Recently in Charger Category

First and foremost, the Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit and the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois will both completely skip their scheduled two week summer downtime.  Jefferson North builds the Dodge Durango and the Jeep Grand Cherokee while Belvidere currently builds the awesome new Dodge Dart alongside the Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot.  The strong sales of the Durango, Grand Cherokee, Patriot and Compass require these two plants to stay open all summer - bolstered by the start of production of the new Dart.  Also, the Toluca Car Assembly Plant in Mexico will skip their summer downtime.  Toluca produces the Dodge Journey (and the Fiat Freemont) along with the compact Fiat 500.

The Saturday Camping World Truck Series race was the SFP 250 and of the 36 trucks in the qualifying field, just three of them were Ram Truck brand race vehicles.  A pair of Rams occupied the 6^th row in the starting grid with Parker Kilgerman's #29 Reese Towpower Ram on the inside in 11^th place while Brad Keselowski's #119 Ram sponsored by Waste Management/ "Hiring Veterans" / Checkered Flag Foundation starting on the outside of the row in 12^th.

In Saturday's O'Reilly Auto Parts 300, Brad Keselowski and Sam Hornish Jr were the only two drivers piloting Dodge Challengers and with starting positions of 12^th and 14^th the teammates were poised for another day of front running.  Things went fairly well for Sam Hornish Jr as he rolled into an 11^th place finish in his #12 Wurth Challenger but for Keselowski, early engine troubles dashed his hopes of winning and he was forced to finish 35^th - 41 laps off of the pace.  Hornish now sits in 4^th place in the Nationwide season standings.

The Ram Truck managed to field 4 of the 36 starting position for Saturday's Kroger 250 Camping World Truck Series as the pickups made the second stop of the year - the first since Daytona Speedweeks.  The Ram brand was represented by Parker Kilgerman in the #29 Cooper Standard entry, Clay Greenfield in the #168 self-sponsored Ram, Dusty Davis in the #15 truck and Jennifer Jo Cobb in the #8 Driven2Honor.org race Ram.

Saturday's Ford EcoBoost 300 at Bristol was less than kind to its sponsor, with Ford's Ricky Steinhouse finishing in 6^th. Brad Keselowski in his #22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger started 7^th and ran strong all day, finishing 3^rd behind a pair of Chevys driven by Kasey Kahne and Elliot Sadler.  Sam Hornish Jr drove his #12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger to a 13^th place finish (started 23^rd) while the only other Dodge in the field, the #81 car driven by rookie Jason Bowles finished 25^th after starting in the 34^th position.  Hornish Jr. still sits in 6^th place in Nationwide Series season standings (49 points behind leader Elliot Sadler) while Jason Bowles moved up three spots to the 19^th position, sitting 114 points off of the leading pace.  Brad Keselowski is not involved in the championship standings for the Nationwide Series.

On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal published a piece stating that the well-known Hemi is being demoted, in favor of "greener" engines.
This seemed odd to me, considering how fuel efficient the MDS-equipped
Hemi has proven itself to be in the Dodge Charger, Challenger and Ram
trucks and as other media sources picked up the story, the rumors got
deep. This is made that much more unlikely to me by the fact that many
engine rumors for upcoming Chrysler vehicles center around new (often
bigger) Hemi engines.

Some sources state that the Hemi will be dropped from the Chrysler and Jeep lineup and that the Hemi would only remain in the Dodge and Ram
brand vehicles but rather than make assumptions, I contacted Chrysler
for more information on the future of the Hemi. Earlier today, I spoke
with Nick Cappa, a representative for Chrysler's Brand Newsroom, who had
this to say about the Hemi:

I have an appreciation for all sorts of cars, but deep down I'm a Mopar man.  I've owned Fords and Chevys, but my favorite cars have been my 1983 Dodge Mirada 340 and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340, and when I get to events like SEMA I'm always very excited to see what Mopar has in store for me.

This year, I have to admit that the indoor Mopar display was a little bare, although cars like the Challenger 1320 (click here for more info) and the new Dodge Avenger pro stock car (more info coming soon!) made the display worth the time.  

But there was still Mopar Alley.  The area connecting the Central Hall and South Hall runs you through a parking lot and atop a busy overpass, but for years now Mopar has bridged the gap with a variety of new and vintage Mopars -  both privately owned and featured vehicles owned by Chrysler Corporation.

The model line ranges from the basic but entertaining 2.7-liter Charger SE to the high-performance 425-hp SRT8. Between them are 3.5-liter V6 and 5.7-liter V8 models. The 3.5-liter V6 delivers entirely adequate performance for the mid-grade SXT model, while the V8s generate thrilling acceleration performance and make all the right noises. All-wheel drive is available for all-weather capability.

The Charger illustrates just how multi-talented and accomplished today's high-performance cars are compared to the unidimensional hot rods of yesteryear. The Charger has all the pavement-ripping, gut-thumping power of the old muscle cars, but it's packaged with modern creature comforts and tempered by handling competency. With either V8 engine, the Charger is fast in a straight line, and it corners better than those muscle cars of the past. However, it is large and heavy, measuring more than 16 feet in length and tipping the scales near two tons, so it's not as nimble as a sports car, or even a pony car.

The new Dodge Challenger has allowed Dodge enthusiasts a chance to buy a new "muscle car", with the definition of rear wheel drive, front engine, V8s.  However, models like the Charger SRT-8 and Dodge Viper SRT-10 have filled the gap in Dodge performance, although in other segments, and both have proven to be very successful.

In speaking with a handful of performance enthusiasts (both Dodge, other domestic, and import enthusiasts), I found that the following models were the most commonly mentioned in the question of "what is the best Dodge muscle car of all time?  There is no right answer, so here are the 8 models that were mentioned when I was asking people the same question, so I present to DodgeForum a tail of the tape for each of the following 8 cars for your consideration in what you would pick as the greatest Dodge muscle car. 

The Dodge Charger hit the market a few years back and was an instant hit with the public.  The roomy sedan was not what every Dodge lover was hoping for, but along with a popular performance sedan, the Charger also proved to be a great replacement for the Intrepid in Dodge's police car program.  The Ford Crown Victoria had long been the norm for police departments around the US, as their V8 was far more powerful than the 3.5L V6 found in the Intrepid, but when the Charger police models became available, the 5.7L Hemi made the new Charger a popular choice over the Crown Vic.

The 2009 Dodge Charger, like other Hemi-powered models will receive a boost in power, now offering 368 horsepower and 395 lb-ft of torque, making the Charger an even better choice for high speed pursuit.  But rising gas prices and growing concerns about fuel economy have caused many to question the police using V8 vehicles, but Dodge has addressed that as well, with their Multiple Displacement System (MDS).  Previously unavailable on the police models, the MDS offers around 20 percent better fuel economy over a non-MDS model, so along with a bump in power, the Charger is also friendlier on the tax payers when at the pumps.  So, not only is the Charger one of the more efficient V8 powered cars in its class, but the police variant surpasses all of its competitors in power, acceleration, and top speed.