Dodge Factory Rally Team ?!?

Didn't see this if it was posted earlier:

LINK TO ARTICLE

Would be even more awesome if they entered the WRC down the road, but I won't hold out much hope for that...

As I like Rally better than F1...I approve your message. WRC is a "must" though.

Looks like the rumors were correct this time. So a 600 HP AWD Dart will be on the showroom floor in the fall (Hell NO). Still nice to dream.

Global Rallycross is different than SCCA RallyCross both of which are very different from 'performance rally' aka stage rally. The WRC is performance rally.

And, they've done this before (sort of)... I can't find the picture right now but they had 4 or 5 of these as part of a factory-backed effort.

Edit: The new program is a very good thing imho and should be fun to watch. Almost all forms of rally are cool with me.

They also rallied:

• Omni's

• Charger's

• Daytona's

• Shadow's

Dodge has been in and out of the rally scene for a while. I think it was mostly that Doug Shephard was one of their engineers and a heck of a rally driver (and co-driver).

Hey the more Rally, the better! I'm liking this new Dart thing a lot, too. I'm a big fan of the SRT-4, so a Dart version would be mmmmmmmmm.

Hey, if Valiants and Barracudas can rally, why not Darts?

Very nice small block?

slantvaliant wrote:

I got a chance to drive an Omni GLH that was a "body in white" rally car. It was neat.

After Sergio's interview on 60 Minutes the other night, I'm feeling more confident with the Dart.

"Sergio..." "hey, we know sergio!" "hes got darkish lightish hair" "the tannish, whitish guy" "yeah, about this tall." (hand moving from 5 ft to 6'4") "you know Sergio? Come, join us!"

"you know what? We should go see Sergio!"
"NAHHH!!!!"

Cool! I kind of doubt Dodge will get into the WRC game, but it would be nice to see the Dart at a Euro-style rallycross or a Rally America stage rally event.

I think the dart is the first dodge I've seen in a while that I've liked as soon as I saw it. The challenger I don't mind, but it had to grow on me and it's still waaaaay too big. Interested to see if they come out with an SRT dart

RexSeven wrote: Cool! I kind of doubt Dodge will get into the WRC game, but it would be nice to see the Dart at a Euro-style rallycross or a Rally America stage rally event.

Dodge sort of is, considering Fiat does tons of rally stuff. Realistically, americans have ZERO interest in rally compared to all other motorsports, so it's kind of a waste of cash/limited demographic.

This car is actually being prepared by the same shop (OMSE) that builds the rallycross Fosucs/Fieasstas.

I think it looks better as a rally car than the street car.

It's a neat idea, but yeah, rally just isn't big enough in the US. How about bringing back the Neon challenge with Darts? (Dart challenge)

In reply to Gearheadotaku:

Well the Dart is going to end up being a "World Car". So it will be sold outside the US where Rally is more popular.

The engine description is interesting. There was an article in Automotive Engineering International where they noted that Chrysler had designed a totally new engine for the Dart, called the Tigershark, and it shared nothing with the previous GEMA engine other than bore spacing, some nuts and bolts, and maybe a few sensors. Supposedly the motor is quieter and smoother than the Camry four cylinder, and doesn't sound like any engine Chrysler has built before. (Be interesting to see if it delivers on that claim.) They also mentioned that Chrysler engineers were developing a forced induction version.

I wonder if the Rally Dart motor is a preview of that forced induction Tigershark motor, or if it's a GEMA engine lifted out of a Caliber SRT-4 or Lancer EVO? The Tigershark apparently uses a very different motor mount setup that was designed to mate up with the Alfa chassis, which suggests that putting the GEMA engine in wouldn't have been easy.

MadScientistMatt wrote: I wonder if the Rally Dart motor is a preview of that forced induction Tigershark motor, or if it's a GEMA engine lifted out of a Caliber SRT-4 or Lancer EVO? The Tigershark apparently uses a very different motor mount setup that was designed to mate up with the Alfa chassis, which suggests that putting the GEMA engine in wouldn't have been easy.

Extremely unlikely on going with the new motor. I don't know how the GRC rules go, but if I could, I'd stick a 4G63T or a 4B11T or any of the related family motors to those in there and call it a day. I forget what Hyundai did with their turbo awd Velosters, but I doubt they used the new 2.0L turbo motor they were running in the Genesis as a basis (er, well, you know what I mean, as isn't that motor similiar to the 4B11T?). These cars are built to push the limits of a production unibody design, besides the basic shell there ain't much left that is truly "stock".

As GRM'ers have shown, any motor can practically be put in anything. As long as it physically fits and you have a million dollar budget to develop a car...

I hadn't seen the Dart before, me likey. At least all tarted up like that me likey.

I used to LOVE Chrysler but the Neon motors spoiled all that for me. I'm skeptical but would love to see the new Tigershark motor.