Dodge was a bit late to announce their intentions of
entering the electronic vehicle race, but in the meantime, efforts have been
made to allow the current offerings to be more fuel efficient.Their Multiple Displacement System (MDS)
equipped Hemi engines have made great steps in offering 4-cylinder like economy
on the highway but not compromising the 350+ horsepower.
Ford and General Motors have taken a different approach,
with Ford introducing its EcoBoost and GM announcing that the new Chevy Cruze
will offer a similar setup, both featuring a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. Turbocharging
setups have previously been used on smaller engines to offer more power, from a
performance standpoint, but these new engines use very small displacement and
the turbocharger allows these smaller engines to make similar power to larger
engines, but getting better fuel economy. These turbocharger direct injection engines could stand to make a big
impact on the market, but why hasn’t Chrysler thrown their hat into the ring?
Ford Motor Company hasn’t done much with turbochargers previously, and
GM has started using them in performance applications such as the Cobalt and
Sky, but Dodge hasn’t released anything yet. Considering the long history of performance oriented Dodges, from the
Omni GLHS to the Neon SRT-4, you would think that their experience with
performance applications utilizing similar technology would only make sense. We
know that Chrysler has access to a wide variety of engines as part of their
GEMA partnership, and there are already a handful of turbocharged “world
engines”, so perhaps we can hope that Chrysler will follow the lead of FMC and
GM and release their own variants of small displacement, turbocharged
engines.It would be great for the
company to offer more powerful, fuel efficient engines, but from the
performance aspect, anything with a turbocharger has potential for
modification, so we could see a whole new market of forced induction models
with performance aftermarket potential.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
