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2013 Dodge Dart Aero 
Dodge really has a lot invested in the Dart compact car. So much so, in fact, that they’re releasing a new trim for the model, one they’re proud to announce as the most fuel efficient model in the Dart sedan’s range. The trim is called the Dart Aero and it’s powered by a 1.4-liter MultiAir turbocharged inline-four engine that produces 160 horsepower and 184 lb/ft of torque. With these numbers in tow, Dodge proclaims the Dart Aero to return 41 mpg on the highway when it’s mated to a six-speed manual transmission and 40 mpg when it carries a six-speed Dual Dry Clutch Transmission. As far as trim features are concerned, the Dart Aero comes with auto headlamps, projector headlamps and LED ‘racetrack’ tail lamps, power mirrors, remote keyless entry, cruise control, and electronic stability control. Inside, the Dart Aero carries a leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, air conditioning with micron filter, power windows and locks, and an 8.4" touchscreen media center and 7" TFT reconfigurable gauge cluster as added options. Reid Bigland, CEO of the Dodge brand, explained the merits of the Dart Aero. "The all-new Dodge Dart is a groundbreaking vehicle, offering features and benefits never before offered in a compact car," he said "The new Dart Aero builds on these attributes by combining a remarkable 41mpg with interior room of a mid-size car and class-leading technology, style and safety, for only $19,295." 2013 Dodge Dart iHeart
International recording artist and Mr. Worldwide, Pitbull, recently put his design hat on to customize a 2013 Dodge Dart which was part of a sweepstakes at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas. The car, called the Dodge Dart iHeart, received Pitbull’s full design touches, which as you might expect, centered on his own style. You know the classic Pitbull ensemble, right? Tailored suit, classic sunglasses, and the contrasting pin stripes; the Dart iHeart was designed to be an extension of Pitbull’s top level swag. The Dart iHeart is highlighted by a high contrast matte white exterior and black roof, a custom set of 18" liquid graphite aluminum wheels, a black and pear white leather and suede interior, the addition of a new hood scoop and rear spoiler, and the artful use of metals that not only evoke Pitbull’s classic style, but also add a dose of mystery to the compact sedan. So who took home the Dodge Dart iHeart? A man named Jack Walters from New York, who personally took the keys to his brand new, one-off ride from the hands of Pitbull himself. Jack Walters is a lucky man.
2013 Dodge Dart GTS Tribute
According to a flier obtained by Dodge Dart Forum, there is another new Dart on its way and will be getting here just about the same time as the R/T model, which is running a little later according to our watch. This model is the Dodge Dart GTS Tribute. The details are still scarce on this model, but the flier gives us a little bit of information. It’s going to start with a basic 2013 Dodge Dart R/T and its 184-horsepower, 2.4-liter Tigershark 4-cylinder engine with the 18-inch R/T forged chrome wheels. From there, Dodge will slap on a load of Mopar accessories. On the outside these accessories include a black aluminum hood with an appearance intake (AKA a fake hood scoop), matte black chin spoiler, matte black side sills, matte black rear air diffuser, matte black rear spoiler and a carbon-fiber roof graphic (AKA a sticker that looks like carbon fiber). The interior gets a wide array of upgrades, including: ceramic white floating island bezel – the bezel around the instrument cluster and radio – with a gloss black cluster trim and ruby-red LED. Also donning a coating of pearl white is the 360 handle finisher, climate-control knobs, chin bezel, shifter bezel and cup holder bezel. The steering wheel will boast white and black, and will have a gloss black bezel. The door armrests will be black with pearl white accent stitching and it will also feature brightwork covers on the pedals. The Dart GTS Tribute also receives Katzkin leather seating with pearl white accents, premium carpeted floor mats, black center console with pearl white stitching, and finally a black Alcantara-wrapped cluster brow with pearl white accent stitching. Oh, and the exterior will don a coat of, you guessed it, red paint… Kidding, of course, it’s pearl white just like all of the little accents throughout the car. From what we can tell, there are no mechanical upgrades to the Dart R/T, but we won’t know for sure until the official unveiling takes place. Stay tuned for more about the Dart GTS Tribute. *Note: the black fingernails are not mine, nor are they part of the GTS Tribute Package Travis Pastrana and His Dodge Dart Get First WinTravis Pastrana and his 2013 Dart rally car have had a run of bad luck in this year’s Global RallyCross Championship, as a series of crashes have knocked him out of just about every race. Well, Travis’ run of bad luck appears to be coming to an end, as the Dart he pilots finally won a RallyCross race. The win came on the New Hampshire Motor Speedway last weekend and it began nearly as well as it ended. Travis pulled in a 3rd place start, giving him an advantage over the majority of the field. He took advantage of his great positioning to overcome the two cars ahead of him and pull out the checkered flag in this heat. Thanks to that win in his heat, Pastrana got a front-row seat to start the final race and managed to secure and keep hold of 1st place through the race. Needless to say, Travis has been rather disappointed with his results so far this year, as he was quoted saying “It’s been so long, I almost forgot what it’s like to win.” Pastrana is definitely a TopSpeed favorite, thanks to his openness to hop in front of the camera and give us witty comments, awesome rally videos, or even challenge his own teammates, so to see him finally bring home a checkered flag is nice. Here’s to many more this year and we hope the worst is behind him. Travis and his Dart tackle their next race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on September 28th and 29th. You can check out the above video to see the summary of the entire event.
Travis Pastrana Challenges/Invites Sebastien Loeb to the X-Games and Loeb AcceptsAny fan of professional wrestling is used to seeing per-produced challenges/invitations via video and in dramatic fashion, but racing fans rarely see such drama. Well, that was until Travis Pastrana decided his competition at the upcoming X-Games just wasn’t tough enough this year and sent a video challenge/invitation to 8-time WRC champ, and fellow Red Bull athlete, Sebastien Loeb. This was far from the professional wrestling-esq “I challenge you to a cage match” style of challenge, as Travis’ video was short, sweet and complimentary to Loeb‘s skills as a rally driver. Red Bull put together Loeb’s response in a much more dramatic fashion, as it was dubbed over with some music and had a plethora of information regarding his super-fast car built just for this event. It even included an auto show-like red cloth veil removal. Still it wasn’t an over-the-top wrestling response, but it was still a tab on the dramatic side relative to Pastrana’s original video. So let’s have a look at what Pastrana has gotten himself into… Loeb is running a car built-to-suit by Citroen Racing. It comes with a 2.0-liter four-pot that pumps out an unreal 545 ponies and 590 pound-feet of face-deforming torque. According to the video, the hot Citroen will hit 60 mph in just under 3 seconds. Needless to say, Pastrana and his 2013 Dodge Dart are not only going up against the best rally driver that the world has to offer today, but also a car that is as good as any in the X-Games. Has Pastrana bitten off more than he can chew? Only time will tell, so we will have to wait until the RallyCross event kicks off on July 1st to find out. We’ll keep you up to date with any other news that pops regarding this friendly rivalry. You can see Pastrana’s challenge video above and Loeb’s acceptance video after the jump. Full story 2013 Dodge DartSome of you might be too young to remember this, but back in the 60’s, Dodge had a vehicle called the "Dart." It’s been a while since we saw this nameplate out on the streets, but now, Dodge has officially brought it back with the unveiling of a new compact sedan at the 2012 North American International Auto Show. The new Dart is currently under development and will be based on a modified version of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta hatchback’s platform named Compact U.S. Wide (CUSW). According to Dodge, the new Dart will feature a body that’s made out of high-strength steel and a bevy of powertrain options. The base engine for the new Dart will be a 1.4-liter MultiAir Intercooled Turbo engine. Just ahead of that is a 2.0-liter Tigershark engine, while the most powerful engine will be a 2.4-liter MultiAir Tigershark engine. UPDATE 04/30/2012: Dodge has unveiled a new promo video for the 2013 Dart Limited. The video presents running footage and beauty shots of the car. Hit the jump to watch the video! Find out more about the 2013 Dodge Dart after the jump. Full story 2013 Dodge Dart to Feature Wireless Phone ChargingWhen Chrysler first unveiled the all-new 2013 Dodge Dart, it was met by a lot of industry and enthusiast grumbling, as it paid zero homage to its original rendition. As more details come out on the 2013 Dart, we are all starting to come around to this little Italian Dodge. The latest release is that the 2013 Dart will be the first vehicle ever to feature a cell phone charging pad as a factory option. This 8.27-inch by 9.5-inch by 3.25-inch charging compartment is below the center stack and directly in front of the center console, which puts it in a place that most people would set their cell phone anyways. Basically, you place almost any smartphone in the special case, which comes with the optional charger, and set the case and phone in the charging compartment. Voila, no wires, no plugging things in and your phone starts charging. This is especially convenient with those Darts with a manual transmission, as nothing puts a kink in your speed shifting like a cell phone charger wire wrapped around the shifter. The question is how much someone would pay for this option. Well, Chrysler has determined that this convenience is worth $199.99, plus dealer installation. The price may seem a little bit steep upon first glance, but think about how many times you have forgotten your car charger at home and desperately needed it or about how many of those universal charges you have bought that broke just a few weeks later. You have likely spent more than the fee for this component replacing broken chargers and buying chargers in desperation. Let’s just add another positive to the 2013 Dart and Dodge’s 2013 lineup altogether, which is becoming more and more advanced seemingly every day. Hit the jump to see the official press release. Full story Video: 2013 Dodge Dart Rally Car Plays in the Dirt, Water, and TarmacYou can have your Indy cars, NASCAR, and drag racing, but none of those get our hearts thumping and the hair on our necks standing more than a good old rally race. Nothing like seeing a car pushed to extreme levels on loose dirt, muddy water, and tarmac. A few weeks ago, we teased everyone with an article about Dodge entering the love-it-or-hate-it 2013 Dart into the Global RallyCross Circuit. This definitely opened up a small area in our hearts, somewhere near the left ventricle, for this Alfa Romeo in Dodge garb. Dodge just increased our slowly growing love for the new Dart by releasing a video of Travis Pastrana, the hired lunatic that will swing the Dart through the dirt at break-neck speeds, testing out his new rally machine. We must say, if this video doesn’t raise the hair on your neck and make you lean into the computer screen, you might want to check your pulse. This is one of the few times that a maker has included music on a “sneak peak” type of video, but turned off the music when the car is moving, so you can actually hear this bad machine working hard. This video is simply awesome and the Dart seems to perform well with no one else on the track with it. Take a look at the above video and see for yourself how the Dart handles a closed rally-style course. Yeah, some of it is a little dramatized, but overall Dodge did a good job with it and the inside shots are awesome, as you can see the driver feathering the throttle to perfection. Oh, and keep a close eye on the rear of the car at the 2:05 mark, as a large piece of the rear bumper gets torn off. 2012 Dodge Dart Global Rally Championship Rally CarThe Dodge Dart hasn’t been around long enough for some people to know it’s back, but that doesn’t mean that a certain cluster of folks haven’t taken notice to Dodge’s new super hatch. That’s why it’s not surprising that the Dart is already gearing up for its rally debut in RallyCross, particularly that of the Global RallyCross Championship. Going on its second year, the series has already attracted some of the sport’s heavyweights, including Rhys Millen, Tanner Foust, and Ken Block. This year, the 2013 Dodge Dart will be making its inaugural racing action under SRT Motorsports with no less than four-time Rally America Champion and 17-time X-Games gold medalist Travis Pastrana manning the wheels of the rally car. As for the car itself, the GRC Dart will share a lot qualities with the production version, with one notable exception: the powertrain. Whereas the standard model comes with a 2.4-liter MultiAir Tigershark engine that produces 184 horsepower, the rally version will pack a 2.0-liter engine that has been tuned to produce a walloping 600 horsepower and 550 lb/ft of torque, numbers that allow the car to hit 0-60 mph in just 1.9 seconds. If you’re frothing at the mouth waiting to see how Pastrana rocks the Dart in its rally guise, you can check out the 2012 Global RallyCross Championship beginning with its season debut on May 26, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina. UPDATE 04/05/2012: Dodge just increased our slowly growing love for the new Dart by releasing a video of Travis Pastrana, the hired lunatic that will swing the Dart through the dirt at break-neck speeds, testing out his new rally machine. We must say, if this video doesn’t raise the hair on your neck and make you lean into the computer screen, you might want to check your pulse. This is one of the few times that a maker has included music on a “sneak peak” type of video, but turned off the music when the car is moving, so you can actually hear this bad machine working hard. This video is simply awesome and the Dart seems to perform well with no one else on the track with it. Take a look at the above video and see for yourself how the Dart handles a closed rally-style course. Yeah, some of it is a little dramatized, but overall Dodge did a good job with it and the inside shots are awesome, as you can see the driver feathering the throttle to perfection. Oh, and keep a close eye on the rear of the car at the 2:05 mark, as a large piece of the rear bumper gets torn off.
2012 Dodge Dart SRT4
Dodge has just unveiled the 2012 Dart at the Detroit Auto Show and there are already rumors about a more powerful version called SRT4 is already under development. The upcoming Dart SRT4 should arrive just in time for the 2014 model year as a competitor for models like Ford Focus ST. Prices will be kept under $30k. Just like its standard Dart brother, the SRT4 will borrow heavily from te Alfa Romeo Giulietta. However, do not expect to see the same 230 HP 1.7-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine because its competitor, the Focus ST gets a total of 247 HP under the hood. This means that most like the upcoming Dart SRT4 will be powered by a turbocharged version of the 2.0-liter engine with the output raised in the 285 HP area. Also the next Dart SRT4 will be distinguished by a meaner appearance that will include manner functional scoops and vents, an aggressive rear deck spoiler, stiffer springs and dampers, larger wheels, and upgraded rubber. | Find us on Facebook | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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