Dodge Demon Concept
THE PONTIAC Solstice and Saturn Sky are affordable two-seat sports cars, but they’re not, strictly speaking, Miata-fighters. They’re a half size bigger, they’re heavier, and they need the optional turbo engine to provide enough fun to match the World’s Most Popular Sports Car, which conversely is designed more for handling than for speed. Chrysler’s Dodge Demon concept, making its debut at the Geneva motor show and named after a tarted-up early 1970s Dodge Dart, may ultimately become the sports car GM’s Bob Lutz says he’s dreamed of since his Chrysler days.
As a just-shown concept, the Demon isn’t ready for evaluation drives. Even given the chance to wring it out on a twisty road, the oversize 19-inch wheels and tires don’t leave enough room in the wheelwells for a claimed 32.9-foot turning circle, which, coincidentally, splits the difference between the Miata’s 30.8 feet and the Solstice’s 35.1. Its “production” weight of an estimated 2600 pounds with 50/50 distribution also splits the diff between the Miata’s 2476 and the Solstice’s 2878. And it has a trunk, not a mail slot nor a rearward-placed glovebox-a trunk that takes a set of golf clubs, thanks to Goodyear P225/35R19 runflats and a tall rear cowl section that packages the big, 17-gallon fuel tank and hard tonneau stack.
A multilink rear suspension is set low to make room for the big tank and top combo. The concept is all carbon fiber, not sheetmetal. And it shows off a carbon-fiber-look windshield header, seatbacks, and dual individual rollbars.
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