February and Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. And also, the Chicago Auto Show.

As part of their gimick, Dodge held their “Journey of a Lifetime” contest where winners will get an all-new 2009 Dodge Journey and an all-expense paid wedding. Winners Blake Humphrey and his future bride Jackie Rohner, from Rock Island, Ill. will be tying the knot on a Valentine’s Day wedding ceremony in Chicago. For added kicks a live Journey cover band will be playing in their wedding.

The contest required participants to answer the question: “Why should Dodge select you to start your ‘Journey’ of a lifetime together at the Chicago Auto Show on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2008?” As always, the couple with the cheesiest answer wins.

The Dodge Journey features a 173hp 2.4L 4-cylinder engine (a 3.5L 235hp V6 option is also available). It’s MSRP starts at $19,985. The vehicle debuted last year in Frankfurt.

Source: Dodge

It’s quite interesting that Detroit, being one of the biggest shows in North America, is featuring a lot of “Save the Planet” cars. Compare that to SEMA, where it’s probably a gas-guzzling convention. We know how General Motors have been trying to strike gold with fuel cells and hybrids have really caught on in the market.

Chrysler unveiled their Dodge ZEO Concept - a 2+2 sports wagon that’s also made for some Captain Planet heroics. It is powered by a lithium-ion battery pack (same as the ones that you find in most personal gadgetry like laptops, cell phones, etc…) that can carry the car to at most 250 miles.

Chrysler considers the ZEO as “youthful breed of muscle car for the 21st century.” How much muscle do you think there is in this electric car? This rear-wheel drive concept is capable of 200 kW (268hp) output propelling the car from 0-60 in 5.7 seconds.

Source: Dodge Press Release

Next stop… Detroit. While it is still around a couple of months away, North American International Auto Show would surely be a staging area for what’s in store for us for the next decade.

The Dodge ZEO concept is one of just the three concepts planned for Detroit by Chrysler. It’s amazing that, much like with the Japanese concepts in the recent Tokyo show, Dodge attempts at going green with this one. With an electric-only propulsion system with a lithium-ion battery pack capable of at least 250 miles, it should become another great idea for sustainable motoring.

The ZEO concept is a 2+2 sport wagon. The fact that it can carry four passengers gives it the balance between going green and being functional. Not much has been revealed about this car as Dodge probably wants to hold off until next year to give us better details about it just in time for the motor show.

So the next big motor show will be in Los Angeles and probably one of the big unveilings set would be that of the 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR.

So who wants a street-legal race car? If you’re looking for that brash piece of American engineering that you can use on the street, then you might want to consider this bad mo-fo. As if the power bump of the SRT10 (to a full 600hp) in the 2008 model wasn’t enough, Dodge brings out the American Racing Club (ARC) version to wow sports car enthusiasts.

The engine is mated to a 6-speed Tremec T56 transmission and this is channeled to the wheels which have the GKN ViscoLok speed-sensing limited-slip differential - standards from the regular Viper. What makes the ARC stand out though are the following: KW coil-over suspensions, a stiffer anti-sway bar, forge wheels and two-piece brake rotors - all contributing to making the Viper great for the track.

If you ask me, getting this Viper should be for the purposes of having a track car that you can drive in and to the track. I really don’t get why one would buy it for street-driving. Street-legal doesn’t mean that it’s meant for the street anyway. If I had the same amount of dough (MSRP is said to be under a hundred grand) and tasked to buy a head-turner on the road and a devil on the track, I’d still go for the Porsche 911.

Source: Automobile Magazine

So Halloween is just ticks of the clock away and so is the SEMA Motorshow. Like Halloween, it’s amazing how automakers are also creating their own brand of costume design. Call it cross dressing if you will, but what we have here is a truck masquerading as a motocross bike. Or is it the other way around?

Anyway, the Dakota MX Warrior seems to blend perfect with the rugged flashiness of motocross. A product of biker/design student Scott Waraniak, the Dakota MX Warrior might just have hit the spot with this design. As far as the looks go, this truck really looks like it should have a bike on its bed to work. It’s more fit to be a bike transporter rather than the functional truck that the regular is.

In any case, the Dakota MX Warrior boasts of a 4.7L V8 Magnum under its hood. It sits on 20-inch chrome wheels with 31-inch tires and the ride height is raised 4 inches. Now that’s what you need to negotiate mud and rock.

Well, sad to say, but to me the Tokyo Motor Show didn’t really come up with something really fantastic unlike in Frankfurt where practically automakers from both sides of the meridian dished out some wicked machines.

As far as the US is concerned the next big show is the SEMA show happening from October 30 - November 2. In any case, here are some of the cars that we could expect. And since this one’s in Las Vegas, expect American muscle to take the stands.

For this bit, we have the Dodge Avenger StormTrooper. Okay, I’m not really a big fan of Dodge cars except, perhaps, the old Charger, which for me, is the co-epitome of real American muscle cars together with the Mustang. And yet here, we see the StormTrooper edition of the car. And yes, StormTrooper meaning Darth Vader’s underlings (another triumph for geek gearheads).

Read the rest of this entry »

Chrysler issued a recall of 300,000 SUVs to address a potential braking problem when driving uphill. The recall covers 2006-2007 Jeep Grand Cherokees and Commander, 2007 Jeep Wrangler SUVs and 2007 Dodge Nitro SUVs.

Chrsyler apparently received 20 complaints that vehicles experienced braking delays when drivers stepped on them to stop after coasting uphill. To address the issue, the computer connected to the ABS need to be reprogrammed. A crash has already been reported though no one was seriously harmed.

Apart from these recalls, Chrysler will also put the word out on 72,333 Dodge Avenger sedans and Chrysler Sebring convertibles from the 2008 model year that suffer from problems involving the front door latches and locks.

Earlier this week, Honda also issued a recall of 182,756 Civics due to a faulty wheel bearing O-ring causing it to leak and will cause a wheel to fall off “possibly resulting in a crash,” says Honda. Yeah, a wheel falling off may “possibly” cause it to crash. Now that takes a genius to figure out. Consolation for Civic owners though, Honda will notify owners by mail and replace any damaged parts for free.

Source: Detroit News (Chrysler and Honda)

And yet another one will be debuting in Frankfurt. Dodge announced that the Dodge Journey crossover will be debuting in the IAA. Now this is going to be the “Crew” crossover that was initially reported.

I’m quite glad they ditch the name. But “Journey” doesn’t sound too cool either. It just doesn’t sound too competitive enough for a crossover market that has curt names like RAV4, CRV, Rogue or EX. Well, at least there’s Santa Fe.

Read the rest of this entry »

Chrysler announced the MSRP for the 2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4, pegging it at $22,995. Caliber’s a fine piece of machinery, fierce and aggressive design, powered by a 285 horses through a 2.4 turbocharged engine. It’s designed to replace the Neon SRT4 as Dodge’s sport-compact.

The SRT4 version features a stiffer and lower suspension, a tweaked out brake system with twin-piston aluminum front calipers, plus a Brake Lock Differential to differentiate it from the regular Caliper. Aside from those performance enhancements, its got added bodywork, brake cooling ducts, race seats and 19-inch wheels.

Look out, Nissan and Honda. Dodge is taking on your Sentra and Civic (respectively).

Source: Motor Trend