New turbo-Compass gas mileage revealed

2023 Jeep Compass interior

The 2023 Jeep Compass has a new version of the GME 2.0 liter turbocharged engine, finally providing the torque and horsepower one would expect; the sole transmission is an eight-speed, dubbed 8F30, likely supplied by Hyundai. The Compass Limited lists for $35,495; all Compass trims now have standard all wheel drive.The turbo engine produces 200 … Read more

The ZTunes Hellcat Resets the Dodge Charger Quarter Mile Record

Zdung Ho Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

The Go Mango 2016 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat which is owned, driven and tuned by Zdung Ho has long been the quickest and fastest Hellcat sedan in the quarter mile, but at the first Legion of Demons event of 2023, the man known throughout the community as “Z” continued improving on his personal best time … Read more

The last new straight sixes, in ads: slant vs Hurricane

No old maid (slant six ad)

In the early 1920s, Dodge was a four-cylinder car despite its premium market position; Chrysler was launched with a single straight-six; and Maxwell, like its replacement (Plymouth), was also four-cylinder only.Times changed and all three brands featured a range of straight-six engines and V8s, with four-cylinders and straight-eights forgotten and V6 engines ignored. The straight … Read more

STLA escapes security engineers’ telematics cracks that hit Mercedes, Toyota, Ford, GM, and others

UConnect 12 screen

Security researchers were able to break into the back end operations of Ford, Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, GM, and Jaguar Land Rover, following their successful intrusion last year into Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, and Nissan cars. Stellantis’ Uconnect appears to have escaped the vulnerabilities, possibly because a break-in years ago encouraged programmers to toughen SiriusXM communications.

When you should expect new Hornets

2023 Dodge Hornet

The Dodge Hornet has finally made it to the USA web site’s Build & Price section. Some sample options are the GT Plus trim ($35,490), or red paint and seats on the GT Plus ($37,085 total); the Track Pack is $2,995, including 20 inch wheels, and a nicely loaded car with these features and the … Read more

Experiencing Radford Racing School, Formerly Bondurant

Dodge Challenger at Radford

Starting back in 2015 or so, the Bob Bondurant High Performance Driving School became the official driving school of Dodge/SRT. Through that partnership, everyone who buys a new Dodge SRT product gets a free one-day course at the Arizona-based educational facility and all of the production-based vehicles used at the school back then were Dodge … Read more

Cherokee turbo replaces V6; down to two trims for ’23

2022 jeep cherokee trailhawk

The 2023 Jeep Cherokee will have no V6 version, with the 3.2 liter engines made only for that model already out of production. Instead, buyers will have a choice of two models; the Altitude LUX has the old 2.4 liter four-cylinder while the Trailhawk has the new 2.0 liter turbocharged four-cylinder. (An earlier announcement suggested … Read more

Build and price your own Dodge Hornet

2023 Dodge Hornet

Dodge Hornets have been spotted on their way to dealerships, and have just been added to the Dodge Build & Price system.

Two models are available, GT and GT Plus. GT starts at $30,590 plus destination ($32,185 total); GT Plus starts at $35,490 (37,085). Both come with all wheel drive. On the GT, white or black paint is free, with other colors adding $495-595. 17” wheels are standard. …

Finally: Mopars at the Canadian Auto Show in Toronto

camp jeep wrangler breakover test

Stellantis is returning to Canada’s biggest, most popular car show, bringing Jeep’s indoor off-road course and other attractions. The displays will range from the Hornet to the Wagoneer L.It may seem that Stellantis was snubbing the show, but the show itself was actually closed for some time due to COVID. It will be open to … Read more

A better 2022 for Mopars, north of the border

Jeep Wagoneer

Mopars fared reasonably well in Canadian sales for 2022, with 169,179 cars sold—a 5% gain over 2021.

The Wagoneer had a good outing with 1631 regular and 930 high-priced Grands trading hands—totaling 16,682 sales. Compare those premium cars from a standard brand to Alfa Romeo’s 911 total sales for the year. Both were up from 2021 but that makes sense, since they started production late in that year.

STLA’s recall performance for 2022 vs the oddly high Ford and Tesla

2022 Ford Bronco Raptor

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released its list of 2022 recalls. Overall, there were 390 recalls, including trucks and trailers. Ford topped the list by a huge margin, with 65 recalls, including the company’s trademark fire-hazard recalls. In fairness, Ford had four major launches—the Bronco, Bronco Sport and Escape, and Mustang and F-150 … Read more

Does Mopar dominate big cars with the Charger?

2023 Dodge Charger Super Bee special edition car

Back in the 1970s, full-sized cars practically disappeared as fuel efficiency became more important and manufacturers started packaging their vehicles better—so that the outside of a car could shrink by a foot or two, while adding interior space. In the 1990s, Chrysler brought the segment back to life with the exciting LH cars, which added … Read more