the Viper SRT10 ACR's time. Now a video has come out from the cockpit of the car as it goes around for the record-breaking lap. It is narrated a bit by Dodge test driver Chris Winkler, as he runs through the important turns on the track. It is worth checking out! httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpV_zsyQSoI

The United States really doesn't have a supercar equivalent to the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini. The Corvette and Corvette ZR1 are perhaps the best examples, as well as the Dodge Viper. The latter is a heavy part of a project that does aim to provide an American supercar - the Devon Motor Works GTX. It uses a modified version of the Viper's V-10. The GTX recently toppled the record for the highest speed time around Laguna Seca, incidentally set by a Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR. Now, it appear that record has been beat yet again - by (you guessed it) - the Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR.  SRT Driver Chris Winkler took the Viper around the track for six hot laps before lapping it in a scant

At today's marathon six-hour long briefing on the future of Chrysler, perhaps the biggest news we haven't heard before was information about the future of Viper. The car's future has been in doubt over the past year. Prior to bankruptcy, Chrysler deemed it as one of the assets it had worth selling. No buyers were found and the "brand", as Chrysler liked to call it, continued with the company throughout the bankruptcy process. Chrysler received only one offer for it, a lowball from Devon Motor Works (of GTX fame). To the surprise of many, the Viper's Conner Avenue assembly plant was the first Chrysler plant to go online post-bankruptcy. The smart owners at Fiat realized the value of the Viper brand name and its