2015 Dodge Viper

Until recently, Dodge was known for building outrageous high-performance muscle cars, including the Challenger and Charger, with brashly named trims—Hellcat, anyone? Dodge is still finding its footing during the transition to electrification and stricter emissions laws, with plans for electrified and turbocharged muscle yet to materialize in dealerships. The Hornet compact SUV is based on the Alfa Romeo Tonale, and is available as a plug-in hybrid. The Durango SUV soldiers on, largely unchanged from 2011 and still based on the same design as the 2011-2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Most alarmingly, it lags behind more modern vehicles in crash tests. Dodge sits near Chrysler at the bottom of our used car reliability rankings.

The redesigned Viper is powered by an all-aluminum, 640-hp, 8.4-liter V10 and has a standard six-speed manual. This SRT Viper is about 100 pounds lighter than the last model, and is designed to appeal to buyers of $100,000 vehicles who want super high performance along with an upscale interior and more civilized manners. Two versions are offered: the base and the more upscale GTS. The new chassis is said to markedly improve handling. The interior is also more upscale, something the last generation sorely lacked.