STLA Medium, affordable performance cars, and the return of SRT

With the Charger becoming a neo-retro EV muscle car with an inline-6 turbo option, the days of the affordable muscle car are becoming a thing of the past faster than a Mustang in the rear view mirror of a Hellcat. Stellantis’ inflated pricing is making new vehicles are sitting on dealer lots for longer periods of time. Gas prices are not coming down anytime soon, so many find that a V8 isn’t practical (and Stellantis has to pay huge fines if it doesn’t get its gas mileage up), which puts a typical Mopar performance vehicle out of reach for the average person. Many who don’t want to pay high gas prices aren’t ready to switch to an electric vehicle, so where does that leave us?

A few short years ago, Dodge had several vehicles outside of the muscle car trio of Charger, Challenger, and Durango. These included the Dart, Caliber, Avenger, Journey, Caravan, and even the Dakota pickup truck. These were Dodge’s volume sellers, while the Charger, Challenger, Magnum, Durango, and full size Ram trucks were the premium vehicles. I think it’s time to see the return of these cars, along with the Hornet, with some new powertrains and performance goodies—all on the STLA Medium platform.

Let’s take a moment to go over the specs of STLA Medium:

• Wheelbase: 106.3-114.2″
• Length: 169.3″-193″
• Maximum overall tire size: 29.5″
• Powertrain layout: FWD or AWD, the latter with a rear drive module

Now, let’s take a look at some of the FWD options that Stellantis currently has.

• Jeep Compass 2.0T: 200hp/221 lb-ft
• Hornet 2.0T: 268hp/295 lb-ft
• Hornet R/T 1.3L: 288hp/383 lb-ft with PowerShot activated

These numbers are decent for the regular variants, but the last SRT4 (2007 Caliber) pushed out 300hp and 260lb-ft of torque. The next generation of SRT4 vehicles would need to push well beyond that, especially with the Civic Type R and Integra Type S pushing out 315hp and 320hp respectively.

Dodge could again have an affordable performance car on STLA Medium with a 5-door hatchback. It would have cues from Hornet, Charger, and Dart, with a generous 114.2″ wheelbase for optimum handling, a bit of SRT styling, and an interior that takes cues from the Hornet and the upcoming Charger Daytona. This new Dodge Dart could have a 268hp R/T and a 288hp hybrid GLH; both would have more torque than the Pentastar V6. An SRT could start wtih the 268hp 2.0T, adding forged internals with a cross-plane crank plasma transfer wire arc cylinder liners, tweaking and tuning the valvetrain slightly, and putting a 214hp EDM at the back, resulting in roughly 482hp.

This kind of powertrain could yield cars such as a Dart “Demon 360” SRT4 (482hp=360Kw, paying homage to the Dart 360 Sport and Duster 360). It could even yield a Journey SRT4 and hot hatch Caliber SRT4—perhaps a Rampage SRT4 street truck as well. A 2-speed electric gearbox in the EDM (electric drive module) would increase acceleration and range; and performance would be enhanced by an SRT suspension and Brembo brakes.

Direct Connection would come in above that, adding performance options and packages. Direct Connection Stage kits could have bolt-on, legal turbo upgrades, intercoolers, blow off valve, waste gates, intakes, exhaust systems and tuning packages for Demon 170-type tuning but including the EDMs (as they do for the EV Charger Daytona). This would provide tire-melting performance under $50K, but with the base models, Dodge would have volume selling vehicles that work for the masses.

Plasma transfer wire arc cylinder liners are used on the Hurricane-6 High Output and the 5.2L FPC Shelby GT350 engine. The cross plane crank I-4 is used on the Yamaha R1 motorcycle; the design provides better exhaust scavenging, which improves engine efficiency, helping to build smooth, linear power delivery and a unique sound which is similar to the sound of a V8, which for most Dodge owners would be a selling point all on its own.

Dodge could sell a front-wheel drive based hybrid that can run on electric power alone with chassis and powertrain tuning to have it behave more like a rear-biased AWD vehicle, have a combined system 482hp rating along with a V8-like sound from the engine, and a Fraztonic system that not only provides sound when the vehicle is in full electric mode but also enhance the sound of the car with a 128dB max sound output’ it all makes for a compelling SRT4 lineup.

Chrysler could benefit from this lineup as well, with different tuning and more comfort; the company certainly has enough appropriate names. Perhaps these cars could even let Stellantis reopen the Belvidere plant earlier than the UAW deal demanded; because there would be too much demand for STLA Medium cars than the single Brampton plant could fill.