A Basic Magnum

A Basic MagnumIt's rare we get to drive a base-spec car but a trip to Las Vegas gave me just that opportunity. Car companies rarely send you a stripper. Get your head out of the gutter, I'm talking about entry-level cars. Press vehicles usually show up with a ton of options. Things were a bit different when I was in Vegas working on a story with two colleagues earlier this week and booked a rental car for the 2.5-day visit.After checking in at the main desk, we walked outside and were greeted by a row of cars. Decisions, decisions, decisions. We scanned the fleet and I was immediately drawn to a Mercury Grand Marquis. The body-on-frame, rear-wheel drive, V-8 package was somehow intriguing. Our creative director, Darin Johnson, wouldn't go for that and begged we grab the Dodge Magnum. Fine, we'll take it.As we drove away, I quickly realized that this Magnum was the bargain basement model. It featured wheel covers, manual seats, a plastic steering wheel, and a wheezy 2.7-liter V-6 hitched to an archaic four-speed automatic transmission. The last Magnum I drove had the 425-hp 6.1-liter V-8 and this one has 178-hp. This should be interesting. No surprise, it was slow, no, make that really slow. Also, the chassis was setup old-school American car soft. It wallowed over bumps and the small engine had to work very hard going up hills. Still, the Magnum was very quiet, featured tons of rear legroom, and stickered for only about $24K. Add in the $2000 cash back presently offered and the logical bargaining with the sales person and you can pick up a very slow but decent family hauler for around $20K. Sure, it doesn’t have stability control but you can add that for around $1000.Truth be told, I’d pay a bit more and at least get the 3.5-liter version but it doesn’t really matter because the Magnum is dead. Chrysler killed it in March. It’s a shame. The car isn’t amazing but it has a distinctive design that is purely American. If you want a new one, I’m sure there are plenty floating around dealer lots. Just make sure that you plan ahead when accelerating up to highway speeds if you get the base SE model.Read More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

SEMA Preview: 560-hp Challenger Convertible that Dodge won't build

SEMA Preview: 560-hp Challenger Convertible that Dodge won't build

Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA, Tuners, Convertibles, Dodge

Coach Builders Ltd. is known for its convertible conversions of the Chrysler 300C and Cadillac CTS, so after Dodge made the decision not to offer the Challenger in drop-top guise, it knew what it had to do.

The Florida-based company will bring a customized soft-top Dodge Challenger SRT8 to SEMA, packing a Vortech supercharger good for 560 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque. In addition to the hydraulically powered acrylic polyester cloth roof (complete with sound and temperature insulation), the Challenger is dropped courtesy of a KW coil-over suspension over 22-inch Foose wheels coated in Nitto rubber.

The cost of the conversion, which also includes a heated glass rear window, matching headliner and a rear strut bar to shore up the chassis, is a whopping $16,000, making for a $58,000 hair dryer when rolled into the $41,695 base price of an SRT8. We're not saying it's not worth it, but we could think of a few other mods we'd do to the Challenger before hacking the roof off.

[Source: Coach Builders Ltd. via InsideLine]

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AutoblogGreen for 10.20.08

Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green

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On Friday, we finally got a peek at the Electric MINI E. It's the same look on the outside - well, plug the giant plug logo - but totally different under the hood. We're very much looking forward to the LA Auto Show, where we'll learn much, much more. AutoblogGreen also has lots of coverage of the Austin Alt Car expo from the past weekend.

• Revealed: Electric MINI E
• LA Preview: Officially, official: the MINI E! Does it use a Tesla battery?
• Driving Less? Don't forget you still need some basic maintenance
• Durango, Aspen hybrids officially rated at 20 city and 22 highway
• Austin Alt Car: Z Wheelz shows off Porsche EV and ZW2
• Austin Alt Car: Out of this world electric two-wheeled vehicles
• Austin Alt Car: Congressman Lloyd Doggett talks PHEV tax credits and GM's influence
• Austin Alt Car: Austin Energy ends Plug-in Partners, unveils new smart charging software
• Austin Alt Car: TriTrack concept wins the outlandish-as-all-get-out prize
• VIDEO: Red Green demonstrates that corn can be a viable fuel
• Florida town to host factory for Tender Scarlette?
• Spy Shots: MINI crossover spotted testing
• A bit of EV history: Renault Dauphine Henney-Kilowatt

More headlines after the jump.

Continue reading AutoblogGreen for 10.20.08

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