The Jeep Cherokee has always been boxy and upright ever since its debut in the 1980s. It wasn’t considered beautiful, but nobody called it ugly either. The new-for-2014 Cherokee however, is as controversial as it gets, designed to illicit a response, no matter what it may be.
This is it. The car that melds your muscle-car fantasies with your practicality needs. The 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT is expensive, but with performance that keeps up with all sorts of overpriced German SUVs, it’s a relative bargain.
The newly-branded Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has announced a full-blown five-year plan for its extensive brand portfolio that includes Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Maserati and Ferrari. Some of the reshuffling sounds smart, a few baffling, and one a retraction of a previous decision regarding SRT.
Mopar is a name that’s well-known in the States, but not elsewhere. It started out as the brand for the Chrysler Group’s parts and accessories division. Now they are pushing hard in the the Middle East market as they aim to improve service standards and customer care, as well as offer easier access to aftermarket accessories. After the formation of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Mopar logos will now be incorporated on aftersales parts for Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, SRT and RAM brands. We recently had a chance to sit down with Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO for Mopar brand Service,
Hot on the heels of the 2015 Dodge Charger’s dramatic facelift, the 2015 Challenger gets its own retro-esque styling upgrades, a new 6.4-litre Scat Pack and Shaker trims.
Dodge has unveiled the facelifted 2015 Charger at this week’s 2014 New York Auto Show. Chrysler claims they have reworked almost about every body panel on the car, even if it appears to be just a friendlier Dart-inspired front and rear redesign using more LEDs.
Well? What do you think of its looks? Before you answer that and run back to your boring old econoboxes, be advised that we had the same opinion as you before. The 2014 Jeep Cherokee’s front-end smacks you in the face like a torpedo, but we had slightly warmed up to it when the Trailhawk offroad-ready version was revealed. It looks kind of cool in an unconventional concept moon-buggy sort of way, turning heads wherever it pops up, which is probably the effect Jeep was going for, rather than just make a mini-Grand Cherokee. But beyond the styling lies a car that’s better than many of its direct competitors.
The last time we got behind the wheel of a Dodge Challenger SRT8 was back in early 2011, driving a 2010 version with the 6.1-litre Hemi and standard bouncy suspension. Even then, it left a mark on our minds, more so than its two other rivals, as the best iteration of a true muscle-car that harks back to the hey-days of the 1960s. And then the 392 version came out in late 2011, with a host of upgrades, including a 6.4-litre Hemi and adaptive suspension. But this is the first time we got to try it out.
Most arm-chair car enthusiasts who’ve never driven legendary American powerhouses such as the constantly-cloned Shelby Cobra or the overblown Vin Diesel-spec Dodge Charger have an idealised view of such cars and lament their demise. However, a car exists today that harks back to those brutal larger-than-life super-muscle cars. It’s built by Chrysler and it’s so out-of-sync with their usual offerings that they gave it a whole separate brand now — the SRT Viper. The Viper itself has a similarly-celebrated reputation, and we found out what it’s like on the streets of Dubai.
A few of our car-enthusiast friends, all of whom we’d met via the legendary DriveArabia meets, asked us if we wanted to join them in a trip down to the ubiquitous Rainbow Sheikh’s car museum in Abu Dhabi, an hour-and-a-half drive from the better side of downtown Dubai. We’re generally averse to long drives, but figured we’d join them if we didn’t have to do all the driving. I also dropped Chrysler an email in the off-chance that they could provide a Dodge Durango R/T for the trip, and they confirmed a ride for us within 5 minutes. When the weekend came,