Latest news with #SRT
Motor Trend
12 minutes ago
- Automotive
- Motor Trend
SRT Is Back, But Is It Enough to Rev Stellantis Into the Near Future?
You can argue the North American brands under Stellantis have been defanged in recent years. Under former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares' leadership, Ram trucks lost their V-8s, Jeep lost volume models and failed to launch promised new ones in a timely manner, Chrysler subsists today on minivans alone, and Dodge slow-walked the rollout of its new muscle cars. Stellantis revives its Street and Racing Technology (SRT) division under new CEO Antonio Filosa and Tim Kuniskis, aiming to boost North American performance cars. SRT will unify Dodge, Ram, Jeep, and Chrysler's high-performance efforts, promising a wave of powerful vehicles. This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article. Read Next The New Order Now there's a new sheriff in town, as Antonio Filosa, a man more sympathetic to North American demands, is the new CEO. And Stellantis brought back retired Tim Kuniskis, a man with petrol and adrenaline comingled in his veins and who had apparently ridden off into the sunset not long ago, in June 2024. With the personnel moves came a series of quick announcements: Hellcat godfather and Ram CEO Kuniskis was promoted to spread his enthusiasm and supercharge all American products; he is now head of American brands and North America marketing and retail strategy for Stellantis while retaining his role as Ram CEO. Under his guidance, the 2026 Ram 1500 can now be ordered with the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 as an option, but the bigger-picture news is that Stellantis is bringing back the Street and Racing Technology (SRT) division to unify high-performance efforts at Dodge, Ram, Jeep, and Chrysler. Kuniskis will run this, too. SRT's revival is guaranteed to crank the driveshafts of performance junkies and Mopar faithful alike. It means factory-built horsepower and street- and track-engineering prowess. Bringing back SRT is designed to jumpstart the revitalization of the North American products and restore Stellantis' vitality in the region where sales, market share, and profits have fallen, trust has been lost, and morale has eroded. 'We're getting the band back together,' Kuniskis said of resurrecting the vaunted SRT division, which was dissolved in 2021 and its engineers scattered. 'SRT is another box we needed to check as we head into a product launch cadence enabling more performance than we've ever seen before.' SRT will also oversee Direct Connection—Dodge's performance parts and tuning division—which means its tuner catalog and racing involvement are poised to expand. Also under the SRT umbrella are the North American motorsports programs, which include Dodge's NHRA drag racing team and Ram's return to the NASCAR Truck Series in 2026. Ram has already shown a Ram 1500 concept race truck with an engine revving to more than 9,000 rpm. SRT Evolution SRT has been a prominent in-house skunkworks of sorts since 1989, existing under a number of different names. It began with the Specialty Vehicle Engineering (SVE) team that brought the original Dodge Viper to life and helped create the Plymouth Prowler, two reasons why SRT has always been synonymous with the boldest, most memorable Mopar vehicles in recent years. Chrysler formed the Performance Vehicle Operations high-performance division in 2004. From the ashes of PVO came the SRT division, which was elevated to official brand status in 2011. Design chief Ralph Gilles at the time added SRT CEO to his duties, an extra task he relished for four years. SRT was relegated back to a development team in 2014. Then it was quietly phased out as Stellantis consolidated brand operations, dissolving SRT in 2021 but redistributing its engineers and mandates to the parent company's individual brands to continue their work there. Fruits of their labor included the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk and 2021 Ram 1500 TRX. SRT is Back, Baby SRT's return signals a bold recommitment to enthusiast culture at a time when electrification, regulatory pressures, and platform sharing have clouded the future of internal combustion performance. Expect to see a product wave of performance vehicles with an assortment of drivetrains to rival or surpass the Hellcat era in scale and scope. The history of SRT and Hellcat has always been 'go big or go home,' the more outrageous the better. This should result in off-road monsters for Jeep and Ram, dragstrip-bruising muscle sedans and coupes for Dodge, and gentrified premium power for Chrysler. There are many vehicles the revived SRT can tap for inspiration. It could begin with the Viper, a wild V-10-powered sports car first shown as a concept in 1989 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It went into production in 1992 and was discontinued in 2017 when it could not meet modern side-curtain airbag regulations. Before it died, Dodge added the much-revered Viper ACR track special. Even in the electric age, it would be cool to see a V-10-powered snake again, but we won't hold our breath on this one. At the other end of the spectrum was the 2003 Dodge Neon SRT-4, a cute compact car with a turbocharged engine that offered excellent handling, cheap speed, and riotous (or heinous, depending on your point of view) torque steer. For curbside cool, there was the 2006 Dodge Magnum SRT-8 wagon. Sure, it had siblings (the Charger SRT8 and Challenger SRT8) with the same 425-hp 6.1-liter Hemi V-8, but the Magnum roamed the streets in a menacing way unlike anything else on the market during its short life from 2006 to '08. Meanwhile, the 2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10 had the Viper's V-10 stuffed under its hood plus a manual transmission. This is the kind of crazy fun Kuniskis should try to bring back, even if the transmission goes automatic. The Ram 1500 TRX needs a successor. A more practical SRT was the hot-rodded 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, which took a relatively conventional SUV and dialed it into the realm of absurd during the SUV's third generation. Its successor? The 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk with a fully independent suspension and a 707-hp 6.2-liter supercharged Hellcat V-8. The vehicle that cemented Kuniskis' reputation: the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. This dragstrip special boasted a Hellcat V-8 tuned to run on E85 ethanol fuel and a big supercharger for an unhinged but street-legal 1,025 hp and 945 lb-ft of torque. Our wish list for the new SRT? Today the only vehicle bearing the name is the aging Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat. Fresh lineup additions could and should include a lowered Ram 1500 SRT street truck with a Hemi V-8 to take on the Ford F-150 Lobo. Ram so far is only bringing back the 5.7-liter and says it would be a lot of work to incorporate the 6.2-liter engine into the electrical architecture in today's trucks, but that doesn't sound like the kind of problem that stopped Kuniskis before. Dodge is also working on a powerful electric Charger Daytona Banshee, so we're surely not alone in hoping Gilles designs a new Magnum on the STLA Large platform, with a V-8. The Grand Cherokee seems ripe for a new performance variant, too. A V-8 won't fit, but you have to think engineers can squeeze more out of the excellent 3.0-liter twin-turbo Hurricane inline-six. And thinking more about the Viper, at least in name: Maserati has some high-end sports car platforms. Maybe SRT might marry some of those mechanicals with some American muscle? The name alone would likely fuel big interest, and Stellantis as a whole could certainly use the win.
Bangkok Post
8 hours ago
- Bangkok Post
Eastern rail service resumes normal operation to border
The railway service from Bangkok to the Ban Khlong Luek border checkpoint in Sa Kaeo province is now operating again after a temporary suspension due to Thai-Cambodian border clashes. Service on the final stage of the eastern line between Aranyaprathet and the border station was suspended on July 26 but has now resumed, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) announced on Wednesday evening. Locals and tourists can now travel the entire eastern line, with train schedules available online and at railway stations. The SRT has confirmed its commitment to safety and high-standard service.
News18
a day ago
- News18
'Subway On Wheels': Pakistan's Lahore Gets 'South Asia's First' Trackless Rapid Rail
Last Updated: Posting a video on social media, Pakistan Punjab's CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif said the system is "modern, cost-effective and environment-friendly alternative to conventional transport" What is trackless, environment-friendly, and runs on rubber tyres on roads? It is the new rapid rail in Lahore, which was welcomed by Pakistan Punjab's Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. Billed as a 'subway on wheels", this is Pakistan's first trackless and ticketless solar-powered Metro whose country of origin is China. It is part of Punjab's effort to modernise urban transport and a larger plan to deploy this system in 30 cities. Posting a video on social media, Sharif claimed that the rapid rail system is South Asia's first such, and is a 'modern, cost-effective and environment-friendly alternative to conventional transport". 'South Asia's first ART (Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit) has arrived in Lahore. It is track-less, runs on rubber tires & carries 300 passengers. It is a modern, cost-effective & environment-friendly alternative to conventional transport. Test run on canal road soon Insha'Allah!" Sharif posted on X. Watch the video here: This 'track-less" Metro, which will run around on roads, is called the super autonomous rail rapid transit (SRT) and is part of Sharif's newly approved five-year transport masterplan of an automated rapid transport (ART) system in the province. It uses cutting-edge virtual track technology with sensors, GPS, and digital mapping to operate on roads without tracks and is fully electric. According to a report in Gulf News, the SRT system is part of a pilot project for now. Its trial run has begun near Lahore airport, with a controlled corridor selected for early-stage testing, it said. It The report said officials from both Pakistan and China attended the launch. 'This is not just a test drive. This is a test for the future of public transport in Punjab," an official from the provincial transport department was quoted. view comments First Published: July 30, 2025, 16:44 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
This test can predict how long a middle-aged person will live in just a few seconds
When it comes to longevity, it's not just about living for as many years as possible. The goal is to live healthier, and free of disease or injury, for as long as possible. Healthy aging often boils down to simple habits like exercising regularly, eating a nutritious diet rich in fiber, getting enough sleep, and connecting with others. Even if a person practices these habits, is there a way to know how long they'll live? While there's no crystal ball for lifespan, there is a simple test you can take in middle age that may help predict how many years you have left. An exercise researcher reveals why this test can be a good indicator of longevity and a wakeup call to change your lifestyle. Longevity Tip of the Day: The Sitting-to-Rising Test May Predict How Long You'll Live The sitting-to-rising test (SRT) is a measure of how easy or difficult it is to sit on the floor without using the arms, hands or knees for support or balance, and stand back up again without assistance. The SRT assesses a person's non-aerobic physical fitness, which includes muscle strength, balance, flexibility, and a healthy body composition. These are also all indicators of healthy aging, Dr. Claudio Gil Araújo, a sports medicine physician and researcher at the Exercise Medicine Clinic in Rio de Janeiro, told NBC News. New research led by Araújo shows that a person's score on this test may predict how many years they have left to live, according to a report published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. Araújo's team administered the SRT to 4,282 adults aged 46–75, using a 0-5 point system. A perfect score (five points) required going from a sitting to rising position unassisted. Any time a body part was used to balance or get up, one point was subtracted. The researchers followed up 12 years later and found that the vast majority of people with perfect scores were still alive, compared to less than half of those who scored four points or less. The authors concluded that the SRT was a strong predictor of natural and cardiovascular mortality. While the test doesn't directly prove that a perfect score results in a longer lifespan, 'it is quite reasonable to expect this,' Araújo told NBC News. Why It Matters 'Aerobic fitness is important, but muscle strength, a healthy body mass index, balance and flexibility are also vital for healthy aging,' Araújo said. The SRT is not perfect, but it is a reliable indicator of longevity because it assesses these factors. However, the real value of this test may be that it can serve as a warning sign to start changing your habits. Fortunately, the score you get on the test is not final. Instead, it can give a snapshot of your fitness level and what you need to improve upon — especially if you're in your 50s, which is an ideal time to start building healthy aging habits. If your SRT score is low, you can work on these deficits by building strength and balance to score higher, Araújo said. How to Get Started Always consult with your doctor before trying the test at home, especially if you have underlying health issues or injuries. In order to do the sitting-to-rising test, all you need is another person to keep score (you can use a 10-point system). Here's how: Start from a standing position. Slowly sit on the floor crosslegged without using any other body part to balance. Stand up from this position, without any assistance. Subtract one point every time you use your hand, knee, forearm, or side of your leg to help. If are able to sit down and stand back up with no assistance, you score a perfect 10. If you couldn't get off the ground, you score a zero. A good score would be considered eight or higher. TODAY's Expert Tip of the Day series is all about simple strategies to make life a little easier. Every Monday through Friday, different qualified experts share their best advice on diet, fitness, heart health, mental wellness and more. This article was originally published on Solve the daily Crossword
Bangkok Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Border clashes halt rail service in Sa Kaeo
SA KAEO - Railway service between Aranyaprathet and the Ban Khlong Luek border station on the eastern line has been suspended due to border tensions until further notice, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) announced on Saturday. The railway public relations office posted the announcement on Facebook at 3.25pm, apologising for any inconvenience the suspension may cause. The First Army Region said that on Saturday afternoon Thai troops successfully pushed back Cambodian troops who had encroached on four locations in Thai territory — two in Ta Phraya district and two in Khok Sung — in the eastern province. Thai forces have been stationed along the border, with over 4,000 people in Sa Kaeo evacuated to 19 temporary shelters in safe zones. The military earlier ordered the closure of all border crossings. The SRT said it was closely monitoring the situation and would promptly inform the public if there are any updates or changes.
