Dodge Needs A More Affordable Entry-Level Performance Vehicle

In the ever-evolving landscape of the automotive industry, Dodge stands as an emblem of American muscle and performance. Yet, amidst its illustrious history, a glaring gap has emerged in its lineup – the absence of an affordable performance vehicle priced under $35,000. As competitors surge ahead with enticing options, Dodge finds itself at a crossroads, … (read full article...)

 

[scatpack_69]

That is a pretty silly take since vast majority of vehicle sold were not Hellcats or even Apache they were pedestrian V6s and Eagles. Then of the Hellcats the high HP were exceeding low volume.

Ram 2500 diesel and 3500 diesel ARE DEAD KILLED by the GLOBALISTS.... see how silly sounds. The idea that a vehicle has to have 2 extra cylinders and a more complex and imbalanced configuration to exist make you come off as just another Troll, if this is your intent maybe go to X or FB or another sight ran by Dave and his bobble heads.

No less radical take than had they brought out Viper with a Hellcat and 8HP…

My point is this: we cannot anoint the new car some great successor when it’s unproven. The Hurricane is still unproven long term, and the EV is….well I’ll say a total dead end, but let’s go with unproven as well.

Styling I think the new Charger is amazing. Unless they do something to it before final production, great direction. The rest is a question mark right now, slight glimmer of hope with the 6.

And bonus points for the Dave jab

 

[TripleT]

I wait and see if the Pentastar actually arrives or if the REV will use something more compact.

Certainly, in the car is should be smaller, Edrive is really become more common on ICE platforms and I think will be the predominate.

HP is in the edrive not in the ICE engine, it just needs to be able to keep the battery charged.

What I would like to see with the 2liter and 3 liter is not a edrive but ZF Hybrid. and variable battery sizes. One value just for Hybrid operation and a PHEV sized battery

 

[BWS1]

That is a pretty silly take since vast majority of vehicle sold were not Hellcats or even Apache they were pedestrian V6s and Eagles. Then of the Hellcats the high HP were exceeding low volume.

Ram 2500 diesel and 3500 diesel ARE DEAD KILLED by the GLOBALISTS.... see how silly sounds. The idea that a vehicle has to have 2 extra cylinders and a more complex and imbalanced configuration to exist make you come off as just another Troll, if this is your intent maybe go to X or FB or another sight ran by Dave and his bobble heads.

I wait and see if the Pentastar actually arrives or if the REV will use something more compact.

Certainly, in the car is should be smaller, Edrive is really become more common on ICE platforms and I think will be the predominate.

HP is in the edrive not in the ICE engine, it just needs to be able to keep the battery charged.

What I would like to see with the 2liter and 3 liter is not a edrive but ZF Hybrid. and variable battery sizes. One value just for Hybrid operation and a PHEV sized battery

I know it’s a short timer but man I sure hate to see the Pentastar go. I’ve had several and they’ve been durable
and reliable to a fault. Hope it hangs around for entry level on trucks at least.

 

[patfromigh]

I wait and see if the Pentastar actually arrives or if the REV will use something more compact.

Certainly, in the car is should be smaller, Edrive is really become more common on ICE platforms and I think will be the predominate.

HP is in the edrive not in the ICE engine, it just needs to be able to keep the battery charged.

What I would like to see with the 2liter and 3 liter is not a edrive but ZF Hybrid. and variable battery sizes. One value just for Hybrid operation and a PHEV sized battery

I believe the 3.2 Pentastar used in the Jeep Cherokee was also smaller in physical dimensions as well as displacement. As I recall it had a shorter deck height, lower intake manifold, and other small details.

Honda had a big presentation today on their EV strategy. Basically the new entry level models will be hybrids and battery electric. For passenger vehicles, Honda will try to avoid large battery packs to achieve long distances on battery range. The company will instead focus on light weight and other means for efficiency. Honda also announced new hybrid options with e-axles for their North American products, including the HRV. Mitsubishi announced to their dealers this week that they are revamping the lineup in North America. It was announced a while ago that the Mirage is going away after this model year. In its place will be a larger (C-segment), more upscale crossover offering a PHEV powertrain.

Just my opinion---> Where the current emissions and fuel economy regulations presently stand is that it there is no difference between selling an ICE power only, economy car, or an ICE power only, high end car. It makes no sense selling low margin econoboxes when each unit sold hurts the CAFE as much as a high margin muscle car. There is a growing list of entry level vehicles which are either disappearing from our market or moving upscale. Toyota and Honda are increasing hybrid availability to their entry level offerings. An an example of what a future pure ICE power offering might look like, the Toyota GR Corolla is a preview. It is a tiny performance model close to nearly twice the price of a base Corolla.Toyota can afford the hit on the CAFE average because they will probably sell hundreds of thousands of hybrid models to cover for it.

The range extender system for the Ram pickup was designed in house and is designed around the rear drive based STLA frame platform. For other Stellantis products, I have to wonder if any STLA medium and small based vehicles were to use the Leapmotor EREV generator and motor units. If so, the proposed anti-China tariffs will hurt. The PHEV systems are different from this.

I think what we will see is 48V mild hybrid and high voltage PHEV power trains with the ZF 8-speed. When the cash for clunkers was happening back in 2009, the top selling vehicle for clunker replacement was the Toyota Prius. The present state of the art 48V mild hybrid systems will offer the same electric drive performance as that 2009 Prius hybrid.

Finally, my idea for an entry level performance model for Dodge would be a decontented Hornet, a front drive model with the 2 liter. Dodge also should drop the current Hornet's mechanical AWD setup and replace that with the e-Hybrid and e-axle system used in the Compass. They should use the 2-liter GME with that.

 

[TripleT]

I believe the 3.2 Pentastar used in the Jeep Cherokee was also smaller in physical dimensions as well as displacement. As I recall it had a shorter deck height, lower intake manifold, and other small details.

Honda had a big presentation today on their EV strategy. Basically the new entry level models will be hybrids and battery electric. For passenger vehicles, Honda will try to avoid large battery packs to achieve long distances on battery range. The company will instead focus on light weight and other means for efficiency. Honda also announced new hybrid options with e-axles for their North American products, including the HRV. Mitsubishi announced to their dealers this week that they are revamping the lineup in North America. It was announced a while ago that the Mirage is going away after this model year. In its place will be a larger (C-segment), more upscale crossover offering a PHEV powertrain.

Just my opinion---> Where the current emissions and fuel economy regulations presently stand is that it there is no difference between selling an ICE power only, economy car, or an ICE power only, high end car. It makes no sense selling low margin econoboxes when each unit sold hurts the CAFE as much as a high margin muscle car. There is a growing list of entry level vehicles which are either disappearing from our market or moving upscale. Toyota and Honda are increasing hybrid availability to their entry level offerings. An an example of what a future pure ICE power offering might look like, the Toyota GR Corolla is a preview. It is a tiny performance model close to nearly twice the price of a base Corolla.Toyota can afford the hit on the CAFE average because they will probably sell hundreds of thousands of hybrid models to cover for it.

The range extender system for the Ram pickup was designed in house and is designed around the rear drive based STLA frame platform. For other Stellantis products, I have to wonder if any STLA medium and small based vehicles were to use the Leapmotor EREV generator and motor units. If so, the proposed anti-China tariffs will hurt. The PHEV systems are different from this.

I think what we will see is 48V mild hybrid and high voltage PHEV power trains with the ZF 8-speed. When the cash for clunkers was happening back in 2009, the top selling vehicle for clunker replacement was the Toyota Prius. The present state of the art 48V mild hybrid systems will offer the same electric drive performance as that 2009 Prius hybrid.

Finally, my idea for an entry level performance model for Dodge would be a decontented Hornet, a front drive model with the 2 liter. Dodge also should drop the current Hornet's mechanical AWD setup and replace that with the e-Hybrid and e-axle system used in the Compass. They should use the 2-liter GME with that.

Nothing wrong with the Hornet other than it has to ship during all the canal crisis and the currency is fluctuating, it was a good interim solution to a gap in the lineup and extra volume to pay for the development in a Country with too few Alfa dealers..... biggest issue is the ads don't properly reflect it strength as fun, useful, car the gets 75mpg yes that is what I am averaging. They need to do ads like Green doesn't have to be boring, and Electric, fast, Electric, gas.... Its is not a baby Charger. But yes it should be replaced with a STLA mid from Brampton and yes a SRT version with the 2liter in the front and eaxle in the back would be awesome.

Yes the affordable economy car is being killed by the current EPA and CARB. Peasants should be on public transport don't you know. The solution is Chinese built A segment Electrics that Biden Admin just decide to Tariff out of existence in America.

When I say they really want to push people to public transport in not a joke it's not political it is a policy driven reality.

 

[patfromigh]

But yes it should be replaced with a STLA mid from Brampton and yes a SRT version with the 2liter in the front and eaxle in the back would be awesome.

Fix the marketing, the styling and bring production to North America. The hardest part will be the marketing. Remember the Jeep Compass styling when it was introduced? FCA sure fixed that in a hurry.

 

[TripleT]

Leave it SUSW is being replaced and the volume is Mexico is better for other product. and replace it with a Brampton product when ready.

 

[cgseller]

Yeah this would work View attachment 9516

With a cockpit that has a good mix of tech/screens and buttons, and a nice wrap around and I'm SOLD I don't care if it's BEV ICE PHEV or E-Axle Then again, I don't mind the 200 and everyone here saw a Jelly Bean.