The American muscle car is synonymous with a stonking gas-powered V-8 engine, making noises you’d imagine Barry White would make singing a metal concert. But changing that isn’t beyond the realm of possibility, at least as far as Ralph Gilles and his division, Chrysler’s SRT high-performance brand, are concerned.
One of Gilles’ Twitter followers and apparent diesel engine fan @ToddTownsend asked the executive, “AMG & M soon to offer the diesel love. SRT diesel in a possible future?”
Gilles responded: “i am a Fan, We would cut our teeth in europe first.”
Currently, SRT uses two engines—a 6.4-liter V-8 and the newly announced 8.4-liter V-10 slated for the 2013 SRT Viper. Rumor has it the brand is also looking at a small, turbocharged four-cylinder for a high-performance Dodge Dart. There aren’t any diesels planned for SRT at the moment.
But in Europe, BMW has its M550d sedan and wagon, as well as high-performance diesel versions of the X5 and X6 crossovers, all of which are almost as quick as their gas-powered stablemates. Mercedes-Benz’s AMG high-performance line has experimented with diesel sports sedans in the past, and rumor has it the brand is looking into new oil-burners.
Gilles says he’s not opposed to having a diesel SRT model in the future, and, indeed, with more diesel-powered cars and trucks coming stateside—like the Chevrolet Cruze, Mazda CX-5, and Mercedes-Benz GLK250—it’s not an impossibility. But do you think it’d be a good idea for SRT to go as far as to build a diesel-powered muscle car? And if the brand did, which vehicle would be best-suited for the diesel hot rod treatment?
Source: Automobile via Twitter
Most Active