Production of the Hornet

The new Dodge Hornet that was just shown the other day in Geneva needs to be produced. There is a whole slew of small vehicles that are coming to our shores and Dodge or DCX should get a piece of that pie.

To name a few of the sub-compacts:

But if you look at any of the above sub-compacts, non of them have any character or attitude. This is what the Hornet will bring this this particular class of vehicles. The same goes for the Dodge Nitro in the compact SUV segment. It is exterior styling that is selling the 300 and the same will happen for the Nitro and for the Hornet if it is produced. Young males who want a starter car will come in droves for the Hornet.

The market for cheaper economical cars will continue to grow over the years and small will not equal cheap in the minds of North American consumers. The success of the Audi A3 will help BMW bring over their 1-series and maybe Benz will bring in their B-class to America (which is already being sold in Canada).

When gas prices shot up to 3 dollars a gallon in the summer, SUV sales sank (which they still haven’t fully recovered from), and cars sales relative to the SUV sales began to rise in North America for the first time in a decade. Gas prices have fallen since the summer, now they are roughly $2.50 a gallon, and that may seem cheap relative to the summer prices but they are still up roughly 30% over this time last year prices.

The global sales of sub-compacts in 2001 stood at 9.8 million units and it is projected to hit 14.1 million units in 2009 which is an increase of 44%. If Dodge wants a piece of that pie and to make headway into Europe…the Dodge Hornet is the vehicle that will accomplish these goals.

Allpar update

Busy days… Dodge has introduced the Hornet concept, which looks like a reworked Polo with a Mini Cooper S engine (which was developed by Chrysler and Rover and is closely related to the Neon engine). That should be good for Chrysler, since BMW is reportedly moving to a different engine supplier - probably PSA - and there’s a lot of action in the entry level once again. Some of the company’s best-sellers were entry-level: early Plymouths, the Valiant and Duster, the Omni/Horizon, Reliant, and, for a time, the much-loved and much-hated Neon. Having a great gaping void in that area doesn’t help, and selling thinly disguised Hyundais doesn’t match Dodge’s attempt at making a brand image based off its Ram trucks. (The old Dodge branding - equivalent to Pontiac or Oldsmobile - is long gone.) Those of us who really resent the idea of having Polos foisted on us, or even Mitsubishi Colts, with Dodge logos slapped on and few other changes, are encouraged at least a little by the Hornet.

The Road Runner trademark has fortunately been dropped. Without Plymouth, there should be no Road Runner. Not to mention that it would probably have ended up like the current Super Bee and Daytona - mainly a stripe package, perhaps with a few extra horses thrown in.

At the site, we are looking at installing the new Fusion Registry system “soon,” which is to say “in February” rather than “next year.” Our attempt at having a registry custom programmed died on the vine. Oh, well. Fusion Registry looks good so far - we hope it works well. We hate hanging things onto Invision forums…every time they close a security hole in IPB they demand we reinstall 90% of the files, which destroys any add-ons or skins.

Whenever I’ve had spare time I’ve tried to go through all the corrections and comments that have been sent in, with continuous changes being implemented. Please understand that some things will slip but we are working steadily on the backlog!

Why the Challenger may be stick-shift only

It now looks as though the Dodge Challenger is a “go” for 2007-08, albeit with a stick-shift / Hemi V8 only. Here is why the car will be so limited.

First, it’s a limited production vehicle, and there aren’t many to be made; that means each version will have fewer copies to spread around engineering costs. If you make 100,000 Neons, then spending $100,000 on an engineering change is only $1 per car. If you make $15,000 Challengers, how can you justify spending another couple of million to make and certify different engine/transmission combinations? Due to very tight packaging, having two transmission choices would be very expensive and would disrupt production, increasing engineering costs in what is alreayd a limited production car

By sticking with a manual transmission, they both mollify an increasingly loud contingent of drivers and reduce their rather massive investment.

The manual transmission should bolster acceleration despite the Challenger’s likely weight gain and make it a supercar which will increase likelihood of people buying it - which they might not do if it was “just another 300C.”

Finally, the interesting engine/manual transmission combination makes it “not just another 300C” and that might be the biggest real reason though they’d never admit to it! … because they’ve already told us that the Charger and 300C and Magnum are all so COMPLETELY different.

Dodge Caliber ruminations

The Dodge Caliber is in production, but, true to its nature, Chrysler can’t seem to decide what the horsepower ratings or gas mileage will be. We have two completely different sets of horsepower and torque ratings (from the press release and from dodge.com) coupled with two sets of figures being tossed around in the press for gas mileage. These aren’t minor differences - well, the horsepower ratings are at most 5 hp apart - but the gas mileage varies by about four miles per gallon. Chrysler still seems like a company that doesn’t quite have its act together… from saying the 6.1 V8 has the highest power output of any engine it’s ever made (amended to the highest power per liter, amended to the highest power per liter of any current V8) to having two “first time” introductions of fly-by-wire (4.7 and then Hemi), to… well, all these odd Caliber ratings. We’d understand if they had made some changes, but they really should update their press releases - and start talking about gas mileage in real terms, if they can.

The Caliber is, like every other vehicle Chrysler makes, a make-or-break, not so much because of the investment, which is in the billions, as because a quality disaster at this time would essentially take any credibility Chrysler has and flush it down the toilet. They need to get it right, because they’re fighting both the perception that they have lousy quality, and the bias against American cars in general. And, of course, if they continue to get it right, all credit will go to Mercedes, which has been unable to match Chrysler’s quality, much less lead the Americans to greater heights.

It’s also a big deal because if the Caliber really takes off, Chrysler might just start making small cars again - smaller and less expensive than the Caliber. Yes, they said they’d do it, but only in conjunction with another automaker, most likely troubled, low-quality Volkswagen (Polo) or old partner Mitsubishi. The big questions are which partner? and how much engineering involvement Chrysler would have. The more successful the Caliber is, the more likely Chrysler would be able to heavily modify the small car, because they’d have the cash and credibility. If the Caliber fails, Stuttgart will almost certainly say there’s not enough interest in small cars for anything more than a rebadged Polo or Colt or Atos. If the Caliber succeeds, we can see real Chrysler engineering. (The same holds true for a compact pickup, if they’re clever enough to actually build one again.)

While the Caliber is neither as slippery as the first-generation Neon (cd = 0.375 vs the Neon’s .0328), nor as light,  it has more cargo space, more passenger room, and higher safety and emissions standards. The base model gets lower EPA ratings than the 1995-99 or 2004-05 Neon stick-shift models (29/38), but in real life it may do better, thanks to variable-valve technology (both intake and exhaust) and, for automatic buyers, the continuously variable transmission. By comparison, incidentally, the Toyota Corolla automatic gets 30 city, 38 highway with 126 hp; or 26 city, 34 highway with the 164 hp XRS and a stick, but the Corolla is much lighter (and possibly smaller). The Caliber SRT-4 blasts the XRS out of the water, but is rated at the same acceleration as the Neon SRT-4; it is probably safer and easier to drive, though.

Three World Engines offerings (1.8-, 2.0- and 2.4-liter) provide class-leading horsepower (148 hp, 158 hp and 172 hp, respectively). Chrysler engineers met aggressive performance and fuel economy targets through advanced cylinder head port and intake manifold design. Technologies in the Chrysler Group World Engine include dual Variable Valve Timing (VVT) and intake manifold design with flow control valves, firsts for a Chrysler Group compact car. Combined, these features produce more power, better fuel economy and smoother, quieter operation than engines without them.

The 1.8 liter engine is only offered with a five-speed manual transmission, while the larger engines come only with the CVT.

Dodge Caliber’s CVT2 is a second-generation CVT that Chrysler Group engineers have calibrated for pleasing engine response, precise ratio control and an AutoStick® feature that allows for manual control with the simulation of six stepped gears. CVT2 contributes to a fuel economy improvement of 6-8 percent compared with a traditional 4-speed automatic.

Dodge Caliber is the Chrysler Group’s first compact car with available electromagnetically controlled all-wheel drive with variable torque output, which gives customers year-round assurance, added performance and seamless, automatic operation.

In addition to its global powertrain, Dodge Caliber meets safety, feature and convenience standards in markets around the world. To ensure its success in global volume markets, Caliber will launch outside North America with both right- and left-hand drive models and an available turbo diesel engine. Dodge Caliber also meets and complies with all regulatory requirements, as well as off-set crash tests in Europe and Australia and front-impact compliance for Japan and Australia. Dodge Caliber’s manual and automatic transaxle shifters are packaged in the center stack instead of the floor console, which is more common in Japanese and European markets.

The Caliber is full of clever engineering from different companies, inside and out. Let’s toast its success - and hope that, unlike the first-year Neon (for example), or the UltraDrive minivans, it doesn’t draw new people into the company just to drive them away permanently. The PT Cruiser would be a better model: it showed many an import owner that Chrysler can do quality as well as, or better than, just about any Japanese company, including the vaunted Honda. And, if the Caliber does well, Chrysler might just gain more power within DCX; if it fails, expect to see more Volkswagens with ram horns.

Snowdrifts with wheels

For the record: I’m not a snow lover. Oh, if it’d stay off the roads it’d be all right, but it doesn’t. Especially not when there’s 18 inches of it. There’s a worse place than that for snow, however…on top of moving vehicles! Again this morning, as after every snowfall, I see many, many vehicles with a foot of snow or more on the roof, trunk, and sometimes the hood!

Why is it so difficult to clean it off? Can’t reach? Then drive something that has a roof you can reach. Seriously, the stuff’s dangerous. They do sell brushes that extend quite a way; I have one. It’s not only SUVs; I saw a fair share of regular old sedans carrying quite a load, sometimes not even clearing off the back window.

The worst part is that long after the roads are finally clear (don’t even get me started on that adventure!) the moving snow mountains will still be toting their fluffy load.

So clean off that roof, it doesn’t take that long. If it’s an SUV or minivan, buy a brush that extends and a small footstool; problem solved. If it’s a regular sedan there isn’t even that excuse, it’s just laziness.

VIN identification

The vehicle ID number, or VIN, is a good way to tell what kind of car you have. We have a VIN identifier here at allpar, written by Brandon Mecham, but it only covers 1982-2005, and it doesn’t cover minivans, SUVs, or pickups. We’d really like to have it extended - can you provide us either with updated code, or with the information we’d need to expand its coverage? Thanks in advance…