Dodge Demon

[Silverfox]

I say this as kindly and open minded as I can : Miatas are garbage. As a car manufacturer I would be ashamed for my car to even be put in the same sentence.

 

Even with 300hp, the torque from a non supercharged 4cyl does not warrent a 6sp tranny. I guess if its becuase of a very steep first gear for very quick acceleration, and a second overdrive 6th for highway gas milage it would worth having.

 

I am not fond of those style of "chick cars", but I do like it more then its import competition.

 

you think THAT'S funny with 6 gears...a lot of european cars have 6 speed gearboxes and can't warrant them. the golf gti and one of the renault meganes spring to mind - and these cars are barely 200hp in the former case, about 130 in the latter!

[bigred]

ummmm.... even the headlights are totally different.

 

 

 

and how in the heck can you put the crossfire in the same boat as the miata? it's bigger and more powerful... by a LOT

[Vasto]

they've taken something that was typically thought of as an old man/woman's car

Yea......something like that.

 

 

I personally don't like this entire style of cars. I could not see myself driving anything from this class (Z3, S2000, Miata, Sky, Soltice, etc...)

[94Camaro]

the six speed is for the srt 4 version with 300hp that is predicted

Hmm, not what the article says...

Engine that sends 172 horsepower and 165 ft-lbs. of torque to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox

Sounds to me like the little engine gets a ridiculously big tranny. Maybe it's so you can keep the little engine with no powerband to speak of in the 5k+ rpm range so you can have decent amount of torque.

 

 

and how in the heck can you put the crossfire in the same boat as the miata? it's bigger and more powerful... by a LOT

I frequently see the Crossfire being compared to the s2000, so if would follow to me to compare it to the miata as well.

[DECwakeboarder]

The Crossfire is bigger, heavier, more powerful, and most importantly, a lot more expensive.

 

@Camaro, the 6 speed really comes into play with the turboed srt-4 engine. With 300hp and IIRC about 260 ft/lbs of torque it would be very nice to have all 6 gears. Plus, a smooth shifting 6spd is much more fun than a 5spd, and that's what these small cars are made for, fun. The current Miata either only comes with or mainly only comes with a 6spd manual and that is pushing about the same numbers as the base engine in this concept.

 

Favorite quote of the day "Happiness is not what is around the corner, it is the corner." -random s2000 owner.

[bigred]

why exactly would a six speed have to be large? more gears doesn't mean it has to be big

 

example: 16 cyl in the maclaren F1 is smaller physically than the 10 cyl in the dodge viper.

[94Camaro]

Ok, bad wording on my part. By "big", I don't mean the physical size; I'm referring to what appears to me to be an excessive number of gears. I suppose it might add some fuel economy for a small engine at highway speeds, but if you go to 6th in a car that the engine needs to be in mid to high rpm for any power, you'll have absolutely NO throttle response.

 

As for 6 gears being more fun than 5...what the heck? If you're driving the car in a "sporty" manner, you shouldn't even be getting to 5th gear, much less 6th. Those top two gears on a 6 speed are generally overdrives, meant for highway cruising.

[ClayMeow]

ummmm.... even the headlights are totally different.

Not even close to the same...even the orientation of the colors are different, let alone the shape and size.

[Verran]

With regards to the debate of the demon/s2000 similarities: It totally depends on your viewpoint. If you compare those two cars within the entire spectrum of every car ever made, they might as well be "exactly" alike. If you compare them in the spectrum of two-seaters in this price range and power numbers, then they vary quite a bit.

 

Also, I don't see anything wrong with the six speed. We all know I'm not a big-displacement sort of guy, so maybe it's just a different outlook, but I can't think of a single manual-drive car I've ever driven that I wouldn't want a six speed in. I just look at it as an extra overdrive gear. I drive 80ish on the highway and my car sits at about 3300 rpms. It sure would be nice to drop into sixth and cruise a little over 2000. On a long road trip that could make a large difference in mileage. It's got nothing to do with the fact that my Focus makes a wimpy 130hp/tq.

[bigred]

displacement GOOD!!!!!!!

 

 

 

and who says the higher gears are for highway only? I've got a 9 speed in my favorite offroading toy (pulled from an 89 F-450 dump truck). I DO push it into those gears quite often but I suppose you could argue that's a different kind of driving.

[Puck]

displacement GOOD!!!!!!!

and who says the higher gears are for highway only? I've got a 9 speed in my favorite offroading toy (pulled from an 89 F-450 dump truck). I DO push it into those gears quite often but I suppose you could argue that's a different kind of driving.

And much different gears

 

In passenger cars(I made sure I said that bigred ), the 5th gear is usually the overdrive gear and sixth is a highspeed "double overdrive". Not needed at all in such a small engine - the fuel saved would be minimal at best over a five speed, and not to mention throttle response would be HORRIBLE in sixth gear with such low torque. You would need to downshift TWICE to pass anything moving at a remotely similar speed.

 

I think they are doing it "just to say they did". It will have no performance benefit at all, and negligible fuel savings over a typical five speed.