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Goodbye 6.1 - Hello 6.4 !!!

11K views 42 replies 30 participants last post by  indybill 
#1 ·
I have made the official transfer from the 6.1 section of the forum to the 6.4. I took the advise of several on this forum and called Mr. Lee Brown at Baxter Dodge. Lets say for now it was a great experience and a smooth transaction considering Baxter is in Nebraska, and I am in NY. A few exchanges of photos, an overnight contract, and the deal was done (more to follow on that in the vendor section later).

New '12 BSP 6.4 A5 arrived Wed., and my '10 Torred 6.1 M6 left today on a transport truck to NE.

I am no racer or mechanic by any means, just an enthusiast. Here are a few comparisons in the first 100 miles of operation:

- new steering wheel is light years better than the '10. Solid, in control of the car, and the stainless trim looks great. I won't need the heat option, but nice anyway.

- sport mode is quite noticeable. Tightens up the car immediately - yes you do feel all the road flaws but it's worth it. Since its a late production '12 it also has the track option. Have not tried it yet. Owners manual says it's supposed to hold the gear to redline? Unknown if related to suspension upgrades or not but the car sits 1" higher than my '10. Could also be that its 2.5 years newer.

- exhaust is quiet, but tolerable for now. It's been upgraded from the 6.1 suitcase style. This actually has 2 bottle mufflers, then into the sound robbing resonators. It will be upgraded in time. Another improvement over the old style.

- 6.4, with only 107 on the odometer, 18 at time of sale, it's too early to be very detailed but I can tell you already it pulls like he**! I use the paddle shifters frequently - very nice option for something new. It's far from a foreign exotic, but I like it anyway.

- had to drop the manual this time. Wife and kids want to drive it, left knee surgery 2 yrs ago, and shifting became a chore. I admit manuals are cooler, bad a**, meaner, but now I drive an auto and can do a wheel-hop free burnout for 100 yds if I choose!!

A few pics:
 

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#5 · (Edited)
Congrats on the trade. Awesome BSP Challenger. I can't decide if BSP is my first or second favorite color, competing against Redline. Header Orange is my third favorite, after the other two. What options does yours have?
Though I haven't had time to make a post, I did the exact same thing as you; traded out of a 6.1, 6-speed (TorRed even) car into a 6.4 auto car.

I have to say, I really like the 2012. The improvements are truly apparent all around. The ride, handling and power are the most prominent, of course. But, in my case I really miss the 6-speed. The sole reason I have the auto is because of the deal I got. I almost bought a '12 from Baxter, as they are really great folks to deal with, but I think I just caught them at a busy time, or something, as communication became difficult. Regardless, a local dealer made me an offer $1000 less then the best offer I received from any dealer, so I jumped on it. If it wasn't for the paddles, I don't think I would have accepted an auto for any price, but I figured "the paddles should be fun, so why not?". I will say, though, like you I don't miss the wheel hop. Or, the gear whine, for that matter, either. lol I still have my GTO if I want to row gears for now, too. My Challenger is a true and complete daily driver, as have been all my past SRT8s. So, maybe I'll learn to love the auto, who knows.

Let me ask you, since you're an apples-to-apples comparison, what do you think of the seats, and how they feel? I find the '12 seats much firmer, and not as "deep" if you will as my '09 seats. I kind feel like I'm sitting on top of the seat, rather than in it. Also, the upper portion of the seat feels like there's a bulge, or balloon at the top (not the lower, adjustable lumbar support), almost between the lower portion of the shoulder blades. I assume it has something to do with the side air bags, as my '09 (and your '10 for that matter) didn't have side bags. Do you feel a difference in the seats?

Here's a pic of my two together like yours, before my '09 was given in...

Also, have to agree with you on the height difference as well. In fact, when I was taking the pics, (including the one I posted) a guy came over and was asking about the cars. He asked if the Red one was lowered, compared to the Orange one. It wasn't. The suspension was completely stock. My '09 had 32k miles on it, though. I'm wondering if it had settled as well..
 

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#10 ·
Congrats on the trade. Awesome BSP Challenger. I can't decide if BSP is my first or second favorite color, competing against Redline. Header Orange is my third favorite, after the other two. What options does yours have?
Though I haven't had time to make a post, I did the exact same thing as you; traded out of a 6.1, 6-speed (TorRed even) car into a 6.4 auto car.

Let me ask you, since you're an apples-to-apples comparison, what do you think of the seats, and how they feel? I find the '12 seats much firmer, and not as "deep" if you will as my '09 seats. I kind feel like I'm sitting on top of the seat, rather than in it. Also, the upper portion of the seat feels like there's a bulge, or balloon at the top (not the lower, adjustable lumbar support), almost between the lower portion of the shoulder blades. I assume it has something to do with the side air bags, as my '09 (and your '10 for that matter) didn't have side bags. Do you feel a difference in the seats?

Here's a pic of my two together like yours, before my '09 was given in...

Also, have to agree with you on the height difference as well. In fact, when I was taking the pics, (including the one I posted) a guy came over and was asking about the cars. He asked if the Red one was lowered, compared to the Orange one. It wasn't. The suspension was completely stock. My '09 had 32k miles on it, though. I'm wondering if it had settled as well..

I went with simple options, the $1,100 auto/paddleshift upcharge, sunroof, F1 tires, and black pocket wheels. I have already received a lot of compliments on the wheels. I had talked to the dealership several times so I knew this one was on the way.

While a nice option, I have no need for nav. It won't be leaving the city of Rochester unless its on a trailer. And I know where the cheap gas is. The kicker system on the old car was overkill, in the bass range anyway. 18 speakers? I want to here the motor/exhaust. I would have taken those options on a leftover model where the dealer can eat the cost, but I did not want to pay $3,000 up front for them. (It was on the lot for 1 day before I bought it.)

Good observation on the seats. I had not paid that much attention to them, but I will soon. It seems like the fabic is a little different. It has some odd "sparkles" in it. You really see it with flash pics.

I will miss the manual, but getting use to the auto very quickly!
 
#7 ·
Congrats on the beautiful BSP & welcome to the 392 world, brother.
 
#15 ·
I upgraded this month from an 09 RT to the 12 SRT. I was holding out for enough improvement and the 12 finally offered it. For me the icing was the radar red interior. I love the engine over the 5.7 and while I enjoyed the nivomat suspension of the 09 I love the new active suspension. I did not care much for the new steering wheel size blocking the dash view but it is so comfortable it has grown on me. The super Harmon kardon is amazing.

I did notice couple places they went cheap, emergency brake pedal no longer comes with bright pedal requiring $12 replacement, the passenger seat no longer has lumbar adjust, windows no longer have express down on the fob, the new iPod control cable doesn't seem to carry the sound quality the old one did.

Couple upgrades I was holding out for but caved in on when I saw the red interior were cooling in the seats and memory driver seat.
 
#17 ·
Congrats !:icon_cheers:
 
#18 · (Edited)
Dodge royally screwed up when they decided to offer all sorts of racing stripe options.

The ORIGINAL stripes from the 2008 SRT should be the ONLY racing stripes on this car.

The fender to hood R/T stripes look silly and the 392 bumper to bumper stripes just look "homemade" and cheap.

This car is NOT a Shelby Mustang so quit trying to look like one. :mah:
 
#19 ·
Dodge royally screwed up when they decided to offer all sorts of racing stripe options.

The ORIGINAL stripes from the 2008 SRT should be the ONLY racing stripes on this car.

This car is NOT a Shelby Mustang so quit trying to look like one. :mah:
Personally I hated the stripes on the SRT until 2011 as they were incomplete. Dodge didnt screw anything up they fixed the stripes. No, it is not a Mustang and it has never tried to be. It holds its own in every way.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Personally, I'm amazed at just how much the BSP SRT's look like the IE SRT's...throw in Katskin covers, and you'd probably fool me!

An aquaintance of mine owns a 2010 6 Speed DY SRT....sweet car!! He gave me my first ride in a 6.1 a month or so ago. I gotta say, I was impressed...not quite as much down low as mine, but a lotta grunt from mid range on!

But it's not like I own a 6.1 or anything...just wondering...you guys that's traded to a 6.4...big difference?? Do you still feel it was well worth it? - I'm talking a strictly from a performance point of view...
 
#28 ·
But it's not like I own a 6.1 or anything...just wondering...you guys that's traded to a 6.4...big difference?? Do you still feel it was well worth it? - I'm talking a strictly from a performance point of view...

...Several thousand dollars worth for performance alone? Barely.

But for me it was the whole package: new color, new stripes, new wheels, upgraded suspension (sport option), and better motor. I really wanted the low end torque and I got it. Even with traction control engaged it will break the tires loose on a roll. I didn't get that with the '10; although trans obviously has something to do with that.

Due to break-in period, and the fact it's been in winter storage, I didn't get much time to really feel the difference. Five more months until spring!
 
#30 ·
The top end pull of the 6.1 is very similar, low end is less. Tough to quantify, but the 6.1 is not a weakling by any stretch.
 
#31 ·
The top end pull of the 6.1 is very similar
i don't think so.

the 6.4 screams all the way to redline, even in 4th gear.

from 100-150, the 6.4 gets there so much faster it's not even fair.

low end is brutal as well - 6.4 makes massive torque under 3500rpms, whereas the 6.1 doesn't make as much.

...and you feel this moreso during daily driving...
 
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