2013 SRT Viper at Roebling Road Raceway: Photo Gallery

The third generation of the erstwhile Dodge Viper returned from a three-year hiatus not only a "better car overall," says Cars.com reviewer Joe Wiesenfelder, but no less outrageous. Faithful to its rep, the 2013 SRT Viper boasts showy features like a forward-opening hood, 18- and 19-inch wheels in front and back, respectively, and lightweight carbon-fiber and aluminum components. Similarly impressive are interior upgrades, which in the GTS trim Wiesenfelder drove at Roebling Road Raceway in Savannah, Ga., included abundant Laguna leather that muted memories of its previous inferior interior. Check out the gallery below.

Postal Service Stamps Celebrate American Muscle Cars

America's romance with classic muscle cars is rooted in a desire to push the envelope. With the U.S. Postal Service's new "Muscle Cars (Forever)" stamp series — on sale now — people can celebrate that nostalgic notion on an envelope. The series features five iconic cars: the 1966 Pontiac GTO, 1967 Ford Shelby GT-500, 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, 1970 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda and 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS.

The Muscle Cars stamps are sold in self-adhesive sheets of 20, including four of each design. They're Forever stamps and always equal in value to the current first-class mail 1-ounce rate. Artist Tom Fritz said he based his oil-paint depictions of the cars on his own memories of them while growing up in Southern California. The muscle-car stamps are the third issuance in the "America on the Move" series, which also includes " '50s Sporty Cars" from 2005 and " '50s Fins and Chrome" from 2008.

USA Today reported that NASCAR racing legend Richard Petty made an appearance at the Daytona International Speedway a few days before the Daytona 500, which was held on Feb. 24. He promoted the stamp series on behalf of the Postal Service, posing for photos with his son, NASCAR driver Kyle Petty, in front of a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona.

"I've been around racing and muscle cars all my life," USA Today quoted Richard Petty as saying. "These stamps bring back the memories."

See more Muscle Cars series stamps below.

Nine-Speed Transmission to Debut on 2014 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque

Land Rover is making a major shift in transmission technology with its new nine-speed automatic, which the British automaker will demonstrate at the 2013 Geneva International Motor Show in March. Land Rover told Kicking Tires that the newly developed transmission, a first for passenger vehicles, will be available on the 2014 Range Rover Evoque.

Increasing the number of gears from six to nine will help reduce emissions and improve efficiency, Land Rover said in a statement. The automaker said the nine-speed transmission's smaller steps will also improve acceleration response, as well as shift quality and refinement.

"A higher top gear improves efficiency by lowering engine speed, which also improves comfort and reduces noise when cruising at highway speeds," Land Rover said.

The nine-speed — developed with transmission-manufacturer ZF — will also complement the all-terrain capabilities for which Land Rover is known, the automaker said. The lowest speed is geared lower than the existing six-speed's lowest and is designed for off-road use, towing and steep gradients.

Cars.com Family Reviews the 2013 Dodge Durango

The 2013 Dodge Durango stands out from other three-row SUVs with its sleek looks, says Cars.com Family reviewer Sara Lacey. While its longer doors make it look distinctive, they can be parking-lot dynamite and lead to many door dings in close quarters. Inside, there's plenty of room to spread out, though its cargo area is small when the third row is in use.

2013 Dodge Durango Family Review

The Dodge Dart Stereo Is Almost Perfect

There is nothing that can salvage a brutal commute to work like a good "shuffle" from your iPod. It can be even better when piped through a great car stereo. And lately vehicle multimedia systems let you view album artwork and change tracks by using voice commands.

The 2013 Dodge Dart I recently tested surprised me with just how good even a compact sedan can sound today.

Everything I could throw at it from my digital music collection sounded robust, whether it was punk rock, heavy metal or alt-country. Even more surprising is that this six-speaker system is standard in all trims from the $18,790 SXT up to the $20,790 Limited model I drove. Both prices include the $795 destination charge. The 8.4-inch Uconnect display with navigation is a reasonable $495 option.

There were two tiny flaws that drove me nuts, though.

Recall Alert: 2003-04 Dodge Viper

Chrysler is recalling 3,660 model-year 2003 and 2004 Dodge Viper performance sports cars due to a problem that could cause the airbags to deploy unexpectedly, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The affected vehicles were manufactured between Nov. 1, 2001, and June 30, 2004. A component in the airbag control module may fail, causing the front airbags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy inadvertently, increasing the likelihood of a crash.

Chrysler will begin notifying owners of the recall this month, and dealers will repair the vehicles for free once a remedy is made available later this year. Owners with questions may call Chrysler at 800-247-9753 or NHTSA’s vehicle safety hotline at 888-327-4236. They also can go to www.safercar.gov.

The Viper recall is an expansion of one last year involving similar airbag and seat belt pretensioner issues in 744,822 model-year 2002-03 Jeep Liberty small SUVs and model year 2002-04 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs.

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Cars.com Family Reviews the 2013 Dodge Dart

The 2013 Dodge Dart has good looks both inside and out, but what's even better is its low starting price of $16,790, says Cars.com Family reviewer Sara Lacey. The compact sedan easily handled a trip to the warehouse store as well as her school-age kids, but she found its turbo four-cylinder engine wasn’t quick off the line. Thankfully, the optional six-speed manual transmission helped compensate for the lack of zip.

2013 Dodge Dart Review

2013 Dodge Challenger SRT8 Core: Photo Gallery

SRT versions of the Dodge Challenger just got a little more accessible. Chrysler's high-performance brand unveiled the 2013 Dodge Challenger SRT8 Core model at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show; it's a lower-priced version of the traditional Challenger SRT8.

More 2013 Chicago Auto Show Coverage

Power is unchanged: The new Core version uses the same 470-horsepower, 6.4-liter Hemi V-8. Exterior features include a black grille rear spoiler, unique decals, 20-inch aluminum wheels with black pockets and black Brembo brake calipers. The biggest story is price: The Core version starts at $39,990, including the $995 destination fee. The regular Challenger SRT8 starts at $44,770, including destination. 

Check out the photo gallery of the Challenger SRT8 in Plum Crazy Pearl Coat below.

New SRT8 'Core' Models Drop Features, Price

Dodge's and Chrysler's high-performance SRT8 models receive a substantial price drop courtesy of a new breed of high-performance trim levels called the Core models. Challenger SRT8 and 300 SRT8 Core models strip convenience features like leather, moonroof, high-power stereo and fog lights in search of a lower price discounted as much as $4,780 than their full-featured regular models.
 
The trend started with Dodge's special edition Charger SRT8 Super Bee that — compared to the regular SRT8 — used the less-expensive radio, standard hood, cloth interior instead of leather and ditched the adaptive adjustable suspension in favor of a fixed firmness suspension.

More 2013 Chicago Auto Show Coverage

Why the Dodge Dart Has a Long Way to Go

Dodge sold just 7,154 Dart sedans in January — better than December 2012, but a shabby performance when you consider that Honda moved 21,881 Civics, Ford sold 16,161 Focuses and Toyota moved 23,822 Corollas and Matrixes. Dodge dealers opened January with a glut of Darts — 141 days' worth, to be exact. That's more than double the days' supply for the Chevrolet Cruze and more than triple the supply of the Civic and Focus.

January marks the seventh full month of Dart sales, and it's been a slow start for the compact sedan. The Wall Street Journal reports Dodge parent Chrysler cut a factory shift at its facility in Dundee, Mich., which makes one of the Dart's engines, due to slow sales. At January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne admitted that the Dart's dual-clutch automatic transmission and high mix of stick-shift cars at launch reflected "powertrain solutions that, in today's world and in hindsight, were not and are not the ideal solution."

The drivetrains don't help, but there may be another factor in play: Dodge's compact sedan is only that — a sedan. Compact cars offer the most diverse body styles. The Corolla has a Matrix offshoot, the Civic comes as a sedan or coupe, the Focus and Mazda3 include a hatchback and sedan, and the Hyundai Elantra scores a trifecta: sedan, coupe and hatch.