Dodge Nitro gets a HEMI for SEMA
Dodge has released some initial info on what it has in store for SEMA this year. The big deal will be the Challenger Super Sort concept that'll be on display. Alas, they're playing coy with the specifics on that one, so we'll have to wait and see what the story is. Expect a HEMI with many, many young ponies running amok underhood for sure.
Absent details on the super Challenger, we can tell you about two Nitros headed for Vegas. The first, depicted in the sketch above, is a performance concept. It gets the 5.7L HEMI underhood, a 5-speed manual, 22' wheels, and a set of Brembos. Inside, the stock Nitro seats get deep-sixed in favor of four Viper buckets. Style-wise, the new pody pieces show that the HEMI Nitro is ready to throw down, with a bulging hood, substantial front spoiler, large fender flares, and a new rear bumper with cutouts for the truck's dual exhausts.
Dodge is also sending a Nitro panel truck that sees the deletion of the rear doors and rear seats and the installation of a sliding load floor.
More shots at Inside line.
[Source: Inside Line]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
'94 Impala SS 8:58AM (9/22/2006)
OK That's it! The HEMI doesn't mean shit anymore.
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Bocephus Billy 8:27AM (9/21/2007)
SS? No, that's incorrect. Either R/T or SRT or it wouldn't be Mopar.
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SherbornSean 9:14AM (9/22/2006)
Impala SS is right. Last year, Chrysler was claiming that "Hemi" was their fourth brand in the US, after Chrsler, Dodge and Jeep.
At this point, it looks as if Chrysler has done about as good a job stewarding this brand as they did with Plymouth and Eagle.
Will "that thing gotta Hemi?" become the "Where's the beef?" of our time?
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Nick 9:39AM (9/22/2006)
Hemi's aren't clearing out Chrysler's sick dealer inventories.
That aside, this is just not an attractive SUV.
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Bullitt Mustang 9:51AM (9/22/2006)
I know it's just a rendering, but those wheels look great on that.
How long before they put a Hemi into something like a Neon? It kind of kills the point of having a Hemi in something like a Charger or Challenger when they put them in everything else.
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Chris 10:09AM (9/22/2006)
Right on Nick! This thing could be the worst looking vehicle since the Aztek! I have seen too many driving around the Detroit area with their manufacturer plates on but without the camo/covers. I wonder if you can get on with the camo/cover, Dodge should make it an option!
Just of note. Remember when everyone talked about what a great thing Chrysler (as whole) was doing be being aggressive and taking risks in their design. People praised them for making polarizing designs that were love it or hate and applied it their entire lineup? Well when all the people that "love it" buy new cars that leaves the "hate it" crowd which wouldn't even consider the car, no matter how great. Where a more conservative or "boring" approach seems to work better. Look at the Charger, it was a sales star while the Ford Five-Hundred was panned as boring (which it is) has closed the gap and surpassed the Charger.
I know the 300 is much higher but to be honest I am not sure were it fits in. I don't think it's in the same class/genre as a Five-Hundred, maybe a Buick or similar.
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rwdmtparkingonly 10:06AM (9/22/2006)
This thing has almost the same base price as a Charger, so it's not like this is dilluting HEMI the brand. If this thing was offered with HEMI it would be in the low thirties, just like a Charger R/T.
If they called a V6 or an I4 a HEMI that might be a problem, but they aren't. That said, this is only a show car, if they have a special production engine for the Nitro I'm pretty sure it will be the SRT4 turbo 4.
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Tim UF 10:13AM (9/22/2006)
'How long before they put a Hemi into something like a Neon? It kind of kills the point of having a Hemi in something like a Charger or Challenger when they put them in everything else.' ~Bullitt Mustang (#5)
well, the neon is a sibling of the PT Cruiser, and they strapped the viper engine into that a few years back.
and yeah, hemispherical cumbustion chambers just arent as flashy as they used to be. the cool stuff now is direct injection, DOHC, VVTi, VTECH, etc.... i think i even read somewhere that a lot of eco-4 cyls have hemi heads.
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PuffyC 10:16AM (9/22/2006)
Man, DCX starts putting nice motors in a lot of different cars and all peope do is bitch, whine and complain.
First people complain that a design is too bland then complain when they spice things up. They complain when some car gets a wimpy 4 banger then complain when it gets a Hemi.
If you're a gearhead the Hemi Nitro is a good thing. If you drive a Camry or Accord then I guess I can understand why you might think this is dumb.
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Jay 10:44AM (9/22/2006)
>> then complain when they spice things up
>> If you're a gearhead the Hemi Nitro is a good thing
Spice things up? I'm a gearhead, and 50 year old technology with a name that rednecks love - in my opinion - doesn't seem like "spicing things up." It seems like shoving a marketing catch phrase on a shitty product just to get people to buy it.
Since they lost so much money this quarter - what was it? 1.5 billion? Obviously it isn't working.
Maybe they need to quit making all of their ugly cars look like their pickup trucks and show some creativity and originality. While they're at it they can quit trying to sell us cars based on a name that's now worthless to anyone with a clue (Hemi) and quit trying to tell me that their ugly ass designs have anything to do with Germany at all.
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Big DH 11:39AM (9/22/2006)
For crying out loud! Why can't they just put in a turbo 4 cylinder that makes 400 horsepower!!!
I'm so sick of hearing about gas guzzling V-8's I could puke.
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Ryan 11:41AM (9/22/2006)
"Since they lost so much money this quarter - what was it? 1.5 billion? Obviously it isn't working."
How could you argue that?
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zinger 11:51AM (9/22/2006)
Don't know why every one loves the HEMI so much...it's a ver UNefficient engine design !!!
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Richard Warren 12:42PM (9/22/2006)
It's a trade name and a marketing tool, get over it, get over the "redneck" label too.
Hemi sort of rolls off the tongue, it was a good advertising name then, still is now.
Can't you just hear it.
Wow, man whats your Toyota got?
Answer a 3Vze! Yep, that's impressive.
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TriShield 1:02PM (9/22/2006)
This is what SRT should be doing with the Nitro. If there was a Nitro SRT-8 it would probably sell very well.
The Nitro also looks great. It brings STYLE to the it's class, a class that is basically full of very vanilla looking entries. So to all of you who bothered to post that you hate the Nitro's looks, fear not. Honda and Toyota make something boring for your taste.
As for the four-cylinder turbo and fuel consumption comment. It's a myth. STis, Evos, and high performance four bangers consume lots of fuel to feed those ponies, just as much if not more than a V8.
In fact I formerly owned a V6 turbo car and it used more fuel per tank than the LS2 powered car I own now. 12mpg on the V6 turbo vs 17mpg on the LS2 V8 per tank.
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Juan 1:07PM (9/22/2006)
I'm more excited about the panel truck than the result of the "let's stick a HEMI in it" school of design.
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Non-Bizarro Adam 1:09PM (9/22/2006)
Hey, Big DH. You ever seen the MPG of some of those really high-horsepower Turbo-4-cylinders?
Evo: 18/24
STi: 18/24
RDX: 19/23 (an SUV, I know, but still)
MazdaSPEED6: 19/25
Compare that to some "gas-guzzling" V-8s, all of which make more power than the above I-4s.
Vette: 18/28
Charger R/T: 17/25
Impala SS: 18/28
Mustang GT: 18/25
550i: 17/25
Tahoe: 16/22 (I kicked this one in to counterbalance the RDX)
So how is going to a Turbo-4 doing any better?
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AutoFan 1:25PM (9/22/2006)
N-B Adam: Wow! It's almost like the laws of physics are saying that you have to burn the same amount of gas to get the same amount of horsepower! What are the odds?
;)
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WRXsponge 1:07PM (9/26/2006)
#15. Uh no. I have one of these 300+ 4 banger turbos and I can tell you I consistently average 25 MPG CITY. Also, over 300 ft/lbs at the crank over 3k. Granted it isn't stock, but it still drives like it is. /OT
I would never even come close to buying a Hemi Nitro. Ever. Its just one more SUV that will be driven by an asshat. There's already too many.
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MikeW 1:54PM (9/22/2006)
What the 'hemi's innovation was in the 1940's was the reverse rocker arm for the intake valves. By coupling a high mounted camshaft that actuates the steeply angled exhaust valves and by using the reverse rocker arms for the intake valves, you are left with a crossflow cylinder head with straight ports, and two nicely placed spark plugs.
A disadvantage of the high camshaft it a tall engine, look at the corvette, the intake manifold isn't any higher than the rocker arm covers.
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