Ok I wasn't sure if it was an engine thing... since I'm assuming all the 6.2 supercharged engines come from the same plant.

Engines & transmissions come from 2 different plants.

The shutdown was because they couldn't get enough computer chips to build all the cars.

DETROIT — Ford Motor is significantly cutting production of its highly profitable F-150 pickup trucks due to an ongoing semiconductor chip shortage plaguing the global automotive industry.

The automaker said Thursday that its Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan will drop to one shift from three for a week beginning Monday, while truck production at its Kansas City Assembly Plant in Missouri will drop to two shifts from three. Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker said both plants are expected to return to three shifts the week of Feb. 15.

“We are working closely with suppliers to address potential production constraints tied to the global semiconductor shortage and working to prioritize key vehicle lines for production, making the most of our semiconductor allocation,” she said in an emailed statement.

Shares of Ford appeared to be unaffected by the cuts, trading up by about 3% during intraday trading late Thursday morning. The automaker is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter earnings and give guidance for 2021 after the market closes Thursday.

Automakers and parts suppliers began warning of a semiconductor shortage late last year after demand for vehicles rebounded stronger than expected following a two-month shutdown of production plants due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Semiconductors are extremely important components of new vehicles for areas ranging from infotainment systems to more traditional parts such as power steering. They’re also used in consumer electronics.

Ford’s confirmed plans come a day after General Motors said it would take down production next week at four assembly plants in Fairfax, Kansas; Ingersoll, Ontario, and San Luis Potosi, Mexico. GM will also run a plant in South Korea at half capacity that week.

Ford and other automakers — from Nissan Motor to Volkswagen — have previously cut vehicle production due to the chip shortage.

Kumar Galhotra, Ford president of the Americas and international markets, described the chip shortage earlier this week as a “very dynamic situation.” He said the company has been working with its suppliers to mitigate impact to its plants and resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

“It’s changing all the time, but we think we will be dealing with it for at least the first half of this year,” he told CNBC

Wow, this must be pretty serious for Ford to slow down F 150 production!

Pretty ridiculous that these superconductor companies are failing to deliver on their contracts with the auto manufacturers so that they can divert their product to companies that want to make cheap shit computers for Best Buy & Walmart...

Perhaps it is a tactic to harm US auto Mfg's to penetrate the market with "Chery's"

Optioning it that way puts you at $50K MSRP or more, you're creeping up towards base Hellcat prices...

A couple of deals that might be of interest to the Scat Pack and Hellcat owners.

Amazon is selling Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Full Synthetic 0W-40 oil for $42.11/case (6 Qts) (free delivery w/Prime). This is the MS-16233 spec oil "recommended" by Dodge for the Scat Pack's 392 (6.4L) and 6.2L Hellcat V8s. That is as good a price as you will find for this oil (spare for additional rebates). Keep in mind, the 392 (6.4L) and 6.2L require 7-quarts per oil change (the story of Hellcat oil capacity is an interesting one, and beyond my ability to articulate).

https://www.amazon.com/Pennzoil-550040856-6PK-Ultra-Platinum-Synthetic/dp/B00JMCCE6U/

A Dodge dealership in Georgia (Landmark) is selling the SRT "Viper" oil filter (MOPAR OEM No. 5038041AA) that many prefer to use on the 392 (6.4L) and 6.2L V8s for $10.64 (w/free standard delivery):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-20-DODGE-CHARGER-CHRYSLER-300-5-7L-V8-SRT-ENGINE-OIL-FILTER-OEM-5038041AA/353199863592

DWS06 continue to impress... I couldn't get any traction with the stock Pirelli's under 40F

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I am very happy with those tires as well. I am running 275 40's.

I'm at a decision point soon.  With just under 4000 miles, my 1320's rears are almost down to the wear bars, and the fronts are only about 10-15% better, so a rotation ain't gonna help much.  That wear is with just a couple (seriously) modest burnouts once I got over 500 miles and had access to line lock and trans brake, etc, and an average temp of about 70 over the course of ownership, and inflated to 35 hot.

Love the grip on the Nexens, they look good, they're not terrible in the rain, and even did well in sub-40 degree weather (including a trip to DC and back in January), and road noise was more than tolerable (tramlining a bit more than I like though).  But getting less than 5k miles with semi-spirited driving, no track time, no hooning makes me rethink them as daily driver tires.  And having come from P-Zero summer and all seasons on my last Challenger, not going down that route again either.  

So looking hard at the Connie DW (no need for the DWS here in Florida) and then getting some proper drag radials and 18" wheels for those rare days I can get to the strip.  Over a couple years, it's cheaper to run dedicated strip wheel/tire combos and street tires on the stock wheels than it is to leave 100 treadwear DOT drag radials on the car full time, especially since I'm not out street-racing it and looking for victims.

First thing I'm going to do when my 1320 gets in is replace the front tires with the DWS (or DW if it's cheaper), then save the front Nexans for when I burn the backs out.

My friend on the East coast is a Continental dealer and he said they are really good with the 50,000 mile warranty too.


Now I am using 275 up front, 295 in the rear... but I'm pretty sure the tire type and not the width is having a bigger impact.

Also leaning towards a set of Nitto 555rII for the rear and 555 G2 for the fronts.  Keep the rear grip while getting (maybe) a bit more wear than the Nexans (and three times as much up front), while having matching tread patterns and some better wet weather performance.

Thing is, it's the drag radials that account for so much of the fun factor in the 1320 for me...they just hook, and I'd hate to go to regular Scat Pack 0-60 times (right now doing consistent 3.7/3.8 second pulls on the street with no drama).

Serious question: why is the AWD option only offered with the V6? Not enough room for the components with the V8 under the hood?

The police interceptor 5.7 has AWD.

A hellcat AWD would be amazing.

With the ZF transmission, there's just not enough room to fit the V8 and a transfer case in the LX chassis without serious modifications.   They can still offer AWD for the V8 Police Interceptor because it uses the old NAG1 5 speed auto, which is a lot smaller (and rated for a lot less power, and not all that reliable).

The Trackhawk, TRX and Durango Hellcat can pull it off because they were built from the get-go to be AWD/4WD vehicles.

The new ones are 3.6 AWD and 5.7 is rwd only from what I'm seeing.


"Standard 3.6L Pentastar® V6 24V VVT Engine (AWD) or Available 5.7L V8 HEMI® MDS VVT Engine (RWD)"

https://www.fcausfleet.com/dodge/charger-pursuit.html

They don't sell the police interceptors to the public. They are indeed AWD Hemis just like what they sold at dealers from 2011-2014. They dropped them from the commercial market due to low take rate, but the AWD system is great

I know they don't sell them to the public, but what I'm saying is they don't make the 5.7 AWD combo anymore, on the new ones.

New 2021
— V6 AWD with 8-speed TorqueFlite® Transmission
— V8 RWD with 8-speed TorqueFlite Transmission

They kept producing them for departments in snow states after the 2015 switch to the 8-speed autos in the retail line, since they had a stockpile of NAG1 AWD transmissions.  They may have finally run out of the trannies.  No pun intended.

https://www.stevewhitemotors.net/new/Dodge/2021-Dodge-Challenger-Newton-NC-c33915390a0e0ae8739e089b5fb09d79.htm

Pics at link.
Same one I ordered except I added the rear seat & navigation radio.

Anyone do a custom order from the factory? How long does it generally take?

Yes, they will tell you up front it is 6-8 weeks, (8-10 if you order a model that has to go to an upfitter).
Nobody has been getting their cars that quickly since covid started though.

That's the tire setup I'm currently running. I think I can get my 0-60's down to 3.2 if I can find some good street around here. I don't know about wet performance, but I imagine it's not great. 275's up front. 305's in the rear.

I was going to say wow that's fast, then I saw the hellcat bade. Makes sense.

Hopefully I can get into the dealer in a week or so to talk about ordering a Redeye

So I just called again, now they're telling me that "all parts have been received & it will be entering the build process soon."
Also, I no longer have a March 2nd ship date anymore (or any ship date at all).

I'm not going to wait forever, if I don't see progress by the end of the month I'm going to cancel the order & get my deposit back.

The deal on the Pennzoil just got better. Right now Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Full Synthetic 0W-40 is retailing for $43.84/Case (6 Qts) at Amazon. If you buy 10 quarts (or more of this oil and/or other varieties of their motor oil) Pennzoil is offering a $22 Shell Gift Card.

See more details here at SlickDeals:
https://slickdeals.net/f/14841460-purchase-10-qt-pennzoil-ultra-platinum-full-synthetic-motor-oil-get-22-shell-gc-free-after-rebate-various-retailers?src=frontpage

Here's the Pennzoil Electronic Rebate site:
https://www.pennzoil.com/en_us/promotions/do-it-yourself-oil-change/pennzoil-400.html#iframe=L2RpeS9PMjAzNl83Lw

Nitto NT555 RII and NT555 G2 rubber will be in tomorrow.  

But I think I'm going to hold off getting them mounted until Friday, and hit the Test 'n Tune at Bradenton on Thursday and get my full money's worth out of the stock Nexen meats.

It's worth the wait. There is a reason this car is in it's 14th year of production.

I've been out of the forums for a bit, late to see this.  not a whole lot to report.  Definitely doing zoomies when I can but its the rainy season in the NC Piedmonts so its rare.  I did manage to scrape my front a bit on a slight high curb when i parked it today.  Not bad but im mad at myself.  all well, it's a daily driver!  Still only have it at 4.1 on 0-60, want to see sub 4.  got some good weather tomorrow (50), going to give her a bath i think.

still makes me smile when i look at it though! :)

@flippflopped

late to reply but I'm in Union County.  If you are nearby it was definitely me.

Mine, the way it's optioned, is one of four worldwide.  Two were shipped to NC and two were shipped to FL.  There were 210 hellraisin challengers produced in 2020.  205 in the US, 3 in Canada, 2 exported to who knows where.

So far, well pleased with the Nitto NT555G2/NT555R2 front/rear combo.

After about 200 miles, the Nittos seem to hook as well as if not better than the OEM Nexen drag radials.  They also don't tramline (Nexens wandered a fair bit), turn-in is sharper, they're much quieter on the road, and they look better too, for what that's worth.  Also caught some rain and there was no drama.

I managed to pull four back-to-back 3.8 second 0-60 runs on my "test track" with the Nittos on a 70-ish degree day.  

That's without a burnout, just tires up to temp after about 20 miles of driving.  The car was in Drag mode, with my left foot on the dead pedal and right foot coming off the brake and matting the throttle, no trans brake, no launch control, and traction control fully on.  That matches what I could do with the Nexens, so the Nittos are a win so far in my book.  We'll see about the wear, damn sure hope I get more than 4k miles out of the rears.

EDIT: That was with 34 PSI in all four tires after they warmed up.

That's in a Scat Pack 1320 folks, just in case you're wondering about the easy sub-4-second 0-60.

Excuse me, just testing my new avatar in a semi-appropriate thread.  :)

love it

Probably upgrading and ordering this Thursday... not 100% on color, or completely in love with the wodebody. But the wodebody is a requirement.


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Well, if that's the color you end up going with, it was fated to be...

:)

I looked at a challenger in that color and didnt love it.  looks better on the charger IMO.