Car Throttle News Bites: 31st January 2012

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 with those good looking 18" alloys.  Stage 2 will bump power output from 184bhp (assuming that's the 2.4L) to 210bhp, probably through intake/exhaust/tuning.  The other piece of speculation comes from Motor Trend, who brought up the question: what will be under the hood of the next SRT-4?  Remember the original tire-smoking Neon SRT-4 packed 230 horsepower, and the ungainly but fast Caliber packed 285, so MT is guessing the Dart SRT-4 will have at least 300 under the hood.  It's all guesses, but the smart money's on a boosted variant of the 2.0L or 2.4L "Tigershark" I4's, cranking out around the magic 300 mark through the twin-clutch automated manual.  Here's hoping.

Audi's just released details on a new engine offering for the A6 and A7 in Europe, and it's a belter.  Called the 3.0 BiTDi, it's a twin-turbocharged higher output version of their existing 3.0L diesel V6 engine.  The turbos are set up in a sequential arrangement, and the engine also has regenerative braking and a start/stop system.  This version cranks out a healthy 309bhp between 3,900-4,500rpm, and an even stronger 480lb-ft torque from 1,450-2,800rpm.  All models (A6, A6 Avant, A7) will come with an 8-speed automatic hooked to Quattro AWD, and it'll be fast: the A6 3.0 BiTDI will do 0-100km/h in 5.1 seconds (the A6 Avant and A7 in 5.3.)  Average fuel mileage is 44.1mpg Imperial for all.  Prices range from £43,810 for the A6 SE Saloon 3.0 BiTDI to £53,436 for the A7 S-Line.  It's still nowhere near BMW's new M Performance triple-turbo diesel craziness, but it's a start.

Dodge is reviving the iconic Viper sports car for model year 2013, and they've just released the first teaser image of the car (which is schedule to debut at the New York Auto Show in April).  From this image, we can tell the 2013 (SRT, not Dodge) Viper will have... headlights.  And a hood scoop, and a roof of some sort.  Not very helpful, but this is much better strip tease than the Buick Encore at least.  Supposedly the new Viper will have stability control, and a new version of the gargantuan 8.4L V10 fitted with Fiat's MultiAir system - we'll see.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhkDdayA4iA

The Super Bowl is apparently happening soon - I don't really do the NFL thing, so I don't care - but that does mean there are some great car ads on the way.  There's also this Honda ad, which reincarnates Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller.  Only he's actually Matthew Broderick, and instead of his friend's dad's Ferrari, he's driving a Honda CR-V on his "day off."  I'm sorry, I'm pretty sure Ferris Bueller would be more interested in joyriding in an Aventador.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw9ZeXB2uKs

There are some other funny ads coming out, but Audi's always a strong contender for best Super Bowl ad.  I think they've got this year in the bag, with their minute-long "Vampire Party" spot.  The premise is that Audi's new LED headlights are so bright, they cause vampires to explode.  I think they're just poking fun at Volvo, who has gotten on board promoting for the silly "Twilight" tween sparkly vampire franchise.  Still hilarious.

Under the "What are intellectual property rights?" heading, we have the upcoming JAC 43R, made in (you guessed it) China.  Hmm.  It does look a little bit like a Ford F-150.  Surely consumers won't get them confused, it's not like it has a blue oval in the front grille... Wait, yes it does.  The continued theft of designs from China is one of the many reasons why they've made almost no headway into real automotive markets.  Wonder what's under the hood?  A Mitsubishi 4G63?

Another terrible teaser image, this one from American electric-car maker Tesla.  This is the silhouette of the upcoming Model X crossover, which has me so excited I can't stay conscious.  Just kidding, electric pseude SUV's aren't my thing - although the company claims it's "faster than a Porsche 911 and more spacious than an Audi Q7," so that's something.  The Model X will be revealed on February 9th in a live webcast as well as at Tesla's design studio in Hawthorne, CA.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1AHFz_muJg

And finally, I'm curious: how do you stall a car that has an automated manual transmission?  Does this guy just suck at driving, or does Aston Martin have some more programming work to do on the transmission of the One-77, their nearly 2 million dollar bespoke hypercar?  Either way, it's a mixture of "The sound, oh the glorious sound" and laughter at this dude failing to make a right turn in city traffic.