test drive as leisure activity

"parkrndl is enjoying his midlife crisis" (parkrndl) 01/16/2016 at 19:52 • Filed to: None

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Test drove this today. Sent my wife this pic from our driveway just for giggles.

Do want. Not this exact one for a few reasons, but an LX with a V8. Looking into payoff date for my current DD.

JGrabowMSt > parkrndl is enjoying his midlife crisis 01/16/2016 at 20:15

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parkrndl is enjoying his midlife crisis > JGrabowMSt 01/16/2016 at 20:23

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I DO like them and I would consider one if a nice one came up. The only downside IMO is that I’m thinking model years ‘09-’10 because the base Hemi got an HP bump to something like 370 in ‘09, and the new Charger/300 body style in ‘11 means they cost more in the used market. Didn’t they stop making the Magnum by ‘09?

(Although I realize the truth is that if I can’t get myself in trouble with “only” 340 HP, then I’m not trying hard enough...)

slipperysallylikespenguins > parkrndl is enjoying his midlife crisis 01/16/2016 at 20:44

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I picked up an 08 charger a couple months ago and regret it, going to sell it as soon as I am able to

JGrabowMSt > parkrndl is enjoying his midlife crisis 01/16/2016 at 20:49

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So the first gen 5.7L shipped with 345 horsepower, one per cubic inch. Its super easy to squeeze a little more out of it, but HEMIs inherently have their limits (pushrod motor).

The power bump in 09-10 does increase resale value, but more importantly, there are design and programming changes that are super important, along with the seats being significantly more comfortable (I have ‘10 challenger seats in my Magnum).

Realistically, if youre just looking for a V8 LX car, just look for 07+. Head updates and body style updates made the cars much better. 03-06 HEMI heads drop valve seats and lead to obscene carnage that basically means you need to replace the motor.

07+ is the best combo for a V8 LX car, but I love the current gen 300 and the previous gen Charger, but the current Charger is growing on me (stormtrooper front)....

cluelessk > parkrndl is enjoying his midlife crisis 01/16/2016 at 21:40

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You wanna live with that interior? I’ve got a Cobalt and the Chargers interior is somehow worse.

parkrndl is enjoying his midlife crisis > slipperysallylikespenguins 01/17/2016 at 11:33

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Sounds like not fun. What’s wrong with it? Specific headaches, or just generally not happy with it?

parkrndl is enjoying his midlife crisis > JGrabowMSt 01/17/2016 at 11:34

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Thanks! That’s valuable info re: pre-07 engines...

parkrndl is enjoying his midlife crisis > cluelessk 01/17/2016 at 11:37

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My last DD was a Pacifica, and I didn’t mind it. The Charger I drove had some obvious similarities. Maybe I’m a sucker for punishment...

JGrabowMSt > parkrndl is enjoying his midlife crisis 01/17/2016 at 12:44

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I learned the hard way at 147572 miles. Most motors grenaded before 60k. A head swap to 6.1L heads will work, or getting heads with reinforced valve seats.

I have lots of other pictures but the rod bearings and 7 other pistons were in fantastic shape for the mileage. Unfortunately, there was metal everywhere in the motor, and the cost of trying to salvage the block would have been immense. I dropped in a new motor and its been fine, but a bad gasket set is causing me headaches now. The Eagle blocks (07+) should never have this problem, as there were many design updates that improved the whole motor greatly.

slipperysallylikespenguins > parkrndl is enjoying his midlife crisis 01/17/2016 at 16:22

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I bought an 08 Charger with the 5.7(former police car) with 58K miles on it. Its great at cruising down the highway and the seats are fairly comfortable for long distance. I don’t mind that it came missing parts of the interior or that it came with the plastic handcuff seats(came with original cloth items as well. When I removed the back seat there is a huge pass through to the trunk, so it can carry a lot, also all the floors are rubberized for easy cleaning. Also looks cool. And came with a hitch which I’ve used several times.

What I don’t like is that you can’t check the transmission fluid without specialty tools(4ft zip ties and ir thermometer work), Chryser says it is a sealed transmission and the car will let you know if its running low. Which it didn’t, when I bought it it was low and brown and watery looking. It’s much harder to see out of than my previous cars. I get worse mileage than my Caprice wagon. As low as 14 around town and high of 19 on interstate. ABS, Stability, and TC lights come and go as they please. A few times my speedometer has randomly stopped working. The key would get stuck in the ignition all the time, so I would have to pull it out with pliers and disconnect the battery every time I parked. I had that fixed under an ignition recall but it still does it occasionally. Also the TC can never be fully turned off, the best it will do is let me chirp the tires and then saps all the power so the 340-370hp is mostly useless. Even on a wet road it won’t let you get sideways. Overall it just feels cheap, not just the interior but the whole thing. I would expect better from a car with less than 60K miles.

End rant, that was actually cathartic talking about its issues. Those issues might be due to the fact that its a police model, that I like to be able to work on my own car, or the fact that I’ve always been a big Dodge fan and this was a let down.

parkrndl is enjoying his midlife crisis > slipperysallylikespenguins 01/17/2016 at 21:52

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Interesting. The view out didn’t bother me, but the transmission shifts weren’t the most confidence-inspiring under decent acceleration, and it would freak me out not to be able to check the fluid level. Also, I’ve always wondered what the real-world fuel economy numbers looked like, since the fantasyland EPA number is only 23 highway.

slipperysallylikespenguins > parkrndl is enjoying his midlife crisis 01/17/2016 at 22:10

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The transmission shifts are pretty noticeable. The biggest fault for me is that I just don’t trust it not to fail on me. I would possibly still recommend one though since the fullsize American car market is pretty sad. Ever since the LX cars came out I was a big fan, especially the Magnum. I was super excited that a mainstream company was making rwd v8 attractive cars and I just felt let down after actually buying one.