Tag Archives: hellcat

SUV/Truck Reviews

2021 RAM TRX Crew Cab 4×4

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Devilish T-RX ready to crush Ford Raptor sales …

Tell someone you’re driving a 702-horsepower pickup and they look at you like you’ve grown horns from your noggin and said 29-cent gas is back.

But it’s true, the Ram 1500 TRX Crew Cab packs a supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI V8, the same used in both the Dodge Charger and Challenger Hellcats. Rating is 702 horses and torque of 650 lb.-ft. with a reported 0-60 mph burst of 4.5 seconds, although some folks have tested it as low as 4.1 seconds. Top speed is said to be 118 mph.

You may be saying to yourself, that’s a racer, not a pickup and you’d be right, except the TRX is street legal, if you can afford one.

This is a Muscle Truck, much as in years past we’ve had Muscle Cars, and still do, thankfully. Continue reading 2021 RAM TRX Crew Cab 4×4 →

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Car Reviews

2020 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack Widebody

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Hellraisin Challenger cures a lot of ills … 

I’ve discovered the perfect cure for pandemic boredom.

Slip into the camel brown suede and black leather interior of a muscle-bound hot rod, known to the Mopar brethren as a Dodge Challenger. But not the low-end V6-powered SXT, although I’m sure it has its party favors too. But lavish in the luxurious cow-threatening interior of the R/T Scat Pack Widebody.

Yes, the more names and initials Dodge adds to its retro muscle car, the faster it goes and the cooler it looks, just ask any post-pubescent guy. My heartthrob for the week was a Hellraisin (metallic dark purple, get it?) Widebody loaded with all the options one could want, and still not have to sell the house, maybe. Continue reading 2020 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack Widebody →

SUV/Truck Reviews

2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk

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Jeep Trackhawk boasts 707 hp, too … 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk

There is now a 707 horsepower Jeep.

You read that right, and the first question most folks ask is, Why would Jeep do this?

The answer: Because they can.

There’s no reasonable or logical reason, except that Fiat/Chrysler, which is the overindulgent parent of Jeep and Dodge, has been playing up its youthful exuberance via high-powered vehicles for several years now. Yes, this has a Hemi in it!

First it was the Hellcat, both as a Dodge Challenger and Charger, using the same 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8 that powers this Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. Then there’s the Demon, another Challenger with even more power and aimed directly at the drag strip crowd. But there’s little chance many folks will be buying a Jeep to race at the local drag strip, especially when the tested Trackhawk’s price tag nudged $91 grand.2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk

Yet a few folks, and you know who they are, always need to have the biggest, well, engine on the block. They are the buyers that previously have snapped up the top-end sports cars and muscle cars of the past. Think Corvette envy.

The Hellcats, Demons and Trackhawks are shoving that with both hands to a new level, and doing so with in-your-face marketing. Continue reading 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk →

Car Reviews

2017 Lexus GS F

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Lexus GS F is a NASCAR wannabe in street clothes … 2017 Lexus GS F

            Unless your name is Hellcat or you sport some semblance of racing stripes and a hood scoop you’re not supposed to gurgle and pop with power if you’re simply a luxury sport sedan.

Ah, but the Lexus GS is everything from a fine luxury sedan to a NASCAR wannabe, a racer in street clothes.

A base GS 200t, you see, is equipped with a 241-horse 2.0-liter I4 that’s turbocharged. Oh that’s nice and sporty in its own way and a potential Lexus owner that’s pushing the limits of his home equity loan to snag one will shell out roughly $47 grand and change.

But there are so many other choices, two more engines and a hybrid model too. So say sayonara to that base model if you want to light up the tires and thumb your nose at German luxury sedans, or domestic muscle too. The tested GS F, or F Sport model is the sharp end of the GS line and it’ll flat out fly.

Reason?

No, it’s not a HEMI, but the Lexus has a sexy sounding V8 that’ll nearly put the roughly 4,000-pound sedan into orbit. The numbers are this, 5.0-liter V8 creating 467 horsepower and 389 lb.-ft. of torque. Don’t go pooh-poohing that because your Vette or Hellcat has more ponies. With its modest weight and a dandy drive mode system that allows you to go from Normal to Sport or Sport+, you’ll suddenly find the GS turning surly.2017 Lexus GS F

I was expecting good power, but punched the console’s drive mode button just as I was pulling onto the freeway and the rear-drive GS twitched its tail and rocketed up to, er, well, more than the standard highway speed before I was halfway down the entry ramp. Haven’t had this much fun since my last Vette drive, and that’s been a while. Continue reading 2017 Lexus GS F →

Car Reviews

2016 Dodge Charger SXT AWD

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Dodge Charger AWD charger awd

Big people need cars too, and sometimes automotive interior designers forget that fact.

So hurrah for the Dodge Charger and its generous sized interior, a full-figured person’s dream machine. There’s head and legroom to spare, front and rear, plus Charger happens to be available in so many trim levels a person can pick and choose just the right power and goodies quotient to meet their needs, and pocketbook.

My test car was the SXT AWD model, which means it can hold its own on slippery streets. The SXT also is second on the trim level list to the base SE, so it’s not a complete budget buster. Oh, and Charger looks muscular and distinctive, not something many large sedans can claim. Dig the full-body-width taillight bar!

For the record a base SE lists at $28,990 including delivery. It comes with the same 3.6-liter VVT V6 as in the SXT, an engine with a generous 292 horsepower and 260 ft.-lb. torque rating. Moving up to an AWD version pushes that to $31,240, just about the average transaction price for a new vehicle these days.

charger awd2The tested dark metallic gray (Maximum Steel Metallic) with a hint of blue in it, was listed at $31,995 in AWD trim. If power and speeding tickets are to your liking, the super-duper top-end Charger is the SRT Hellcat with a 6.2-liter V8 that cranks a mind-bending 707 horsepower. It lists at $68,640, but compare that with the supercars that start north of $1 million and have lesser horsepower, and it’s a bargain. There are three other trim levels between SXT and Hellcat and yes, HEMI V8s are available. Continue reading 2016 Dodge Charger SXT AWD →

Car Reviews

2015 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack

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2015 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Packcharger1

            There’s no reason to be coy when addressing the strength of Dodge’s new Charger R/T Scat Pack. That’s Pack with a P as in Power.

No this is NOT the Hellcat with its ridiculous 707 horsepower. This is the macho family sedan, the four-door with 485 throbbing HEMI V8 horses under its hood with a bulge big enough to let you know it has a pair, er, a 6.4-liter 392 cu.in. engine in its bay.

This is Dodge’s second most powerful V8, just behind the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 in the Hellcat. But heck, let’s not talk about Hellcat and its $64,990 price tag here. That’s for the rich folks.

Related Video: Hop in with Mark as he drives a Hellcat at Road America.

The R/T with the Scat Pack package starts at a more family friendly $39,995. That’s right, Buster, this Charger is under $40gs and still will kick your neighbor’s BMW or Audi to the curb with a guttural V8 roar that will let everyone in the neighborhood know who the alpha male is.

I liked it.

Mine was a beautiful bright metallic blue that matches the old Charger blue from the early 1970s. I know because I pulled up next to one at a stoplight. We both did a double-take. Continue reading 2015 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack →

Car Reviews

2015 Dodge Challenger SXT

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Chubby Challenger falls short in muscle car warschal1

Funny, muscle cars came and went in the 1960s and early 1970s as gas prices soared and insurance prices became an issue for many buyers. Yet muscle cars made a strong comeback in the last decade, despite high gas prices and a shift toward “green” eco-friendly vehicles.

So here we are with a refreshed Dodge Challenger for 2015. Its nose and tail have been tweaked and its interior remade to try and work some Mopar magic on this market segment. Hopes are that THIS Challenger will steal sales away from the ever-popular Ford Mustang, itself remade for 2015, and Chevrolet’s Camaro.

Fat chance!

Continue reading 2015 Dodge Challenger SXT →

Uncategorized

One Hellcat of an idea!

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Boo!

Dodge hellcat, 2015 dodge hellcat, Dodge’s new Hellcat is one hell of a car! With a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 that makes 707 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque and will hit 60 in around 3.6 seconds. Wow that’s fast! Think how fast you could get to your bank to take a loan out to buy it. How much will you need? The most-powerful production sedan ever starts at $63,995. Car guys are all over this car. Vin #0001 Stryker Red 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat recently went for $825,000 at a Barrett-Jackson auction in Vegas. After matching contributions from a local foundation, a total of $1.65M, more than any other charity vehicle in Barrett Jackson history, was raised. Pretty scary, right?

Be the first on your block to have one

dodge hellcat, 2015 dodge hellcat, dodge, hellcatWellllllllll, not exactly. But you could be the first one to have a Hellcat image carved on your Halloween pumpkin. For real. The guys at WeRMopar.com did all the R and D so all you have to do is the carving. I’m all over this! Maybe I’ll add the sweet sounds of the real deal revving up its engine or maybe doing a burnout. Dodge has already created a ringtone. You in? Make sure you share your pumpkin on our Facebook page.