Caged 'Cats still thrill with safe, smoky burnouts

I’m a little disappointed in our 2015 cruisers.

This is the first year that Ford’s “line-lock” burnout function – which allows drivers to smoke their tires without ever moving -- is available in the 2015 Ford Mustang GT. The stunning ‘15s are everywhere. Yet in cruising the strip all week, I have yet to see a GT light up its tires in place.

Maybe folks aren’t sure of the parameters of the Cruise’s “no burnout” clause. Maybe they aren’t familiar with the line-lock feature.

But the Dodge boys have come to the rescue. Dodge loaded a Charger Hellcat and a vintage Challenger onto a semi-trailer and are towing it up and down Woodward today to do spontaneous burnouts. On the trailer. Behind a cage. Safe and smoky.

“We’re pretty sure it’s legal,” says Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis. “And we think it’ll give the fans a thrill.”

Count me thrilled. Since line-lock is production tech exclusive to Ford, I figure that the Dodges have been specially equipped for their Cruise stunt. The Hellcat-mania semi pulled onto Woodward this morning with its two caged, stationary animals smoking their wheels like mad. I followed the rig for a mile this afternoon on Woodward in my Alfa and didn’t witness a burnout.

But if I were stuck in traffic this evening at 2 miles an hour, that’s where I would want to be.