autos sport

Spied on the set of the next (why, God?) Fast and Furious movie was the 2011 Dodge Charger, all dolled up in a police uniform. Although it's still too soon to critique the final product, these latest pics from Autoblog are revealing enough to hesitantly say that yes, the car's set to get a decent-looking exterior refresh.

The 2011's wide-taillight treatment is a blast from the past; definitely cool with rumored LEDs, but it should have been the taillight layout from the start. The front end is reportedly angrier and gets a new lower fascia (like the rear), and from at least one of the pics it appears that the side could be gaining a styling streak. Oh, and the hood is getting a little more character in the form of those two indentations.

The other big news is that interior. If...IF...that's the final decision on the dash, well...that's a lot of vinyl and silver plastic. As the former owner of a Chrysler with a similar sliced-from-the-inside airbag mechanism (should that be used), let me say this to owners of older cars as a warning: the vinyl may crack through and leave passengers with a nice cut to stare at.

Not too thrilled about that; just because the technology is there to eliminate supplementary restraint system panels doesn't necessarily mean it needs to be done. In this case, I'd rather have an SRS section that would offer some lines to design around instead of that sea of vinyl.

As always, final judgments will come after an official release. For now, we can at least be happy that Dodge is taking its Charger in the right direction.

By Phil Alex

For the rest of the photos, hop over to Autoblog.com

Even though Dodge has started playing the striptease photo game with the 2011 Durango, the Detroit carmaker is still keeping test cars under cover for apparent reasons. Forum member GM4Life from 'Cheers and Gears' bagged these photos of a camouflaged prototype of the seven (or eight) seater crossover on the highway somewhere near Denver, Colorado.

The new generation of the Durango, now a unibody crossover model based on the mechanicals and platform of the latest Jeep Grand Cherokee, will be built alongside its sister Jeep model at the Chrysler Group's Jefferson North plant in Detroit. Set to compete against Ford's new Explorer, the Durango will most likely hit showrooms by the end of the year.

Photos: Cheers and Gears

Not to be outdone by Ford and its marketing tactics with the 2011 Explorer, the Chrysler Group published a few more teaser shots of the upcoming 2011 Dodge Durango. These new photos come in addition to those released during an earlier announcement today on the launch of a dedicated website on the crossover model which is equipped with three rows of seats.

The new Durango makes the jump from truck-based to car-based crossover as it uses a stretched version of the unibody platform found under the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Though Dodge is keeping most details under wraps, the Durango will most likely be offered with Chrysler's new Pentastar 3.6-liter V6 delivering somewhere around 290-ponies and a 5.7-liter V8 with about 360-horsepower.

We still don't know where the crossover model will make its debut, but it is expected to go on sale in the States as early as the end of the year.

After much speculation about the name of Dodge's forthcoming SUV model which is heavily based on the all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, an official teaser site that just went live confirms the use of the 'Durango' nameplate. The website also offers some new rendered images of the 2011 Durango including a cropped shot of the dashboard revealing the push-button start.

We've added a full set of images from the site after the jump, but for a better look of the SUV, click here for a completely uncloaked 2011 Durango snagged in the factory and here for a very accurate rendering based on the official patent drawings.

Link: Dodge , Via: Autoblog.com

A cloaked prototype of the redesigned for 2011, Dodge Charger sports sedan was captured on camera by a forum member of "Cheers And Gears" while driving out of the Detroit airport. The spot lights on either side of the windscreen, right above the exterior mirrors, suggest that the car may be testing a police package.

While the heavy cladding on this Charger makes it difficult to tell the details, previous spy shots have revealed a new snout with a larger and more pushed out cross-hair grille, reshaped head- and tail lights and more chiseled surfaces throughout the body.

Probably more importantly, the 2011 Charger's interior will also receive a much needed makeover with a new design and higher grade materials.

As far as engines are concerned, expect to find the Chrysler Group's new 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 with some 280-horsepower (or more) along with a 5.7-liter Hemi V8 and from what we've heard, a new 6.4-liter Hemi V8 pushing out around 480-horsepower.

The facelifted 2011 Dodge Charger is due for a reveal alongside the subtly updated 2011 Dodge Challenger coupe by the end of the year.

Photo Source: Cheers and Gears

Thanks to Twitter user who posted a link to a Twitpic page, we now have the first photo the 2012 Dodge Durango, which could end up being named Magnum or something entirely different, without any trace of camouflage.

The full size SUV model is believed to ride on the same or lengthened version of the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee platform, which was developed alongside the next generation Mercedes-Benz ML SUV.

Being based on the Grand Cherokee, it's almost certain that the Dodge model will be offered with the same powerplant options including Chrysler LLC's new 3.6-liter V6 Pentastar with 290-horsepower and a 5.7-liter V8 HEMI with 360 ponies, when it arrives in showrooms next year.

Source: Twitter , Via: Autoblog.com

Now here's a nice surprise for Dodge fans. A member of the Mopart forums has snagged some photos of what appears to be the facelifted 2011 Dodge Challenger in R/T trim without a single trace of camouflage. The cosmetic changes over the 2009/2010 muscle-coupe are extremely subtle and it will take a trained eye to spot the differences.

These include the reshaped lower intake up front (basically, the designers turned it upside down) and the elimination of the Ram nose emblem on the hood, plus a new set of door handles. It is possible that the 2011 Challengers could feature more changes on the outside and in particular the rear end as we don't have any other photos of the car.

It is believed that the refreshed Challenger will get a much needed reworked interior with a new design and upgraded materials.

Rumor has that the 2011 Challenger will also benefit from some important changes under the hood. More specifically, it is said that the base Challenger SE will get Chrysler's new Pentastar 3.6-liter V6 engine pushing out somewhere between 280HP and 300HP, while the flagship SRT8 will receive a new 6.4-liter V8 delivering some 480-horsepower, up from 425HP.

Source: Moparts and Allpar , Via: Jonsibal

2011 Dodge Challenger

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2010 Dodge Challenger