Dodge Unveils Five New R/T Models

Dodge unveiled R/T versions of an array of vehicles today — some of them unlikely candidates for a performance badge the brand has had since the 1960s. The Road and Track group adds sportier styling cues and, in some cases, additional performance. Dodge is renewing it on the Journey, Charger, Durango, Grand Caravan and Challenger.

More 2011 Chicago Auto Show Coverage

The Grand Caravan, Journey and Durango R/Ts go on sale this spring. The Charger and Challenger R/Ts are on sale now.

Chrysler Adds Cash Back to Slow Sellers for December

For December, Chrysler is extending most incentives and adding a few new ones to entice shoppers.

New additions include an Owner Loyalty cash-back program for the 2010 Chrysler Town & Country and 2010 Grand Caravan. Each minivan is eligible for 0% financing for 72 months or up to $2,000 cash back. The program is also open to owners of minivans from competing brands. If you’re looking at these two vans, keep in mind that they've been extensively refreshed for the 2011 model year. The 2011 Chrysler minivans are already in production and should reach dealerships soon.

The 2011 Dodge Caliber gets an extra $1,000 cash back for the month, now up to $2,000, as well as 0% financing for 36 months.

The Dodge Challenger gets an additional $1,500 cash-back offer for consumers who buy the 2010 with a manual transmission. When exploring this option, remember that the Challenger gets a new V-6 for 2011.

The 2011 Jeep Liberty, which received a few updates, has increased its cash-back offer by $1,500 in December, now up to $2,500 cash back. The new 2011 Jeep Patriot also gets a new $500 lease bonus cash offer for the month.

The Ram brand continues its Engine Bonus Cash, which offers a cash-back incentive of $500 to $1,000 depending on powertrain, though most of the additional bonus cash for the truck brand has been dropped for December.

For more details, continue reading below:

2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392: First Drive

Guiding a Dodge Challenger around a racing circuit might seem like the ultimate automotive fish-out-of-water experience, but that was the setting for a recent drive of the new Challenger SRT8 392 when Dodge hosted journalists at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. While the big coupe's poise on the racetrack is one of the more surprising qualities, the new V-8 under the hood is the big news for the Challenger SRT8.
 
Dodge is building 1,492 Challenger SRT8 392 Inaugural Editions featuring special exterior and interior styling cues, such as “392” badges, quad exhaust tips, 20-inch wheels and white-and-blue leather upholstery.

The Top 10 Least and Most Expensive Cars to Insure

What makes a car cheap or expensive to insure? It all comes down to what insurers call “loss history,” which is the total amount of money that an insurance company will have to pay out in the advent of a totaled vehicle.

It’s not surprising then to see more affordable family haulers on the least-expensive-to-insure list and, conversely, expensive SUVs, luxury cars and sports cars on the most-expensive rankings.

However, that’s not the whole story. According to InsWeb, an online insurance comparison provider, a model’s loss behavior doesn’t only have to do with how much it cost to repair a given model. It also has to do with the likelihood that the given model will be involved in an accident. InsWeb says model loss formulations factor in the history of past individuals who’ve driven the given model and have been involved in accidents. Again, it’s not surprising that cars like the Chevrolet Corvette and Cadillac Escalade are more prone to accidents due to their owners.

This does explain, however, why inexpensive subcompacts such as the Chevrolet Aveo or Nissan Versa aren’t on the least-expensive-to-insure list. Cheaper economy cars tend to be purchased by young drivers, who statistically are involved in more accidents thus increasing loss history.

Continue reading below to find out the top 10 least and most expensive cars to insure. 

Dodge Releases Pricing, But Not Content For 2011 Models

Dodge has been releasing incremental amounts of information about its 2011 lineup for months, from the benign tweak to the full redesign. Today, the company released pricing for its entire lineup but says it will not release content information for each trim until midmonth. We list the new pricing below along with the price change from the 2010 models, but we can’t judge them against the competition without that important trim level content. The 2011 Dodge Caliber pricing and content information were released at an earlier date.

2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392, A 470 hp Introduction

Last week, Chrysler announced that a 305-horsepower V-6 base engine would power the 2011 Dodge Challenger, but it didn’t offer more details or any images. Today, the company has revealed it will kickoff production of the top-of-the-line SRT8 model with a limited edition called the 392 Inaugural Edition.

Based on the images, the coupe looks the same as the 2010 model, but the big change is under the hood where the 6.1-liter Hemi from 2010 gets upgraded to a 6.4 liter with a 45 hp bump to 470 hp. Torque is up 50 pounds-feet to 470.

Luckily, all that power doesn’t come without alterations to the car’s handling dynamics. The company says it has firmer shocks, recalibrated suspension, new steering rations and a heavy-duty pump in the hydraulic steering system that adds better “feel and on-center response.”

These changes will filter to regular SRT8 models once the first 1,492 Inaugural Edition models are sold out. These special editions come in only two colors, Deep Water Blue with Stone White stripes and Bright White Clear Coat with Viper Blue stripes. Twenty-inch SRT wheels are standard, and there are “392 Hemi” badges on the car’s sides.

The SRT8 392 will go on sale with the rest of the 2011 Challenger lineup at the end of 2010.

2011 Dodge Challenger Gets 305-hp V-6

While we’ve been impressed with the Dodge Challenger as an underdog to the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro, we’ve never been a fan of the base car’s V-6 engine. Today, Chrysler announced that its new Pentastar 3.6-liter V-6 would make its way to the Challenger and would be rated at 305 horsepower, up 55 horses from the 2010's lackluster 3.5-liter V-6.
 
This engine competes quite well with the 2011 Mustang's 305-hp V-6 and the 2011 Camaro's 312-hp V-6. It's also more powerful than how the Pentastar is rated in other Chrysler vehicles. The new Jeep Grand Cherokee with the same engine makes 290 hp. Fuel economy for the 2011 Challenger will be 18/26 mpg city/highway, which isn’t as competitive with either of the other two pony cars, but it's slightly higher than the outgoing model’s 17/25 mpg. The Mustang gets up to 19/31 mpg, the Camaro up to 18/29 mpg.
 
The company formally announced that it would replace seven different V-6 engines currently used across its line, reducing the number of parts from 189 to just 32. This is a major reduction in manufacturing cost for the rebounding automaker.
 
We’ll have more information on the 2011 Dodge Challenger in the near future.

Recall Alert: 26,397 Chrysler Vehicles

Chrysler Group is recalling 26,397 vehicles across six nameplates due to potential engine fires, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The models affected include the 2010 Chrysler 300 and Sebring; the 2010 Dodge Charger, Challenger, Avenger and Journey; and the 2011 Ram 1500 light-duty pickup truck.

In the affected vehicles the power-steering pressure hose may separate under pressure and leak power-steering fluid onto the hot engine components. This may result in an engine fire.

Chrysler will inspect and replace the power-steering pressure hose free of charge. The recall is already underway. For additional information, owners can call Chrysler at 800-853-1403 or NHTSA's hot line at 888-327-4236.

This Week's Most-Read Stories

Our hottest story this week is fittingly our muscle car hot spot post, where we pinpoint the locations of greatest Cars.com search interest for the Chevy Camaro, Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang. Nothing generates better buzz than giving away a new car, so we’re not surprised to see the Ford Explorer give away story at No. 2. The Honda Civic is the second best-selling compact car in America, so the traffic to our latest Civic review comes as no surprise. Rounding out the top five are an iPod connectivity comparison between three subcompacts and a three-way comparison between fuel-smart econoboxes. Check out our most read stories below. 

1.) Cars.com's Muscle Car Hot Spots

2.) Ford to Give Away New Explorer on Facebook

3.) Cars.com Reviews the 2010 Honda Civic

4.) What Affordable Car Works Best With iPod?

5.) Cars.comparison: Which Fuel Sipper is Best?

Dodge Mopar '10 Challenger Limited to 500 Units

In the recent past, automakers have released special editions but didn’t always limit their output. They could ramp up production if there was enough demand, diluting any likely collectability.

That’s changed with Dodge’s new Mopar ’10 Challenger. Not only does it come in just one color — Brilliant Black — with a choice of three accents — blue, red or silver — it will be limited to just 500 units. The basis for the car is a Challenger R/T with a 5.7-liter Hemi, which typically puts out 372 hp.

The Mopar ’10 adds a functional hood scoop, cold-air intake and strut tower brace. Other add-ons include 20-inch black wheels, black chrome grille surround and hood pins. Inside there are unique seats and Mopar shifters.

The price for all this is $37,250 for the automatic and $38,250 for the manual, not including $750 in destination charges. A regular R/T starts at $30,860. A more powerful SRT8 Challenger starts at $41,230.

The cars arrive at dealers next month and can be ordered now.

Unfortunately, Chrysler doesn’t have any actual photos of the special edition available, just the sketch above and those shown in the video below, which aren’t terrific. One thing is for sure: We wouldn’t opt for the blue accent color.