Dodge Challenger Forum banner

6.1 Remorse?

49K views 137 replies 53 participants last post by  Ashoka 
#1 ·
Boy talk about taking a beating. Thought about trading my lo miles SRT for a Scat Shaker. You would have thought I was driving a pinto the way the dealer trashed it. I remember when it was the cats meow. Not so much now. These 6.1 cars don't get any respect I guess. Are the new ones twice the car?
 
#3 ·
Boy talk about taking a beating. Thought about trading my lo miles srt for a scat shaker. You would have thought I was driving a pinto the way the dealer trashed it. I remember when it was the cats meow. Not so much now. These 6.1 cars don't get any respect I guess. Are the new ones twice the car?
The dealer's just being a dealer, trying to maximize is profit, convince you you need to 'upgrade,' and get away with lowering your trade-in if you go that route. The 6.1 is a fine engine, and actually has some hardware advantages over the Eagle 5.7 and Apache 6.4, IMO- aluminum intake, dedicated piston oil squirters for example. Its not as potent right off the showroom floor as an Apache, but you can really wake it up with the right parts.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ghostrt
#8 ·
Mine only has a Mopar CAI and Flowmaster catback. So maybe 430 HP? I've owned cars much faster, but I like the 6.1 You can get decent traction in any gear. It's fast, but by means not stupid fast. I just don't want a stupid fast car anymore. A 13 second car street is enough fun for me.
 
#9 ·
My 09 SRT didn't last a week at the dealership before someone snapped it up. I was torn between trading it and installing a supercharger myself but at this point in life I won't want to work on anything but classics. Anyone looking to add their own FI will jump on a 6.1.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ghostrt
#10 ·
There are three reasons someone trades in car:
1. Hassle (car has a lien / payoff) << I assume no since its 6 years old
2. Car is unpopular and hard to sell privately << uh..no.
3. Tax savings. << NH has no sales tax (is that right?)

Sorry, but you have no excuses for trading in your SRT. Please sell it privately.
 
#11 ·
I am selling my R/T presently as my family has grown out of it. Year down the road when I can have a "weekend fun car" I will be shopping for a 6.1 powered SRT. None of that VVT stuff. Just a good, solid, and moddable motor. JMHO
 
#12 ·
Last March, I got $27K for my '10 SRT8 in trade for a new Scat Pack. Seemed fair enough to me at the time. It had 7900 miles on it and one very small parking lot type dent on the right front fender from where a can of window cleaner fell off a shelf and bounced off the car cover. They put it on their used lot and priced it at $33.6K. It sat there for a while before it somehow wound up on the used lot of a Lincoln dealer in NY where it was also priced over $33K. Last time I tried to look into it (I searched on the VIN), it was listed as no longer available. So, someone out there has my old Torred SRT8 with only 8,000 miles. The 6.1 is way more than enough power, but I liked the Scat Pack package and my wife loved the Sublime, so we traded it off.
 
#15 ·
6.1 remorse (2010). 22k miles

I luv the car. Had it since new and it is pristine. Generally drive it very little but luv to do the local shows. I have done every possible appearance mod but i am uncomfortable with the supercharge route. I guess I have run out of ideas so the prospect of starting new sounded good. I will probably keep it cuz I am not giving it away. The money they are offering is not much more than what I have spent on mods alone. Glad to hear the 6.1 still has some fans
 
#16 · (Edited)
I luv the car. Had it since new and it is pristine. Generally drive it very little but luv to do the local shows. I have done every possible appearance mod but i am uncomfortable with the supercharge route. I guess I have run out of ideas so the prospect of starting new sounded good. I will probably keep it cuz I am not giving it away. The money they are offering is not much more than what I have spent on mods alone. Glad to hear the 6.1 still has some fans
The mods are the killer. You normally get nothing additional for mods on a trade and depending on the mod it may hurt the trade in. Same with most buyers unless you happen to hit a buyer that likes the mods.

I only had some minor easily reversible mods on my 09 and I pulled most of them off for separate resale. Still you can only expect to get around 50% back.

In your case, I would probably go with a supercharger on the 6.1. In my case I went with getting a Hellcat because I had very little additional $ in the 09 and don't want to work on anything but classics these days.

I was really torn on trading the 09, I liked everything about it. However when the Hellcat showed up after 397 days on order and I heard it fire up the first time, it was a done deal.:surprise:
 
#17 ·
The 6.1L SRT takes a beating because the 2015 R/T 5.7L / A8 combo is just as potent performance wise as the 6.1L SRT. Both are capable of low 13 second times and the 5.7L is only about 20 rwhp shy of the 6.1L while having a superior torque curve and transmission.

The 6.1L SRT's also don't have the adaptive suspension and I would suspect that the STP in a 2015 R/T is just as good or a better suspension setup.

The Scat Pack really dug the knife into the 6.1L SRT's. No one should pay upper 20's to lower 30's for a low 13 second car, when you can get a potential 11 second car for $40, along with the revised interior, better transmissions (both A8 and M6) and enhanced fuel mileage.

I'm not knocking the 6.1L, as it does have a few advantages related strictly to the engine; however the pre-2011 SRT cars got screwed when the 2011 SRT came out and screwed again with the Scat Pack.
 
#23 · (Edited)
The 6.1L SRT takes a beating because the 2015 R/T 5.7L / A8 combo is just as potent performance wise as the 6.1L SRT. Both are capable of low 13 second times and the 5.7L is only about 20 rwhp shy of the 6.1L while having a superior torque curve and transmission.



The 6.1L SRT's also don't have the adaptive suspension and I would suspect that the STP in a 2015 R/T is just as good or a better suspension setup.



The Scat Pack really dug the knife into the 6.1L SRT's. No one should pay upper 20's to lower 30's for a low 13 second car, when you can get a potential 11 second car for $40, along with the revised interior, better transmissions (both A8 and M6) and enhanced fuel mileage.



I'm not knocking the 6.1L, as it does have a few advantages related strictly to the engine; however the pre-2011 SRT cars got screwed when the 2011 SRT came out and screwed again with the Scat Pack.

There is more than 20 RWHP between them. The 6.1 has better brakes. It has more and better mod options than a 5.7 or 6.4. It is faster than a 15 RT. Once modded, way faster.
It's cooler. I like more displacement. 6.1 is better than 5.7. These cars make good 426 strokers.

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
 
#18 ·
I was originally a huge 6.4 fan, but I ended up with an srt8 with the 6.1. After owning the car for quite some time, I can see why people love it. The 6.1 is an unsung hero!! If your looking for big power, the 6.1 is arguably the best platform next to the hellcat. For example without MDS or VVT, you can run huge cams without much issue. With most big cams on the 6.4 you have to delete either MDS or VVT or both. You can make the 6.1 into a reliable 426 and just absolutely melt tires with the sheer amount of torque. The lower compression ratio of the 6.1 makes it more boost and nitrous friendly than the 6.4. And people have gotten into the mid 12s BONE STOCK with the 6.1, I have yet to see a 5.7 do that. The 6.1 can also give you that old school muscle car rumble that you can't get with a VVT engine. There are many other advantages to the 6.1 that I can go on about.

I'm not knocking any of the other engines. The 5.7, 6.4, and 6.2 are all amazing! Sometimes, however, people forget how awesome the 6.1 is, too.
 
#19 ·
, however, people forget how awesome the 6.1 is, too.
True. I don't envy cars with the 6.4 due to 6.1 already being a fun street car. Traction is manageable in almost all gears. The interior is great for how the car looks. I don't want the interior to look too new and modern inside. I am sure the new interior is great, but the 6.1 SRT8's interior suits me just fine.
 
#20 ·
I love my 6.1 i have long tube headers, ud pulley, cattles mids ,slp loud mouth cat back and a 150 shoot of nitrous with a stand alone fuel system . I have ran at least 50 bottles though the car and it's very reliable. The only reason u can see people trade there car in is to keep up with the ewe age . I'm not going to lie in love the new interior
 
#21 ·
I have had my 2008 SRT since it was new. With mopar CAI and MBRP cat back and some dyno work I gained 53 HP to the rear wheels using a tuner. I loved everything about the car over the last 7 years. A couple of weeks ago I had a chance to pick up a Hellcat 6 speed at MSRP so I got it. I had not driven the 2008 for a couple of weeks and drove it down to trade on another car. Still loved the car but I have to admit it did feel a little slow after driving the Hellcat. The 2008 still would probably be a better long range driver though IMO. I got 23K hard money for it on a car with 33,000 miles.
 
#22 ·
I love my car, but if I had to do it over again I would have purchased a 6.1 cash and enjoyed it for a while. In the mean time I would have been saving for a monster transplant.

As other's have said, unless you're just looking for the updated model (which I completely understand) you have a great platform to build off of. Also you have history with it. Just my 2 pennies.
 
#24 ·
I've got a 6.1 bone stock in my collection and it's still a bad boy. The dearships will take you for a ride, drop you off with a hurting bunghole then sell your 6.1L for top dollar because they're still wanted out there. I have two people still asking me every time they see me about my 6.1.. "when are you going to sell it?" That's the question always asked.
 
  • Like
Reactions: c26bt34c
#27 ·
I bought my 2009 6.1, 6-speed brand new with the intention of keeping it for the long term and unmodified. At that time, it was unsure if Chrysler was going to be in business. I also never thought that we would be able to buy a 707 HP car from the showroom floor. I lived through the 80's and 90's car years, and it was bad. So buying the 2009 seemed like a good move to me.


So during the next six years, my car becomes rather mundane year by year. The big hit for me was the 6.4 engine introduction in 2011. That had me thinking about an upgrade. By that also ran against something inside of me where I'd spend perhaps 10 grand to upgrade for it. I resisted and kept my car. Then, year after year, each prior year's car was made obsolete again by some technical improvement or electronic addition that wasn't available the prior year. And on and on until we hit the current 707 HP threshold.


If money were no object to me, I might have made the move in 2011 to the 6.4. But money does matter to me. How I use it now will matter to me in the future. And when the latest thing again becomes old news, I'd be right back looking at fixing the problem with more debt.


The 2014 people really got it stuck to them, especially those with the 5 speed automatics. The 2015 car is a radical change. That 8 speed automatic is now the new standard. And how do you explain to your friends about the interior in your 2014 that was virtually the same when the 2008 cars were on the showroom floor.


The average guy isn't going to win this game.


I have decided............ To keep my paid off 2009. I don't race it, and it doesn't really matter if a 6.4 Auto is a second faster when I could care less about that. And no stock 6.4 is going to beat a Hellcat.


What I liked about the Challenger is what still matters to me. It's the design, the ride, the size, and having a car very much like existed when I was a kid just dreaming about the day when I could buy one new. Except it took decades for that to happen.


I like this topic. I think it's a good one for us to discuss, and I'd like to know what other 6.1 owners think. There have been so many variations of Challengers sold that I think the 6.1 will eventually have it's own set of followers. And 6.1's will be fewer than any other SRT-8 produced. I bet the attrition rate on them is very high right now.


One thing is certain, this game is not over. I bet that there will be a more powerful Hellcat coming, and you'll have a lot more long faces around once that happens. Just one man's opinion......
 
#33 ·
If money were no object to me, I might have made the move in 2011 to the 6.4. But money does matter to me. How I use it now will matter to me in the future. And when the latest thing again becomes old news, I'd be right back looking at fixing the problem with more debt. The average guy isn't going to win this game. I have decided............ To keep my paid off 2009. I don't race it, and it doesn't really matter if a 6.4 Auto is a second faster when I could care less about that. And no stock 6.4 is going to beat a Hellcat. What I liked about the Challenger is what still matters to me. It's the design, the ride, the size, and having a car very much like existed when I was a kid just dreaming about the day when I could buy one new. Except it took decades for that to happen.

I'm with you. I still love my 2009 SRT and it is plenty fast (actually too fast) for the street. There will always be something faster and better, but I will never sell it.

I like the fact that the 6.1-equipped are fairly rare. From 2008 to 2010, there were only 27,100 SRTs built (2008- 7,209, 2009- 9,834 and 2010- 10, 156).
 
#28 ·
Mine stays with me til I'm dead.

Drove a 15 Scat. Interior is very nice, but not for me. Lost the retro look that I like. May still get one, who knows but I promised my son I would give him cash for his 2013 Mustang in two years so he could go buy something brand new...he's only had used cars so far.
So I don't want to get locked in to car payments right now.

Back to topic...I've had mine a year and it had 12k miles I think when I got it. Everything in my sig is what I've done since April when I took it out of storage. Lots of fun.

Can't beat the looks and I suppose the 6.1 is "weak" by today's standards...but ask me if I give a **** ;)
 
#29 ·
Bought my 08 over 3 years ago....it is great...with my mods, I don't need more horsepower, cannot get traction with whatever it makes....still l understand the desire for new car smell.
 
#31 ·
I was looking at some used '09-10s (don't want an auto) on cars.com and was pretty impressed with how well the interiors held up on the high mileage examples. They're nice cars no doubt. I would miss the Bluetooth and rear camera but that can be added with aftermarket components.
 
#32 ·
My 2010 SRT8 has bt. Works great with my Edge.

Also wanted to mention the 6.1 intake is like a work of art.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mikes09SRT8
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top