Okay, so Dodge isn't going to bring the new Viper to the Detroit Auto Show. That's okay; we can wait for New York. What are they bringing instead? This 2012 Dodge Charger Redline.
What is it? The Redline is a Mopar-tuned Charger that will be available in three kits. Stage One gets you a Mopar carbon-fiber chin spoiler, carbon-fiber door scoops and a carbon-fiber rear spoiler on top of a Charger R/T. Stage Two gets you a cat-back exhaust, front strut-tower brace and high-performance brake linings. Stage Three is the fun one. Stage three drops in a 590-horsepower Gen III 426 Hemi V8 crate engine that is for "race/off-road use only." In unrelated news, states like Wyoming, Florida, Montana, Minnesota, parts of Nevada and South Dakota (that I know of) don't have any sort of safety or emissions testing.
Pricing was not announced for the kits that will make their way into consumer's hands later this year.
blueprint1 says:
10:39 AM, 01/ 3/12
Stage 1 seems of the Canadian Tire / Pep Boys genre.
csubowtie says:
11:52 AM, 01/ 3/12
Interesting. Dodge seems to be competing power-wise with the two pony-cars from the other big-2, but that seems to be all they have in common. I'm not sure what these Dodges would be cross-shopped against. The closest things I can think of are cars like Merc AMG's and BMW-M5's, but obviously nobody is cross-shopping those (well except maybe one of the print mags).
rmartinez007 says:
02:19 PM, 01/ 3/12
My only question: Why must car companies turn old classic models into sedans such as the Charger and the '96 Impala SS? Thank God Ford hasn't done that to the Mustang or Chevy to the Camaro!
csubowtie says:
12:35 PM, 01/ 4/12
4 Door Impala's have been around forever. And the '96 Impala SS was a pretty bad ass car, and frankly one of the best modern-ish versions of these retro nameplates. Impala's were always big cars, and at the time the LT1 motors were the stuff. About the only way to have made the car cooler would have been to drop in a hopped up big-block. If you want to complain about Impala's, look at the more recent SS's, that were front drive. Now THAT was a shame.
The new Charger is a cool car, but I agree it should not be called the Charger.