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Dodge “Demon” looks to dethrone Tesla’s title for “quickest production car” in the world
Tesla sent shock waves through the automotive world in February when Motor Trend crowned the Model S P100D the quickest production car in the world after a 2.28 second run to 60 miles per hour. Do a few hundredths of a second really matter? In the real world, no. But in terms of image, they matter a great deal. Tesla garnered an enormous amount of valuable publicity from the Motor Trend story, and subsequently many 1/4 mile world records being set in a P100D.
Dodge has now responded to the marker laid down by Tesla. Starting this fall, it will offer a special edition of the Dodge Challenger SRT called the “Demon”. Dodge says it can scamper to the magic 60 mile per hour mark in 2.1 seconds, which will allow it to claim the title of quickest production car in the world.
The Demon features a great honking beast of a V8 engine topped with an enormous supercharger and compound intercooling. The Demon engine has 808 horsepower and 717 lb-ft of torque when running on 91 octane pump gas. Put 100+ octane racing fuel in the tank and it’s capable of 840 hp and 770 lb-ft of torque. There’s a big button on the dash the driver can push to change the engine mapping in order to extract maximum power from the racing gas.
The Demon comes from the factory with a driver’s seat and a two speaker stereo. It has almost no sound insulation and no carpeting. The car has smaller brakes and hollow antiroll bars to save weight. If the customer really needs a passenger seat, one can be added for $1 when the order is placed ($1,160 if purchased later). A back seat is available for another $1. A 19-speaker sound system can also be specified.
The Demon is the result of a two year campaign by a small team of 25 Dodge engineers. Compared to the engine in the Hellcat, the Demon’s power plant has 97 new parts including a new crankshaft, new connecting rods, new pistons, a new steel camshaft, and a new valve train. A larger supercharger is fitted and boost pressure is raised from 11.6 psi to 14.5 psi. The engineers also altered the software that controls the eight speed automatic transmission to add a transbrake function. In Drag mode, it allows the engine to build power while the car remains stationary until a flick of the paddle shifter unleashes the beast.
- Credit: Dodge
Photo credit: Motor Trend
“Sometimes you need to ignore the data, disregard the focus groups, and build a car that can define itself,” says Dodge President Tim Kuniskis. “A lot of halos don’t have the greatest business cases.” The halo effect the Hellcat did not go unnoticed in the Dodge board room. While sales of the Hellcat were minimal, orders for the Scat Pack, a special appearance package comprised of stripes, stickers and decals, exploded. 17% of Dodge Challenger buyers now opt for the Scat Pack, an idea that harks back to the muscle car days of the 1960’s.
The Dodge Demon may be a production car, but its numbers will be limited. Only 3,300 will be built — 3,000 for the US market and 300 for Canada. It is definitely intended for serious racers. It can be ordered with The Crate, a box full of go fast goodies that fits in the trunk and includes skinny wheels and tires for the front end on track day. It also contains a special air filter, a tire pressure gauge, and a leather bound manual with tips on how to go drag racing and pages to record data from each run.
There is no doubt the Dodge Demon is an awesome car with brutal acceleration. Its 0-60 run in 2.1 seconds has been verified. But as Motor Trend points out, that feat was achieved at a drag strip, where years of racing have coated the track surface with sticky rubber. The Tesla Model S P100D record was achieved on a public road. The Model S also seats 5 in supreme comfort and is just as happy taking the family to Easter dinner as it is performing banzai runs to 60. The Models S is also a zero emissions vehicle. The Dodge Demon? Not so much.
Still, bragging rights are all about one thing — being quicker than the other guy. Once the Demon hits the streets, we can expect P100D drivers to challenge the new Challenger. Let the Dodge Demon versus Model S drag racing videos begin!
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Tesla Full Self-Driving shows stunning maneuver in Europe to silence skeptics
In a striking demonstration of autonomous driving prowess, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system recently showcased its capabilities on the narrow rural roads of the Netherlands. Captured in two in-car videos, the system encountered scenarios that would challenge even the most experienced human drivers.
Tesla Full Self-Driving, fresh on the heels of its approval for operation on European roads for the first time, showed off a stunning maneuver that will certainly silence any skeptics on the continent.
Fresh off its approval in the Netherlands, Full Self-Driving is working toward a significant expansion into more parts of Europe.
In a striking demonstration of autonomous driving prowess, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system recently showcased its capabilities on the narrow rural roads of the Netherlands. Captured in two in-car videos, the system encountered scenarios that would challenge even the most experienced human drivers.
In the first clip, a wide tractor occupied more than half the lane on a tight two-way road. Rather than braking abruptly or forcing a collision risk, FSD smoothly edged the vehicle onto the adjacent bike path—using the extra space with precision—before seamlessly returning to the lane once clear.
The second clip was equally demanding: while overtaking a group of cyclists, an oncoming car approached at speed.
FSD maintained a safe, minimal buffer to the cyclists while timing the pass perfectly, avoiding any swerve or hesitation that could unsettle passengers or other road users.
People wonder if FSD is safe on narrow European roads. Well have a look what it did when a tractor took up more than half of the road or when overtaking bicycles with fast oncoming traffic. pic.twitter.com/z37Csa09sP
— Chanan Bos (@ChananBos) April 14, 2026
This maneuver highlights FSD’s advanced spatial reasoning and predictive planning. On roads often under three meters wide, with no room for error, the system calculated available clearance in real time, incorporated shoulder and path geometry, and executed a controlled deviation without compromising safety.
It treated the bike path as a legitimate extension of navigable space, something many drivers might hesitate to do, while respecting Dutch road norms and cyclist priority.
Such feats align closely with a growing library of impressive FSD maneuvers documented on camera worldwide.
In urban Amsterdam, for instance, FSD has navigated the world’s densest cyclist environments, weaving through hundreds of unpredictable bike movements on canal-side streets with tram tracks and pedestrians.
One uncut drive showed it yielding smoothly at crossings, overtaking where needed, and even handling a near-perfect auto-park in a tight residential spot, demonstrating the same low-speed precision seen in the rural clips.
Teslas using FSD have tackled turbo roundabouts in the Netherlands, complex multi-lane circles notorious for geometry challenges, merging confidently while yielding to traffic. Similar clips depict smooth handling of construction zones, emergency vehicle pull-overs, and gated parking barriers, where the car stops precisely, waits for clearance, and proceeds without driver input.
Collectively, these examples illustrate FSD’s evolution toward handling the unpredictable.
The rural Netherlands maneuvers aren’t isolated. Instead, they reflect a pattern of spatial awareness, cyclist deference, and traffic anticipation seen from city streets to highways.
As FSD continues refining through real-world data, videos like this one are certainly building a compelling case for its readiness on Europe’s varied roads.
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Tesla utilizes its ‘Rave Cave’ for new awesome safety feature
Part of the massive interior overhaul of both the Model 3 “Highland” and Model Y “Juniper” was the addition of interior accent lighting to help bring out the mood of the vehicle, increase the customization of the interior, and to create a unique listening experience.
Tesla is utilizing its ‘Rave Cave’ for an awesome new safety feature that will arrive with the upcoming Spring Update for 2026.
Part of the massive interior overhaul of both the Model 3 “Highland” and Model Y “Juniper” was the addition of interior accent lighting to help bring out the mood of the vehicle, increase the customization of the interior, and to create a unique listening experience.
Tesla added a Sync Lights feature that will strobe the accent strips with the beat of the music.
It is one of the most unique and one of the coolest non-functional features of a Tesla, as it does not improve the driving of the vehicle, but makes it a cool and personal addition to the interior.
However, Tesla is going to take it one step further, as the Rave Cave lights will now be used for blind spot recognition. This feature will be added as the Spring 2026 Update starts to roll out.
A lot of CRAZY new features coming with Tesla’s 2026 Spring Update, including a new FSD app!
– Self-Driving App (AI4 hardware): New app in App Launcher > Self-Driving for one-tap FSD subscriptions, activation guides, and ongoing stats.
– “Hey Grok”: Voice-activated Grok with… https://t.co/ljeYPlq9Qt— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) April 13, 2026
Tesla writes:
“Accent lights now turn red when an object is in your blind spot and your turn signal is engaged, or when an approaching object is detected while parked.”
This neat new safety feature will now increase the likelihood of a driver, who is operating their Tesla manually, of seeing the blind spot warnings that are currently available on the A pillar and on the center touchscreen.
These new alerts will now warn drivers of cross traffic as they back out of a parking space with little to no visibility of what is coming. It is a great new addition that will only increase the safety of the vehicles, while also utilizing something that is already installed in these specific Model 3 and Model Y units.
The Model 3 and Model Y were the central focus of the Spring 2026 Update, especially considering the fact that the Model S and Model X are basically gone, with only a few hundred units left. Additionally, Tesla included new Immersive Sound and Car Visualization for the Model 3 and Model Y specifically in this new update.
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Tesla parked 50+ Cybercabs outside its Texas Factory with some crash tested
Dozens of Tesla Cybercabs have been spotted at Giga Texas crash testing facility ahead of launch.
Drone footage captured by longtime Giga Texas observer Joe Tegtmeyer shows over 50 units of Tesla Cybercab at the Austin factory campus, including several units clustered by Tesla’s on-site crash testing facility.
The outbound lot at Gigafactory Texas sits just outside the factory exit and serves as the primary staging area where finished vehicles are held before being loaded onto transport carriers or dispatched for validation testing. On any given day, the lot holds a mix of Model Y and Cybertruck units alongside the growing Tesla Cybercab fleet, as can be seen in the drone footage captured by Joe Tegtmeyer.
Roughly 50 Cybercab units are visible across the campus, parked in tight organized rows. Most of the units visible still carry steering wheels and pedals, temporary additions Tesla included to satisfy current safety regulations while the vehicles accumulate real-world data ahead of full regulatory approval for a steering wheel-free design. Tesla operates dedicated Crash Labs at both its Giga Texas and Fremont facilities that are purpose-built for controlled structural crash tests. Historically, automakers begin intensive crash testing roughly one to two months before volume production kicks off. The Cybertruck followed almost exactly that pattern. The Cybercab appears to be on the same track facility that we first saw back in October 2025. The first production Cybercab rolled off the Giga Texas line on February 17, 2026. Volume production is now targeted for April. Musk previously wrote on X that “the early production rate will be agonizingly slow, but eventually end up being insanely fast,” and separately stated Tesla is targeting at least 2 million Cybercab units per year. Commercial robotaxi service in Austin is targeted for late 2026.




