General Auto Chat

Discussion in 'Cars, Motorcycles, Boats, Airplanes Talk' started by Maxvla, Sep 26, 2015.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Anyone have any experience with the Dodge Charger RT, Daytona, or Scat Pack with the 392 Hemi? It's about time for me to get rid of the BRZ. Can't fit the kids in the back. I also really miss a V8.
     
  2. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    The Scat Pack is a dollar for dollar champ. It's got gobs of usable horsepower and torque and comes in at a decent price. I owned one and let it go, because my life changed. It handles great and had a really decent alpine audio system. Oh, and the Tremec manual transmission is sharp and precise. I'm a big fan. It might sweep you off your feet, coming from the BRZ (which I like).
     
  3. Shredicus

    Shredicus New

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    NIce SSII e90. My e92 is the same color; lots of depth to that paint!

    [​IMG]
    (shitball quality pic but I had just waxed it)

    [​IMG]

    Yep, you need an e90 M3.
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2018
  4. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Na. Three series is douchebag / wannabe Michael Schumacher mobile in my particular neighborhood. If I were in MI, sure. Five series might be more respectible, have the interior room I want, but too rich. Need to send kids to college in a few years and have a bit left over for offroading the Jeep. I really don't need to be another SoCal Asian dweeb in a 3 or 4 series bimmer. Love the cars though, the E46 was one of my favorites, until it started to fall apart (too expensive to fix, foreign parts and all).

    That's what I'm looking for. I've owned tricked out Mustang V8, Camaro V8, and Evo almost in succession. I kind of want a V8 again (I miss them terribly) preferably one of the larger displacement variety. The big motors just have such an ease to them. It's kind of like big woofers in audio, and why I like 15" woofers, or 12" at a bare minimum. The adage there is no replacement for displacement rings true for both speakers and cars.
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2018
  5. ohhgourami

    ohhgourami Friend

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    SSII is indeed my favorite BMW color. I had always wanted Alpine White until I saw this car in person during the test drive. Fell in love with it and I don't get tired of it.

    Sounds like you need an E60 M5. V10 - Nothing sounds quite like it at 8200rpm. Lots of them going for ~25k these days. Maintenance might make you shit your pants though.
     
  6. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

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    Ah, we're on the same boat. No smaller long throw sounds like a proper 15" or 12", Inches do matter when it's about effortlessness. :headbang:

    Sorry for off-topic.
     
  7. Gruss Gott

    Gruss Gott Almost "Made"

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    It's a dark blue that I'm not a huge a fan of, but it does make the car more stealth with the top up
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    But I do like the interior a lot more than I thought I would

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2018
  8. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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  9. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    While it's the biggest and heaviest car in its class, that 6.4 392 engine is just a monster. I definitely recommend a test drive. The interior is a little more sparse than the Camaro or Mustang. It's got a pretty awesome exhaust note straight from the factory as well
     
  10. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    kinda hard to find, but Chevy SS con Manuel?
     
  11. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    After my horrible experience with the Acura MDX and great experience with a Mazda 3 hatchback, I generally don't pay attention to JDP or CR reliability rankings anymore. I do think there are standout brands, namely Toyota and Lexus; but the rest of the manufacturers seem grouped together - moderns cars are just a lot more reliable than say a Fox platform Mustang from the 80s. Yes, we can still rank their reliability in order, and assign colors from green to red, but most of them are grouped tightly that it's really more of a roll of the dice. A bad roll is what I attribute to my many problems with the MDX.

    The other issue I have with CR reliability or JDP dependability is which problems are tallied and how problems are weighted. It's not clear to me how their numbers actually work. (As an aside, the CR predicted reliability is utterly BS. Anyone who takes a look at the hard data knows how spiky reliability can be from year to year.)

    For example, I don't mind an interior panel slightly warping and popping off a little bit (a small piece on my BRZ did this). A bad seal between the intake manifold and engine heads on an old Camaro was an inconvenience. The heater core and water pump failure on an old Mustang pissed me off (fortunately, the heater core, which necessitated removal of the entire dash, was covered by warranty). Hard driven BMW M3s seem to have had rod bearing failures that happen after the warranty expires. I think BMW took years to finally own up to it, but I'm sure for many M3 owners, it was too little too late. Those are $10k+ motors.

    Which brings up the one important aspect that seems to be ignored. Cost to repair. Domestic cars parts are cheap. Audi, Lexus, and Acura parts are not - which I why I chose to dump my 5+ year old MDX at CarMax instead of repair the several lingering issues.

    For me, "reliability" involves these factors: probability of problem occuring, severity of problem, and cost-to-fix.
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2018
  12. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    I had two Mazda 3 hatchbacks. They were awesome. Sporty, fun to drive, great gas mileage and inexpensive to repair. I put 300k on one of those Mazdas and it still ran well when I retired it. Just before the retirement, the water pump went out. I took it to my trusted mechanic and he fixed it for about $250 (he is super cheap and does great work).

    Then just 4 months ago, I bought a 2010 Toyota Rav 4. Wow, what an upgrade from my venerable Mazda. The v6 is smooth and powerful. Loves to cruise at 75 on the highway like it's nothing. Well appointed and comfortable. Everything about the Rav4 feels more luxurious than the Mazda. It's just well engineered, and quality materials are used where it matters.

    Then the water pump went out just a month after I bought it. Took it back to my trusty guy for repair. I learned a hard lesson about repairing a more expensive vehicle. It cost more to repair them;. $500 for the water pump on this one.

    Still I'm very happy with the Rav4. The ride is exceptional. It doesn't zip around in traffic like my Mazda 3 did, but it's still very enjoyable with tons more room. I can now keep my golf clubs in my car at all times. My Rav 4 has AWD, heated seats and every option that was available. Now if I can get some cash together and buy a sweet set of rims I'll be happy.
     
  13. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Well, the the mid 90s Impala SS were definitely badass.
    [​IMG]

    I definitely would consider a near current model Chevy SS. The one thing I dislike about GM is the clusterfuck center console infotainment controls. I actually feel that FCA has the lead here - even against the luxury German and Japanese manufacturers. The touchscreen on my JL Wranger is the best I've ever used: great UI, fast to get to where I want, and intuitive to find what I want. FCA definitely hired some good UI people. Not as pretty as iOS, but easier to use.
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2018
  14. BillOhio

    BillOhio Friend

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    Took a 'gal' out for lunch a couple weekends ago. Afterwards she jumped in to her week old M550-something-something... that thing sounded fast, and expensive to repair, and fast.

    I'm very much digging my 'modest' '17 CX-5 and am hoping that Mazda longevity is at least in the same ballpark as Toyota.
     
  15. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    Ditto on that. The Fiat Chrysler Group definitely has one of the more intuitive well-functioning infotainment displays. Honda sucked ass until this last year, but they completely revamped their touchscreen hardware and software, and now it's just about as good as Fiat / Chrysler
     
  16. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    yes
    its unclear how the consumer report manage to rank the brands. one things stands out though is how lexus and toyota are always at the top. whether you look at the consumer report of 2004, 2010 or 2017, Toyota and Lexus are near the top. Honda seem to have taken a nose dive in recent years and if in 2004 id have taken a honda accord over the Camry, no doubt that today id get a camry.

    Car repair: I agree, this to me its the single most important aspect when buying a car. The mercedes used market speak for itself, Mercedes car just drop in value because of how expensive it is to fix them. We get raped by the garage
    BMW, Porshe, Mercedes, I just cannot afford the repair cost. Some model can be had quite cheap on the used market, until you hit the garage and realize how fucked you are.

    Lexus on the other hand seem to be cheaply fixed, where Toyota and lexus parts can be interchanged. I just got a 2002 Lexus es300, and ive been told that its as cheap to fix as a toyota camry 2002. is it true in your experience?
     
  17. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Get the part marked Toyota instead of Lexus! The instances where this can't work might be with stuff like rear differentials. Lexus makes RWD sedans whereas Toyota doesn't.
     
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Didn't have time to try out the 6.4 / 392 Hemi, but test drove two cars with the 5.7: an R/T and a Daytona. The R/T was pretty basic. Motor was good, but handling and brakes left something to be desired. Too boaty, too much body roll, poor turn-in / excess understeer, numb steering, and mushy ineffective brakes. Basically everything I would expect (and not in a good way) a standard American muscle car to feel like. I let the salesguy know all this, so we stepped up the Daytona which comes with the Super Track Pack as standard for 2018.

    The Daytona has better seats, better brakes, and (with everything set to sport mode) tighter steering, less body roll, tighter suspension. Final drive ratio seemed different on the Daytona with less tall rear diff. I didn't check the tach to be sure, but the Daytona did seem more willing to rev. I told the sales guy that I'd leave the car on sport mode all the time.

    From this, I think I'd have to move on to the Scat Pack with the 392 6.4 Hemi to be totally happy. Daytona (Super Track Pack) was getting closer, but only 90% there.

    I know that the 2018 Scat Pack has the better Bilstein performance shocks (with no option between normal and sport mode, which is totally fine by me). The 375hp of the 5.7 was nice, but honestly I'd like a bit more power, like 100hp more, for a car that weighs this much. I passed a few cars on the highway doing the 50-80 thing. Don't get me wrong, it has power; but it wasn't scary like my old Evo (maybe a little less power, but also 1000 lbs lighter than the Charger). Quick passing just took a little bit more time than I would have liked. Also, the Daytona's brakes didn't quite grab as much as I would have liked. I'm sure the Scat Pack's Brembos would do better.

    P.S. The interior is very spartan - shockingly plain - but simple and functional. No stick shift anymore, but the auto is fantastic. Love the exhaust note, especially from the Daytona. Nice low growl - better than that of the current Camaro SS. Seems like some sort of computer controlled thing to make the sound louder as the pedal is pushed down past a certain point.
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2018
  19. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    Everything you said is pretty much on point. And yeah, the brembos are MUCH better brakes, and actually do their job on a heavy car. 5.7 and 6.4 might seem close for displacement, but the bigger he is definitely the one to get. 485 horses. Very torqu-ey. The exhaust has some kind of valves, I believe to get that particular note. And it should be more aggressive on the 392 engine.
    I forgot to mention before, I had the Challenger, not the Charger. The latter would make a bitchin' family car
     
  20. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    Leftfield: if you want to stay FCA, what about Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8?
     

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