Gilles confirms Barracuda on new platform
http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/20 ... w-platform
Nice, the 'Cuda on a slightly smaller platform than the Challenger.As part of a longer video involving the Motor Trend Viper-vs-Vette comparisons, SRT chief Ralph Gilles said that the SRT Barracuda is still a few years out, and would appear on a different platform than the Challenger:
The new Barracuda will share its platform architecture with an all-new 5 Series-sized Alfa Romeo sedan that will be a key car for the relaunch of the Alfa brand in the U.S. … by 2016. I’m betting the Barracuda will also appear around that timeframe. Pure speculation, but both cars may have been pushed back because the Fiat Group is bleeding in Europe due to the collapse of the market there and Marchionne is trying to conserve money.
Allpar has, last year, pointed out that there were several options for Barracuda, but that the most likely was to be the Chrysler version of a shared-with-Alfa-Romeo midsized rear-wheel-drive setup. The two cars would, to lower development costs, most likely be jointly engineered, with the primary differences being sheet metal, interior styling, engines, and, to a lesser degree, suspension tuning.
The “D-RWD” platform being created would apparently not have been possible for Alfa Romeo alone, given the high-end brand’s low volumes, but sharing with Dodge and SRT makes the deal possible. It is unlikely to simply be a shortened LX platform (like the upcoming Challenger’s new LA body); sources reported that shortening the LX further resulted in an inefficient and awkward-looking body.
Hopefully they stuff some HEMI engine options under the hood.
