Photo: Dodge
The LX vehicle architecture that underpins the 300, Charger, and Challenger? It’s a 15-year-old design, stemming from an era when Chrysler was joined at the hip with Daimler. Following the Fiat takeover, the LX soldiered on, and it’s showing its age in every imaginable aspect.
Care to guess how much the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye weighs? How about the Charger SRT Hellcat? Make that 4,451 pounds and 4,334 pounds, respectively. A lot by modern standards, and this weight doesn’t bode well with fuel economy or handling either.
With the 840-horsepower Challenger SRT Demon, you could say that Fiat Chrysler squeezed everything the LX has to offer. Given the age of the Charger and Challenger, what’s there to expect from the next generations of the full-size sedan and muscle car?
Mike Manley, who replaces Sergio Marchionne as chief executive officer of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, made it clear “those platforms and that technology we used does need to move on. They can’t exist as you get into the middle-2020s.” Speaking to The Detroit News, the head honcho assured that “new technology is going to drive a load of weight out, so we can think of the powertrains in a different way.”
As expected, FCA plans to “use electrification to really supplement those vehicles." It is widely expected the Pentastar will go twin-turbo while other people suggest that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is working on an inline-six engine (codenamed Tornado). But for Manley, “electrification will certainly be part of the formula that says what is American muscle in the future. What it isn’t going to be is a V8, supercharged, 700-horsepower engine."
Given these circumstances, the days of the Hellcat V8 are numbered because of tightening emissions regulations and the switch to a different platform. Manley didn’t go into specifics, but don’t forget Ford plans to hybridize the Mustang.
Chevrolet also ran a survey in regard to the hybridization of the Camaro, which could introduce not one, but two hybrid options in the nearest of futures. Turning our attention back to the Challenger, analysts speculate that the entry-level powertrain option could use “a version of the company’s 2.0-liter turbo-four with 48-volt eTorque mild-hybrid assist.”
In the case of the Jeep Wrangler, the Hurricane engine comes standard with an eight-speed automatic transmission and 270 horsepower. Torque is rated at 295 pound-feet (400 Nm), making the Hurricane torquier than the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6.
On that note, how do you imagine the pony and muscle car scene in five to ten years from now on?
With the 840-horsepower Challenger SRT Demon, you could say that Fiat Chrysler squeezed everything the LX has to offer. Given the age of the Charger and Challenger, what’s there to expect from the next generations of the full-size sedan and muscle car?
Mike Manley, who replaces Sergio Marchionne as chief executive officer of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, made it clear “those platforms and that technology we used does need to move on. They can’t exist as you get into the middle-2020s.” Speaking to The Detroit News, the head honcho assured that “new technology is going to drive a load of weight out, so we can think of the powertrains in a different way.”
As expected, FCA plans to “use electrification to really supplement those vehicles." It is widely expected the Pentastar will go twin-turbo while other people suggest that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is working on an inline-six engine (codenamed Tornado). But for Manley, “electrification will certainly be part of the formula that says what is American muscle in the future. What it isn’t going to be is a V8, supercharged, 700-horsepower engine."
Given these circumstances, the days of the Hellcat V8 are numbered because of tightening emissions regulations and the switch to a different platform. Manley didn’t go into specifics, but don’t forget Ford plans to hybridize the Mustang.
Chevrolet also ran a survey in regard to the hybridization of the Camaro, which could introduce not one, but two hybrid options in the nearest of futures. Turning our attention back to the Challenger, analysts speculate that the entry-level powertrain option could use “a version of the company’s 2.0-liter turbo-four with 48-volt eTorque mild-hybrid assist.”
In the case of the Jeep Wrangler, the Hurricane engine comes standard with an eight-speed automatic transmission and 270 horsepower. Torque is rated at 295 pound-feet (400 Nm), making the Hurricane torquier than the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6.
On that note, how do you imagine the pony and muscle car scene in five to ten years from now on?
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