The Challenger SRT may not be the only model to receive race car-grade thrust courtesy of Chrysler’s fire-breathing, 600+ horsepower Hellcat HEMI V8.

Overlooked amid the plethora of product details revealed as part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ five-year plan was the revelation that the Hellcat mill could make its way into the engine bay of the Charger SRT sedan.

As noted by Automotive News, a slide depicting Dodge’s portion of the five-year plan (viewable in the gallery above) shows the Charger SRT and Challenger SRT both using a “S/C V8,” strongly suggesting that the supercharged 6.2-liter Hellcat V8 will be available with the high-performance Charger.

In the Challenger SRT, which will retain an upgraded, 485-horsepower variant of the current 6.4-liter V8 as the standard engine, the Hellcat will send power to the rear wheels via either a six-speed manual or eight-speed TorqueFlite automatic. Given that the Charger has, to this point, been auto-only, don’t hold your breath for the stick shift to be offered in the sedan.

As Chrysler is still dialing in the Hellcat’s final calibrations, official output figures for the motor aren’t yet available, but a horsepower rating north of 600 ponies has been promised.

The Challenger SRT Hellcat is slated to hit the market this summer; it’s unclear when the Hellcat-equipped Charger SRT might make its debut.

The move appears to be a new development related to a problem that gained attention in 2012, after some owners reported cylinder head failure. The company acknowledged the issue but downplayed the defect rate, claiming that less than one percent of the engines, or approximately 7,500, were prone to such problems.

The company is now said to be offering free repairs for cracked left cylinder heads on certain vehicles with model years from 2011 through 2013, with coverage jumping to 10 years or 150,000 miles.

The 3.6-liter engine is used in a wide range of models including the Chrysler 200, 300 and Town & Country; the Dodge Challenger, Charger, Durango, Grand Caravan and Journey; the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Wrangler; and the Ram 1500.

“A small percentage of these 2011-2013 model year engines may be susceptible to an engine misfire which is caused by a combination of rarely occurring factors, including drive cycle and fuel quality,” the company said in a statement posted by Automotive News.

The company notes that the problem will not disable the engine, despite the potential for misfires, explaining the reasoning behind extending the warranty rather than issuing a formal recall.

The recall progress figures were included in a House Committee on Energy and Commerce memo regarding an upcoming hearing that will be attended by GM CEO Mary Barra and outside attorney Anton Valukas, author of the company’s internal investigation.

The memo notes that GM suppliers have produced nearly 400,000 ignition-switch repair kits, which also include new lock cylinders to address a separate issue with key operation.

GM has previously stated that it does not expect to be finished replacing the ignition switches until October, however the current progress appears to be a likely topic of discussion at the hearing.

The hearing promises to focus on other findings contained in Valukas’ report, which outlines a pattern of incompetence and complacency that delayed the company’s reaction to safety concerns and resulted in at least 13 deaths. Barra repeatedly deflected tough questions during initial hearings, citing the ongoing investigation that had not yet been completed.

The internal report has already been criticized by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) as a “self serving” public-relations campaign, while other legislators have called for more details regarding the disparity between GM’s death tally and much higher estimates from outside analysts.

“How did the culture and systemic problems that are identified in the Valukas

report develop at GM?” the House memo asks in its list of key issues that will be examined at the hearing. “What must be done to address these problems and when will GM know if they have been successfully fixed?”

Called Mégane Trophy-R, the record-setting car is up to 220 pounds lighter than a stock RS 275 thanks to Recaro-built polycarbonate front seats and an optional lithium-ion battery. Renault has also removed the rear wiper and all related hardware, the radio, the A/C unit, the bulk of the sound-deadening material and the rear seats in order to bring the car’s total weight down to 2,821 pounds.

Designed by the automaker’s Special Projects Division, the F12 TRS is based on the F12berlinetta coupe but it gains a targa roof, heavily-tinted windows and a more shapely rear end. The front fascia is fitted with a race-inspired splitter, and the car appears to wear bespoke alloy wheels.

The F12 TRS is reportedly powered by a gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain consisting of a 729-horsepower 6.2-liter V12 engine that works jointly with a Formula 1-inspired Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) made up of an electric motor and a high-capacity battery pack. Not available on the stock F12, the hybrid system is expected to propel the F12 TRS from zero to 62 mph in under 3 seconds and on to a top speed of over 210 mph.

Sources indicate the F12 TRS cost its owner $4.2 million, considerably more than even the range-topping LaFerrari. The car will remain an exclusive one-off and it will not be added to the Ferrari catalog.

Ferrari is expected to publish a full set of details about the F12 TRS once the roadster has been delivered.

For the fifth year in a row and after a hard fought battle between Toyota and Porsche, Audi has won the 2014 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Audi’s R18 e-Tron Quattro scored a 1-2 finish, with the No. 2 car of Mark Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Trelyuer crossing the line first, and Felipe Albuquerque, Marco Bonanomi and Oliver Jarvis’s No. 1 following three laps behind.

Toyota, with a pole position qualifying run by Kazuki Nakajima, seemed like a strong contender in their pair of TS040 Hybrids. After taking an early lead with one of their LMP-H racers, Toyota held it until hour 14 when the the car stalled out due to what the team is reporting as a failure in the electrical loom. The No. 7 Toyota driven by Anthony Davidson, Nicholas Lapierre and Sebastien Buemi, despite a minor crash at the beginning, finished third after some quick repairs.

Fan favorite Porsche returned to Le Mans after a 16 year absence, fielding a pair of 919 Hybrids. After challenging Audi and Toyota early on, fell by the wayside. For a while, it seemed as Porsche might take the overall win, leading the pack with four hours left to go. However, mechanical maladies took out the lead car with only four hours remaining in the race.

This is the third victory for Audi’s R18 e-Tron Quattro and the fourth checkered flag for Joest Racing, the team running Audi’s Le Mans program.

For the third year in a row, Toyota has gone to the Tokyo Toy Show to introduce the latest version of its Camatte 57s concept.

Powered by a wholly electric drivetrain, the Camatte is a skeleton frame upon which various body panels can be attached. Its purpose, Toyota says, and the reason why it’s displayed at a toy show, is to pique children’s interest in cars.

The latest iteration features a hood covered with an array of LEDs. Children can customize the car by drawing pictures that are scanned an translated into pixels. A second Cammate 57s Sport is displayed without panels, so that children can see how its steering, differential, and accelerator work.

Past versions of the Camatte have included a minimalist roadster in the vein of the Lotus Super 7, a dune-buggy-like off roader, and coupe whose roof, windshield and cowl swing open like a jet fighter’s canopy. All of them employ a triangular 1+2 seating layout, configured so that an adult in the right rear seat can steer or brake in the event of an emergency or overzealous budding speed demon.

So far these are concepts only, but the interchangeable panel design will be put into production this summer on the Daihatsu Copen roadster. Daihatsu is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota specializing in kei cars.

A South Korean startup named Oullim Motors has published preliminary details about a battery-powered sports car set to make its debut at next year’s edition of the Geneva Motor Show.

Dubbed Spirra, the coupe will be powered by an electric motor mounted behind the passenger compartment linked to a high-capacity battery pack. Oullim has not revealed whether it will design and build the drivetrain in-house or if it will purchase it from another company, but it has promised the motor will send power to all four wheels.

Although the Spirra’s design is still being finalized, the company expects the coupe to boast a highly-aerodynamic body crafted out of carbon fiber and to ride on a lightweight tubular frame. The Spirra will be assembled by hand in a new facility located in the Netherlands and distributed in select European countries.

Sources close to the company indicate the Spirra will carry a base price of approximately €200,000, a lofty sum that converts to over $270,000. A full set of technical details will be published in the weeks leading up to the car’s debut in Switzerland.

South Korea’s sports car

In its home country of South Korea, the Spirra is powered by a mid-mounted Hyundai-sourced V6 engine that puts out anywhere between 172 and 492 ponies depending on tune. The most powerful version of the coupe is capable of reaching 62 mph from a stop in just 3.5 seconds before going on to a top speed of 195 mph, statistics that hint at what to expect from the electric variant.

But that’s just the case for the 2015 model year, with a new V8 model joining the current W12. Curious to see if the Bentley Boys have lost their minds or are simply ahead of the curve, we hopped a plane to London to try out the new 2015 Flying Spur V8 for ourselves.

More than skin deep
Although technically the entry point into the Flying Spur’s range, the V8 is hardly outfitted like an entry-level model. Like the Flying Spur W12 that launched for the 2014 model year, the 2015 Flying Spur V8 comes with all-new bodywork, a re-worked interior and a revised suspension.

Admittedly the 2015 Flying Spur’s sheet metal doesn’t look radically different from the previous model’s, but think of this big sedan in the same vein as the Porsche 911 – updated for the trained eye.

Up front those subtle changes include revised headlights with LED elements, a new fascia intended to make the car look lower and wider, a flush-mounted grille and front fenders with more sculpting. The sides of the Flying Spur have been treated to fender vents, pronounced character lines along the sills and a lower roofline intended to give a whiff of coupe styling.

The changes at the rear of the car are the most noticeable, with the 2015 Flying Spur V8 receiving a more squared-off trunk-line, redesigned bumper, updated taillights and figure-eight tailpipes signifying the V8 underhood. Bentley logos with red centers also identify the V8 model.

Highlights from the 2015 Flying Spur V8′s interior include an updated steering wheel, redesigned center stack and new seats. Despite a $20,000 discount, the Flying Spur V8′s interior comes spec’d to the same level as the W12 model, including extensive sound deadening, 10 square meters of real wood and 14 bull hides. In all, the 2015 Flying Spur V8 boasts over 600 new interior parts.

Beneath all that style and luxury, Bentley has re-engineered the Flying Spur V8′s chassis and fitted the sedan with a new suspension to provide a softer and more compliant ride. To complement that suspension work, Flying Spur V8 rides on tires with taller sidewalls than before.

More of the Flying Spur is made from light-weight aluminum for 2015, so the car’s overall curb weight is down about 110 pounds.

Make no bones about it — the 2015 Flying Spur V8 is a new generation, not just a mid-cycle update.

Four-liter heart
Of course the biggest story behind the 2015 Flying Spur is the addition of a new Volkswagen-sourced V8.

Similar to the unit found in some Audi models, the Flying Spur’s V8 displaces 4.0L and uses advanced technologies like turbocharging, direct-injection and cylinder deactivation. Total output stands at 500 horsepower and 488 lb-ft of torque, or 116 horsepower and 102 lb-ft short of the optional W12.

Like the Flying Spur W12, the V8 routes power to all four wheels through a ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission. That all-wheel drive system defaults to a 40/60 front/rear power split, but up to 65 percent of the engine’s power can be sent to the front axle and 85 percent to the rear, depending on traction conditions.

Although probably not a major concern for most Bentley buyers, the V8 is a bit thriftier than its W12 counterpart. The eight-cylinder Flying Spur returns 14/24mpg city/highway whereas the W12 can only muster 12/20mpg.

Flying Spur still flies
Any concerns of the Flying Spur V8 being underpowered quickly dissolved as we broke free from London’s infamous morning traffic.

Bury the gas pedal in the Flying Spur’s shag pile carpet and the 5,341 pound luxury barge takes off with the kind of immediacy typically reserved for much smaller sport sedans. Bentley says the Flying Spur V8 can hustle from 0-60 in 4.9 seconds and carry on to a top speed of 183mph.

Although you do give up some speed by opting for the V8 instead of the W12, the smaller-engined Flying Spur does have its benefits. For one, the exhaust note of the V8 is much more aurally satisfying than the somewhat odd baritone of the twelve-cylinder engine. The V8 is pretty much dead quiet during steady state cruising, but comes to life with a proper burble during hard acceleration.

The V8 also takes some weight off the Flying Spur’s nose, so steering is just a hair sharper. The Flying Spur V8 won’t trick you into thinking it’s a sports car, but the new suspension – which offers four different settings from sport to comfort – does a remarkably good job of keeping the car flat during tight cornering. Just be sure that the lid is back on the Grey Poupon before you start tearing up the back roads.

Comforts galore
After a full day of negotiating country roads barely wide enough to contain the Flying Spur’s 6.5-foot-wide frame, we were happy to climb into the sedan’s rear quarters where we could relax and enjoy its luxurious appointments.

More comfortable than our home couch, the Flying Spur’s back seat – which can be configured as a bench or as two individual seats – is fully adjustable and offers heated, cooled and massage functions. Once settled in, you can access the Flying Spur’s optional rear entertainment system via Bentley’s smartphone-like Touch Screen Remote (TSR). In addition to controlling audio and video functions, the TSR also doubles as an instrument repeater, so you can keep an eye on just how fast Jeeves is driving.

The entertainment package also comes with in-vehicle Wi-Fi.

But our attention quickly turned from the dual 10-inch LCD screens to the fine craftsmanship that surrounded us. Virtually every surface in the Flying Spur is covered in butter-soft leather and not a single hand-laid stitch is out of place – the attention to detail in the Flying Spur is truly staggering. Throw in a suspension that’s like riding on a magic carpet and we’d almost rather be sitting in the back seat than behind the wheel. Almost.

Leftlane’s bottom line
With the 2015 Flying Spur V8, Bentley has proven that less really can be more.

Though not as fast as the W12, the Flying Spur V8 makes up for that deficit with a more satisfying soundtrack and a 10 percent savings. No, the Flying Spur V8 isn’t the runt of the range, it’s the pick of the litter.

2015 Bentley Flying Spur V8 base price, $195,100.

Photos by Drew Johnson and Bentley.

Some vehicles equipped with a manual transmission may have been assembled with a passenger-side driveshaft that did not receive the proper heat treatment procedure, leaving the metal weak and prone to failure.

If the driveshaft separates while driving, the vehicle would lose power and coast to a stop. The problem could also cause a parked vehicle to move unexpectedly if the shaft is fractured.

The company suggests a weak driveshaft may be most likely to fail when accelerating from a stop, increasing the risk of a crash, though no crashes or injuries have been officially tied to the issue.

The campaign includes 1,038 vehicles manufactured from May 24, 2013, through July 5, 2013. Vehicles will be brought in for inspection and driveshaft replacement if necessary.