Dodge Demon: Good news, bad news

janstett

janstett

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The good news is Dodge will be going to production with it its two seat roadster in the flavor of the MX-5 Miata and Solstace/Sky.

The bad news is it will be front wheel drive. WTF?
 
Whoa smart move assholes, surely this will compete with the MX-5 now!

Boo-urns
Boourns.JPG
 
That does not quite compute - why FWD? Have they not got a RWD platform somewhere they could get sorted for it? Who is going to buy one - unless they are really cheap? Looks kind of OK to me and I like the imposing front alot.
 
Chrysler has no RWD small platform.

They do, though, have a FWD that can take 270hp (i.e., Caliber SRT-4).

Tune that puppy and you will serve just about everyone other than hardcore racers, and they just aren't that big a market.

After all, the Mini is FWD yet you see tons of them at track days.

The MazdaSpeed 3 gets great reviews and it's FWD. Same for the Euro Focus ST.

As much as I'm a purist, I can totally understand this decision.

Steve
 
There goes all my interest in the car.
 
The thread title pretty much sums it up. I absolutely loved the car when I first saw the pictures of it. Now it's lost a lot of that appeal with wrong wheel drive. Maybe they're trying to go a different direction with their roadster, like Fiat did with the Barchetta? Sort of more style than performance.
 
the barchetta was a very good comparison in this case. Both cars will be descended from average small hatch platforms and both seem to place more emphasis on style than substance. the difference is that dodge will inevitably stuff an SRT motor under the hood, to give it speed to match the looks. They need to spend more time tuning the chassis versus focusing on straightline speed if they want to match the class leaders. Unlikely, but possible.
 
Steve Levin said:
Chrysler has no RWD small platform.

They do, though, have a FWD that can take 270hp (i.e., Caliber SRT-4).

Tune that puppy and you will serve just about everyone other than hardcore racers, and they just aren't that big a market.

After all, the Mini is FWD yet you see tons of them at track days.

The MazdaSpeed 3 gets great reviews and it's FWD. Same for the Euro Focus ST.

As much as I'm a purist, I can totally understand this decision.

Steve
Click to expand...
The Demon sounds like the new hairdresser's car. All of the other ~$20K roadsters are RWD, marketing it as the FWD sports car in that market sounds like it will fail. The MX-5 has only had serious competition with the Solstice/Sky. The Solstice/Sky were made to compete with the MX-5 as an affordable, RWD sports car. The Mustang V6 has it's retro looks, spaciousness, and the name Mustang. The new Hyundai coupe will solely compete with the Mustang. The Demon sounds like it's already screwed.

The appeal in the MS3, Caliber SRT, and Cobalt SS is the practicality of having 5 seats and a decent sized trunk as well as a healthy amount of power. The Cobalt and MS3 are said to handle a lot better than the Caliber, but that won't put that many people off of getting the Dodge.
The Mini, though not practical in terms of carrying people, still has a good amount of storage space. And the Mini can play the "Euro chic" card until the end of time. Again, even if it didn't handle as well as people say it does, it would probably still sell well.
 
The Solstice and Sky are already stuggling sales-wise, because of the lack of practicality. As much as Bob Lutz likes them, don't expect them to love very long at all. That leaves the Miata, which while fun, isn't really all that fast in stock form.

It would be trivial for Dodge to build a Demon that spanks a Miata in all performance numbers, and I think that's their goal. It may not be as purist, but it'll be a lot quicker and manage more room in the same size package as the Miata.

And that's why it has the potential to be a massive hit.

Steve
 
Wonder if this will be the first FWD car with carbon fibre as an option?
Or if all the carbon will be replace with black plastic...which is very likely.
 
Phail.

The only way FWD can work if it turns out to be one of those silly FWD fashion items. Problem is, hairdressers won't like it because it's about as feminine as soap on a rope, enthusiasts won't like it because of the wrong-wheel-drive-ness and anyone who is part of the 'euro chic' crowd will hate it because it's a Dodge.

Couple that to it'll be cheaply made with a rubbish cheap interior.
 
I call a fail on this one.

So I guess no 300hp V8 version eh? Could've been a cool car.
 
American+FWD+Roadster=Fail

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lebaron.jpg


Proofs^^
 
A car from a company that thinks figures are all there are to cars.

"Let's make it qucker to 60, quicker at top speed and faster around a track than the competitor, that will make people like it!"

And they wonder why they're in financial trouble. The MX-5 isn't considered the yard-stick in this class because of the figures.
 
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Well...it will be ok as long as they don't try to make it too fast. Meaning, they should stick to the 4 cylinder engine. It will be ridiculous if they put a HEMI in it with this FWD. Maybe Dodge are trying to fail..on purpose. First the Charger with 4 doors (WTF?) and now this otherwise very good looking car with FWD.
 
^ An American roadster based on the FWD Chinese Chery, as Jalopnik is reporting.

That's the worse news.

If it's not RWD they're completely missing the point. Way to blow it, Cerebrus. You shouldn't even bother, save the time and effort and just kill it now.
 
If the demon is FWD and they kill the Viper Ill have to hate chrysler entirely
 
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