2008 DODGE VIPER SRT10

2008 DODGE VIPER SRT10 ON SALE: September BASE PRICE: $83,995 DRIVETRAIN: 8.4-liter, 600-hp, 560 lb-ft V10; rwd, six-speed manual CURB WEIGHT: 3450 lb 0 TO 60 MPH: 3.9 sec (mfr) By NATALIE NEFF PHOTO GALLERY Hurtling up the hill toward a roller-coaster complex, details from an earlier recon run start to blur. Take turn seven deep, turn in late, carry speed through turns eight and nine. Got it. Then brake slightly for 10, and quickly get back on the throttle through 11 and 12 up the hill. So far, so good. But the sharp right-hander at the top is blind from below its crest and calls for setting up properly long before reaching the turn-in. By the time the car rounds the corner and faces the steep downhill exit, it’s off-line and going way too fast. Don’t lift, don’t lift . . . Sometimes the right foot has a mind of its own. It lifts. The rear end starts to swing wide left. Quick hands, to the left, back right, then left again, chasing the tail as it yaws this way and that across the asphalt, horrific visions filling the mind, of black flags, a humiliating walk through the pits, every eye fixed on the bonehead who threw grass and gravel across the track and left the rest with one fewer car to drive, a sit-down with the editor, a tarnished reputation. Weirdly, ambulances and emergency rooms don’t even figure, just a banged-up ego. It feels like an eternity, but in just three or four corrections, the car straightens out, without spinning off-track or even dropping a wheel, and in time to make the left-hand corner at the bottom. The only reminders of the slithery ride downhill are a pair of taxed adrenal glands and knees that won’t stop quaking—and no one has to be the wiser, including the editor. Exhale. Yup, it’s a Dodge Viper, all right, a car that’ll bite you in the butt in a blink if not handled with more respect than you reserve for your own mama. In more ways than not, it’s the same Viper that’s been rolling out of Dodge’s Connor Road assembly plant in Detroit since the big redesign for 2003, only more so. The engine gets a few significant modifications, including redesigned camshafts, a slight bump up in compression and a bit more displacement. The hood has been changed for better aerodynamics, while the only major revision to the suspension involves new tires and the requisite adjustments to shocks and springs necessary to accommodate them. Still, it only took those few modifications. The car now boasts a true 200-mph top speed. Pushing the car to that speed is a V10 now displacing 8.4 liters, up from 8.3, each cylinder seeing a one-millimeter increase in bore diameter. The bigger engine now sucks air through CNC-shaped ports and combustion chambers, uses larger valves with hollow stems and features a cam-in-cam variable valve-timing system, whereby the cam lobes adjust relative to each other as they turn on concentric shafts. Combine all that with a revised air box, a 10.2 compression ratio (up from 9.6), new throttle bodies borrowed from Dodge’s 4.7-liter V8, a fuel system with 15 percent increased flow and a 20 percent improvement in exhaust flow, and the result is a whopping 600 horses of power. That’s 90 hp more than the outgoing model, with 25 more lb-ft of torque (560 lb-ft at 5000 rpm) to boot. Dodge is quick to point out that although power peaks at 6100 rpm, most of the torque can be had between 4000 and 6000 rpm. Truth is, there’s a ton of torque everywhere. Stomp on the gas, and the car flat goes, laying down rubber without the fuss of wheel hop or excessive spin. All the modulation necessary for a good launch comes from a decisive right foot. While the suspension is essentially a carryover design, the Viper does get a new speed-sensing limited-slip differential to help put power to the road. The action from the new TR60 Tremec six-speed manual, upgraded from the former TR56, feels like an improvement, too, with a much-needed reduction in shifter travel. The tranny’s new dual-plate clutch manages significantly more torque while producing 15 percent less inertia than the unit it replaces. The result is greatly improved pedal effort, appreciated not only in banging through the gears on a track but also when negotiating a tight parking lot at low speeds. Carving a line through the twisting north course of Virginia International Raceway, the Viper turns in as quickly and precisely as any car we’ve driven, with more grip than we know what to do with. This Viper handles so well it’s difficult to tell how much difference those extra ponies make; 600 hp sounds impressive, and we appreciate how instantly the car powers out of turns, but the headline-grabbing number does little to tell the story of how incredibly the car handles. All of our ham-fistedness aside, the new Viper eats up the track and spits it out like nothing else with a sticker less than $100,000. We only see 115 mph, maybe 120 down the front straight, though the Dodge folks say this Viper can hit 145 before reaching the braking zone. We take their word; the kink next to the flag stand is nastier than it looks on track maps, and barreling toward it flat-out saps whatever nerve we might have mustered from successfully negotiating the near loop on the hill. Still, we appreciate the new rubber even from those speeds. Michelin Pilot Sport 2s replace the former run-flats and, with help from 14-inch vented discs gripped by big Brembo calipers at all four corners and ABS, erase speed more quickly than expected by the time we stomp the binders. Dodge claims it will come to a complete stop from 60 mph in less than 100 feet; if that pans out in tests, it will match the best yet tested, the current Porsche 911 Turbo (99 feet), for braking. The Viper shares something else with Porsche, if Dodge is correct: a 0-to-60-mph time of less than four seconds. Again, if it’s able to match that time in tests, it will put the Viper in the rarefied company of cars called 911 Turbo, Carrera GT and GT2 and Ford GT. The last Viper tested, the redesigned-for-2004 SRT10, boasted 500 hp but couldn’t come close to Dodge’s sub-four-second claim. This time, there’s little doubt it will hit that mark or turn a quarter-mile run in 12 seconds or better. For all its added go, the Viper looks almost identical to the outgoing model. Even for a mid-cycle refreshening, the design changes are minimal. From the outside, styling differences for both roadster and coupe models involve only the hood, with a bigger air scoop and larger louvers. There are also five new exterior colors to pick from, including Snakeskin Green, which, disappointingly, doesn’t come embossed with scales. The interior is largely carryover, including the push-button ignition and adjustable pedals, but Viper shoppers now have five interior color schemes from which to choose, from all black to black combined with red, blue, slate or tan, and a choice of bezel finishes on the instrument panel and center console. A navigation system and Sirius satellite radio are also available for the first time. Otherwise, the only serious change inside the cabin involves front airbags, which now feature a weight-sensing system that ensures deployment of the airbags with a force appropriate to the sizes of the occupants. As per tradition with the Viper, the coupe will cost more than the roadster when they begin trickling into showrooms this month—but neither will cost more than it did for the most recent model for 2006. With a $580 destination charge included, the roadster will sticker at $83,995, with the coupe coming in at $84,745. That’s a heckuva lot of bang for the bite.

Bertsch takes top IT spot at Chrysler; Unger to retire

Bertsch: Worked under Unger

AUTO PEOPLE

Ralph Kisiel
Automotive News
September 3, 2007 - 12:01 am EST

DETROIT -- Jan Bertsch is the new chief information officer at Chrysler LLC.

Bertsch, 50, replaces Sue Unger, who was chief information officer and a senior vice president for DaimlerChrysler AG.

Unger, 57, has chosen to stay with the Daimler side rather than returning to the new, privately held Chrysler. She will remain with DaimlerChrysler and help with the transition before retiring at the end of this year.

Bertsch joined DaimlerChrysler in 2001, after spending a combined 22 years at Ford Motor Co. and Visteon Corp. She worked under Unger as chief information officer of the Chrysler group and Mercedes-Benz of North America.

Unger will retire at year end.

Bertsch and Unger were among the 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry honored by Automotive News in 2005.

Bertsch had been vice president of Chrysler group sales and marketing finance when she was chosen to replace Karenann Terrell as the Chrysler group's chief information officer in 2006. Bertsch was responsible for overseeing information technology development and maintenance for the Chrysler group and Mercedes-Benz sales systems for the NAFTA region.

She earned her bachelor's degree in finance at Wayne State University in Detroit and her master's degree in business from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich.

Bertsch broke into the industry in 1979 as a financial analyst at Ford.

"The spinoff of Visteon from Ford was a tremendous experience," she told Automotive News in 2005. "I had the ability to play a key role as treasurer of Visteon to take the company public, establish a new organization and integrate new policies and procedures."

More moves at Chrysler: 5 execs take new jobs

Automotive News
September 3, 2007 - 12:01 am EST CEO Bob Nardelli's personnel shake-up has begun at Chrysler LLC.

Besides the announcement last week that Andreas Schell has been appointed director of its recovery and transformation plan and business strategy, Chrysler named:

• Cynthia Sidoti, 45, manager of the Sterling Heights, Mich., assembly plant. Her most recent position was plant manager of the Toledo, Ohio, Supplier Park complex. Sidoti replaces Robert Bowers, who is retiring.
  
  
• Robert Seabolt to plant manager of the Toledo Supplier Park. Seabolt was director of the recovery and transformation plan and material cost management.
  
  
• Melissa Holobach to plant manager of pilot operations at the Sterling Heights vehicle test center and the Conner Avenue assembly plant in Detroit.
  
  
• Sandra Bouckley, 48, to director of the front-wheel-drive product team, advanced manufacturing engineering.
  
  
• Frank Faga to director of the rear-wheel-drive product team, advanced manufacturing engineering.

The appointments were effective Saturday, Sept. 1.

In a statement, Frank Ewasyshyn, executive vice president of manufacturing, said: "These appointments will allow us to further focus on the development of our executive manufacturing team and support our goals for the new Chrysler."

Meet Chrysler's recovery czar

Andreas Schell

Fuel cell specialist, weekend pilot guides revival

Bradford Wernle
Automotive News
September 3, 2007 - 12:01 am EST

Age: 38 Hometown: Herborn, Germany (about 45 miles north of Frankfurt) Family: Married, two sons ages 3 and 1 Title: Director, recovery and transformation plan and business strategy Responsibilities: Make sure Chrysler meets its targets for increasing manufacturing efficiency, cutting costs and increasing revenue - and that it returns to profitability by 2008 Hobbies: Flying small planes, photography, traveling around the United States What associates say about him: He's very smart, very enthusiastic and very positive What Schell says about himself: "I have the freedom to choose where I work, and I choose to work here at Chrysler"

In 2004, Andreas Schell led a crack team of DaimlerChrysler engineers that patented a process for generating hydrogen gas for use in fuel cells. But the brainy young German's career has taken a sharp turn since those days.

Last week, Schell was named point man for Bob Nardelli's effort to revive ailing Chrysler LLC.

The energetic 38-year-old, who spends his weekends piloting small airplanes, will oversee Chrysler's Recovery and Transformation Plan. In effect, Schell becomes chief enforcement officer when it comes to sticking with the plan. He will report jointly to CEO Nardelli and President Tom LaSorda - and his power will be vast.

Chrysler spokesman Mike Aberlich said Schell will be a combination "scorekeeper plus referee plus quarterback" in keeping the recovery plan on track.

His appointment may reflect the kind of uncommon approach that Cerberus Capital Management LP will take at Chrysler - thrusting a relatively junior executive into a make-or-break job.

For his part, Schell exudes enthusiasm and self confidence as he prepares to work with the seven turnaround teams that cover all areas of Chrysler's business.

"I have very good program management skills," he said in a phone interview. "I am very qualified to work with that team. I have the right network and relationships to approach those executives and work with them to achieve the targets."

Besides setting strategy for the recovery and transformation, Schell has responsibility for material cost management and is executive planner in the office of the chairman.

Schell said he aims to "go deep into the details … and drive a content-driven discussion.

"The Recovery and Transformation Plan is an operational improvement program," he said. "What we do there is not going to help us in the short term but really sets the company up for long-term success."

Chrysler's recovery plan, unveiled in February, calls for cutting 13,000 jobs; reducing annual capacity by 400,000 units; idling an assembly plant in Newark, Del.; and returning to profitability next year. Chrysler is also spending $3 billion to develop new engines, transmissions and axles under the plan.

Avoided pitfalls

Most recently, Schell was senior manager in the office of the president and CEO - in effect the top executive assistant to the CEO while LaSorda held that job.

Schell's job was "a German construct," said an insider - an apprenticeship offered to promising young executives. DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche and former Chrysler COO Wolfgang Bernhard launched their careers in similar posts.

Associates say Schell handled the office manager job deftly. Such chiefs of staff can be intensely disliked because they serve as an unwanted barrier to people who want to get through to the boss. Sources say Schell avoided such pitfalls.

"Andreas did a good job in figuring out when to be gatekeeper and when to open the gate," says Aberlich. "So he has a lot of support in the company. He's an energetic individual who has brought a real spirit to everything he touched."

Before becoming LaSorda's executive aide, Schell was senior manager in charge of fuel cell systems advance vehicle engineering at Chrysler. He worked for Daimler-Benz in Germany before the 1998 merger of Daimler and Chrysler Corp. He joined the German automaker in 1996.

Learning about America

In 2002, Schell transferred to Chrysler to take the fuel cell post. He then set up Chrysler's hybrid program office in suburban Detroit. Since then Schell has embraced American culture and is eager to learn more about it.

"He's forever asking about little American sayings and trying to understand them," says Aberlich. "He's got this thirst for knowledge like Dieter Zetsche had about the American culture."

On his office wall, Schell has a map of the United States with pins in it representing places he has visited. He has already visited 41 states. Both Schell and his wife are also avid photographers.

Since moving to Michigan, Schell has earned his pilot's license and likes to spend weekends flying out of Oakland-Pontiac Airport, a short distance from Chrysler headquarters in the northern Detroit suburbs.

Schell, who has an MBA from Michigan State University, decided soon after the DaimlerChrysler divorce that he wanted to remain with the Chrysler side of the business.

"I like living in the United States," he said. "I'm a true believer in Michigan."

Chrysler officials say Schell's appointment is no threat to LaSorda, who was demoted to president and vice chairman when Nardelli was brought on board Aug. 6.

There have been reports that LaSorda would leave the company after contract talks with the UAW end. To quell those concerns, Chrysler signed LaSorda to a new contract in late August. Indeed, a source familiar with Chrysler's management said it would be premature to write LaSorda off.

"He's being evaluated like everybody else."

Schell could actually take pressure off LaSorda, said David Cole, director of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.

"You want to operate the company," Cole said, "but you want to create a force to foster change."

Schell has no doubt he can be a change agent.

"I believe there's a lot of potential in Chrysler," he said. "I think we can do this job. I'm passionate about opportunity to be part of this team."

Nardelli absorbs auto biz

Bob Nardelli (right) admires Larry Mayes’ customized Prowler during the vehicle’s 10th anniversary event, held at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Detroit.

Chrysler’s new CEO impresses during his first weeks on job

Bradford Wernle
Automotive News
September 3, 2007 -- 06:01 CETDETROIT -- When Bob Nardelli was named chairman and CEO, a lot of people were quick to mention his controversial stints at General Electric and Home Depot.

The new guy lacks people skills, does not listen to customers, is an example of excessive executive pay and surrounds himself with ex-military people who will not questions his decisions -- or so his critics said.

When Nardelli met with reporters on August 16 at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in suburban Detroit, he was asked what he thought about all the bad things that had been written about him.

“I don’t recognize that guy,” Nardelli said.

So far, Nardelli has worked hard to show he’s the right man for the Chrysler job -- and not the tyrant portrayed in some news accounts.

Nardelli has said that in his early days at Chrysler, he will be a “dry sponge.” He aims to get around to all Chrysler departments to listen and learn about the car business, in which he has no experience.

Many meetings

During his first two weeks, Nardelli has been a whirl of motion around Chrysler’s cavernous headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. He has visited company vice presidents in their offices and dined in the employee cafeteria.

He has met several times with UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and the UAW’s Chrysler negotiating team, headed by General Holiefield. He ventured to nearby Windsor, Ontario, to meet with Canadian Auto Workers President Buzz Hargrove for an hour-long breakfast. And he met over dinner with members of the Chrysler dealer council.

Nardelli, who has long been involved with the United Way charity, lit the torch kicking off the United Way Torch Drive and addressed several hundred Chrysler employees last week at Chrysler headquarters.

His wife, Sue, accompanied him to the Woodward Dream Cruise, a classic car event in suburban Detroit, on August 18. And he talked to a gathering of car collectors at a shopping plaza there.

Nardelli owns a 2000 Plymouth Prowler Black Tie edition that had 1,134 miles on it when he donned a Hawaiian shirt and met with a group of Prowler enthusiasts.

Chuck Eddy, co-owner of Bob and Chuck Eddy Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep in Austintown, Ohio, and a dealer council member, said he was impressed with Nardelli during an August 16 dealer council meeting in Auburn Hills.

Said Eddy: “He took Q&A from the guys for a solid hour.”

Simon Boag, Chrysler executive vice president for procurement and supply, says Nardelli is “asking great questions. I’ve been impressed. He’s very personable. He wants to understand who he’s working with. People are a priority for him.”

CAW President Hargrove said he found Nardelli accessible during a 75-minute breakfast meeting last week at the Windsor Casino.

“He said all the right things,” Hargrove said. “He had been well-briefed on our history and our concerns. The jury’s out on whether he can produce. He gave us all the time we wanted to raise whatever issues we wanted.”

That same morning, Chrysler held a ceremony to start production of the new generation of minivans at the Windsor assembly plant. Nardelli did not attend, leaving it to Windsor native and Chrysler Chief Operating Office Tom LaSorda to preside.

Daimler’s strategy chief to sit on Chrysler board

Grube will keep working with Chrysler.

German automaker’s one-fifth stake overseen by Grube and 2 other executives

Tom Armitage
Automotive News
September 3, 2007 -- 06:01 CET

Rüdiger Grube, 56, DaimlerChrysler’s board member for strategy, will represent the German firm on the board of its former US subsidiary, a spokeswoman for the German automaker said.

Daimler and Chrysler are splitting after a nine-year relationship.

Chrysler Holding’s other four board members will come from Cerberus, the private equity company that agreed to buy 80.1 percent of Chrysler in May.

Daimler, which retains 19.9 percent of Chrysler after the sale, will also send two more senior managers to serve on the boards of the Chrysler auto and finance subsidiaries.

There will be no change to Grube’s current role at DaimlerChrysler, the spokeswoman said. Grube’s responsibility there covers corporate development, including corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, industrial participation and global IT policy.

Cerberus has said it will make Chrysler profitable again within three years. Daimler has an interest in ensuring that Chrysler meets this goal. Daimler’s one-fifth stake will appear on its books “at equity,” meaning that the German firm must record its share of the US company’s profits or losses.

Cerberus OKs nine Chrysler projects

David Barkholz
Automotive News TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. --Expect the new owners of Chrysler LLC to move fast in all aspects of the business, says Frank Klegon, executive vice president of product development.

Speaking at the conference here today, Klegon said Cerberus Capital Management LP gave the go-ahead to nine major projects developing at Chrysler within 36 hours of agreeing to buy the automaker.

Cerberus also wasted no time bringing aboard new CEO Bob Nardelli, who doubled the size of Home Depot Inc. as its CEO and was a star at GE Power Systems.

“As a private company, we’re able to make decisions more quickly and thus move faster to respond to the market,” Klegon said.

About $3 billion was approved for new engine and drivetrain plants to offer products that will improve performance and fuel economy, Klegon said.

Chrysler has broken ground on three engine plants for a new family of V6 engines that will provide a 6-8 percent gain in fuel efficiency, he said. The engine is designed with Chrysler’s patented multi-displacement system, which operates the engine on three cylinders when less power is needed and all six when more power is required, he said.

A new dual clutch transmission developed with Getrag will hit the road in 2010 model-year vehicles that will offer fuel-economy improvements of up to 6 percent. Chrysler has broken ground on that new transmission plant in Kokomo, Ind., and an axle plant in Marysville, Mich., that uses Mercedes axle technology for a 5 percent efficiency gain, he said.