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First weekend of driving

2272 Views 35 Replies 19 Participants Last post by  Too Fast, 
R
Picked my car up from the PPF/Ceramic shop on Saturday morning and promptly put 300km on it visiting a small town and getting it covered in bugs.
Lovely day - 24 degrees celsius out there with clear skies and surprisingly little traffic so took full advantage of it.
Some new unfiltered observations with the car:

The looks:
Yep, that box is checked - couple pictures taken by the PPF shop and one at the final destination where I happened to park next to a less-handsome car.




The good:
  • Road manners: On the highway it is a great cruiser. It is pretty quiet (mostly road noise getting through), doesn't require constant intervention due to the numb steering and effortlessly does the speed limit and passes.
  • Power: I broke the break-in procedure at 500km and got rubber in 4th. As a driver it seems boring to be honest but apparently as a passenger it's pretty exciting.
  • Highway fuel economy: 9.1L/100km cruising at 105-125km/h is extremely solid


The less good:
  • Shifting: As many have said, a Barton shifter would be good. The stock lever is fine for every day gentle driving but under power I do not think it is precise enough. Furthermore I have seen a couple issues:
    • Downshifting into 2: Under normal driving, no heroics or anything, I will get a real clunk getting into 2 coming down the gears. Really having to force the lever into 2 and when it does it really does not sound happy at all. This is under full granny mode.
    • Upshifting under wide open throttle/downshifting 6-5: When I broke the rules, again without trying to be heroic, under wide open throttle acceleration my throttle seems to stick open. Foot off the gas, clutch pedal fully in - my revs continue to climb between shifts. Very disconcerting. Similarly, downshifting 6-5, again, foot completely off the gas, clutch pedal fully in, the revs will climb (this is doing like 100km/h).
    • Clutch delay valve: Yes, it needs to be taken out. Very hard to shift smoothly and actually requires some aggression in shifting to make it smooth - the other cars that I have driven can be shifted very smoothly if you just move slowly but this car needs to be rushed a bit between the lever and the pedals
    • Skipshift: it got me and it's stupid. I had forgot to engage my custom mode/sport mode when it happened.
  • Stereo: The HK stereo is quite underwhelming when you are moving. You really do not notice the subwoofers at all and you end up with a lot of high-end (yes I have played with the balance)
  • HVAC: Seems kinda weak - the cooled seats are a bit anemic but the car is DARK so it gets really hot when parked.
  • Seat comfort: This one is a bit funny -the lack of bolstering is great for just cruising but when you turn a corner they are not sufficient. HOWEVER they give up about the same time that the car starts to feel too heavy and like it is about to give up (picture a cloverleaf doing 80km/h on a suggested 40km/h). The headrest is also useless - way too far back and vertical, needs to be canted forward more like in other Dodge products.
  • Exhaust note: Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. I don't quite understand what the RPM/throttle windows are where it sounds bad but sometimes I just notice that it isn't very good sounding (from the inside - maybe it sounds ok from the outside).
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Too Fast
Love your car. Glad you are enjoying it too! My wife's Shaker has the annoying "rev-hang" too. Sometimes just for a fun quick rev it stays at 2500 or so for what seems like an eternity, especially when moving. I think it's an emissions thing. We really like the exhaust in her car, so deep sounding. I think it's about perfect, and I usually like it "the louder the better" lol.

Glad you got an M6. Nothing like shifting gears when you want to, and engaging with the car. The A8s are superb too, but we are glad for the M6 option.
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2Marks
Very cool T/A, enjoy more drives, more smiles !!!!!
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Challenger T/A 70
Looking good!
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Xylander
RatFink said:
  • Stereo: The HK stereo is quite underwhelming when you are moving. You really do not notice the subwoofers at all and you end up with a lot of high-end (yes I have played with the balance)
  • HVAC: Seems kinda weak - the cooled seats are a bit anemic but the car is DARK so it gets really hot when parked.
  • Seat comfort: This one is a bit funny -the lack of bolstering is great for just cruising but when you turn a corner they are not sufficient. HOWEVER they give up about the same time that the car starts to feel too heavy and like it is about to give up (picture a cloverleaf doing 80km/h on a suggested 40km/h). The headrest is also useless - way too far back and vertical, needs to be canted forward more like in other Dodge products.
  • Exhaust note: Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. I don't quite understand what the RPM/throttle windows are where it sounds bad but sometimes I just notice that it isn't very good sounding (from the inside - maybe it sounds ok from the outside).
Click to expand...
  • Stereo: The bass that thing puts out can shake the whole car. If it isn't doing that, it either has an issue, or more likely, your input is low fi. XM and AM/FM radio outputs in stereo only. to really get the stereo to sound right, you need hi-def quality (MP3 player, iTunes, Apple Radio, Pandora, or similar). Bonus points if your audio file has multi-spectrum support. You can test your system by pairing your phone, and using Apple Music or some other provider, search band "Tycho" and song, "Glider." That is a multi-spectrum hi def song that will play individual instruments out of the 18 different speakers individually. If your stereo still sounds like crap while playing this, then it has a problem.
  • HVAC: Your seats are not connected to the HVAC system. They are "ventilated" seats. Meaning there's just a couple fans in there that cycles air through the seat. For the best experience, the Laguna leather breathes well. Both the Alcantara and cloth interiors soak up that air (the small air holes get smushed when you sit in the seat, thus blocking airflow). The same holds true for the heated seat option. Laguna transmits heat better, where Alcantara and cloth dull the heating sensation.
  • Seat Comfort: This is going to be subjective to each individual person. Again, the trim line of the car matters. The premium Laguna seats have more bolstering, but they're not C8 GT/GT2 seats or anything close. The Challenger is also not a graceful cornering machine. Fish out of water, so the bolstering thing, to me, is a bit of a meh thing because these things are cruisers... even my Redeye widebody. It's not intended to be slung around corners. Bolstered seats get uncomfortable over time. I put 12k miles on my C8 in a year, and I think my back is still having issues.
  • Exhaust note: In normal mode, they are pressure operated. The exhaust valves open at around 50% or higher throttle input. If your car has a track mode, the exhaust valves default to always open in track mode. Otherwise, in the drive mode settings, if you had an automatic trans, selecting the transmission setting to "track" also opens the exhaust valves. M6 cars don't have the nice things.
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Xylander said:
  • Stereo: The bass that thing puts out can shake the whole car. If it isn't doing that, it either has an issue, or more likely, your input is low fi. XM and AM/FM radio outputs in stereo only. to really get the stereo to sound right, you need hi-def quality (MP3 player, iTunes, Apple Radio, Pandora, or similar). Bonus points if your audio file has multi-spectrum support. You can test your system by pairing your phone, and using Apple Music or some other provider, search band "Tycho" and song, "Glider." That is a multi-spectrum hi def song that will play individual instruments out of the 18 different speakers individually. If your stereo still sounds like crap while playing this, then it has a problem.
  • HVAC: Your seats are not connected to the HVAC system. They are "ventilated" seats. Meaning there's just a couple fans in there that cycles air through the seat. For the best experience, the Laguna leather breathes well. Both the Alcantara and cloth interiors soak up that air (the small air holes get smushed when you sit in the seat, thus blocking airflow). The same holds true for the heated seat option. Laguna transmits heat better, where Alcantara and cloth dull the heating sensation.
  • Seat Comfort: This is going to be subjective to each individual person. Again, the trim line of the car matters. The premium Laguna seats have more bolstering, but they're not C8 GT/GT2 seats or anything close. The Challenger is also not a graceful cornering machine. Fish out of water, so the bolstering thing, to me, is a bit of a meh thing because these things are cruisers... even my Redeye widebody. It's not intended to be slung around corners. Bolstered seats get uncomfortable over time. I put 12k miles on my C8 in a year, and I think my back is still having issues.
  • Exhaust note: In normal mode, they are pressure operated. The exhaust valves open at around 50% or higher throttle input. If your car has a track mode, the exhaust valves default to always open in track mode. Otherwise, in the drive mode settings, if you had an automatic trans, selecting the transmission setting to "track" also opens the exhaust valves. M6 cars don't have the nice things.
Click to expand...
It's interesting - with the car sitting still and off, the stereo is hilariously loud and powerful. I was using Spotify with "high quality" downloaded music, so not even data limited. I will check out that song though, it sounds very interesting!

Love the insight on the seats - the Alcantara would not have been my first choice, I would have rather had the Laguna leather, but what can you do when Dodge cheaps out...
I am used to Kirkey road racing seats in the other fun car in the family so that is a whole other level where the bolsters stick out past my belly button. Still my all-time favourite seats!

You're right - the manual car just kinda does its own thing. Far less customizable.
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Xylander
RatFink said:
It's interesting - with the car sitting still and off, the stereo is hilariously loud and powerful. I was using Spotify with "high quality" downloaded music, so not even data limited. I will check out that song though, it sounds very interesting!

Love the insight on the seats - the Alcantara would not have been my first choice, I would have rather had the Laguna leather, but what can you do when Dodge cheaps out...
I am used to Kirkey road racing seats in the other fun car in the family so that is a whole other level where the bolsters stick out past my belly button. Still my all-time favourite seats!

You're right - the manual car just kinda does its own thing. Far less customizable.
Click to expand...
You might have the speed sensitivity turned on in the sound settings. I leave that turned off. Also ensure that surround is turned on.

Also, my 2018 T/A 392 had the alcantara interior. Those seats were uncomfortable compared to the Laguna I've had in my 2020 HC and now my 2023 Redeye. I'm 6'5". The Laguna has a little bit extra bottom seat room that extends further towards your feet. In my T/A, I'd get cramped after a couple hours on the road. I've never felt any discomfort on long distance with the Laguna. There's also an extra air bladder in there for more support for your lower thighs... that helps tremendously.
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OregonScat
First time hearing about a lack of bass on the HK. Most of the complaints are that it’s too bass heavy for some listeners.

The Laguna Leather has always been an SRT exclusive.
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SKT PK 9 Man
RatFink said:
Picked my car up from the PPF/Ceramic shop on Saturday morning and promptly put 300km on it visiting a small town and getting it covered in bugs.
Lovely day - 24 degrees celsius out there with clear skies and surprisingly little traffic so took full advantage of it.
Some new unfiltered observations with the car:

The looks:
Yep, that box is checked - couple pictures taken by the PPF shop and one at the final destination where I happened to park next to a less-handsome car.




The good:
  • Road manners: On the highway it is a great cruiser. It is pretty quiet (mostly road noise getting through), doesn't require constant intervention due to the numb steering and effortlessly does the speed limit and passes.
  • Power: I broke the break-in procedure at 500km and got rubber in 4th. As a driver it seems boring to be honest but apparently as a passenger it's pretty exciting.
  • Highway fuel economy: 9.1L/100km cruising at 105-125km/h is extremely solid


The less good:
  • Shifting: As many have said, a Barton shifter would be good. The stock lever is fine for every day gentle driving but under power I do not think it is precise enough. Furthermore I have seen a couple issues:
    • Downshifting into 2: Under normal driving, no heroics or anything, I will get a real clunk getting into 2 coming down the gears. Really having to force the lever into 2 and when it does it really does not sound happy at all. This is under full granny mode.
    • Upshifting under wide open throttle/downshifting 6-5: When I broke the rules, again without trying to be heroic, under wide open throttle acceleration my throttle seems to stick open. Foot off the gas, clutch pedal fully in - my revs continue to climb between shifts. Very disconcerting. Similarly, downshifting 6-5, again, foot completely off the gas, clutch pedal fully in, the revs will climb (this is doing like 100km/h).
    • Clutch delay valve: Yes, it needs to be taken out. Very hard to shift smoothly and actually requires some aggression in shifting to make it smooth - the other cars that I have driven can be shifted very smoothly if you just move slowly but this car needs to be rushed a bit between the lever and the pedals
    • Skipshift: it got me and it's stupid. I had forgot to engage my custom mode/sport mode when it happened.
  • Stereo: The HK stereo is quite underwhelming when you are moving. You really do not notice the subwoofers at all and you end up with a lot of high-end (yes I have played with the balance)
  • HVAC: Seems kinda weak - the cooled seats are a bit anemic but the car is DARK so it gets really hot when parked.
  • Seat comfort: This one is a bit funny -the lack of bolstering is great for just cruising but when you turn a corner they are not sufficient. HOWEVER they give up about the same time that the car starts to feel too heavy and like it is about to give up (picture a cloverleaf doing 80km/h on a suggested 40km/h). The headrest is also useless - way too far back and vertical, needs to be canted forward more like in other Dodge products.
  • Exhaust note: Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. I don't quite understand what the RPM/throttle windows are where it sounds bad but sometimes I just notice that it isn't very good sounding (from the inside - maybe it sounds ok from the outside).
Click to expand...
Nice T/A! The matte goes well with the blue. Some of the issues you describe just take more seat time. Others puzzle me because I have the same power train and do not have similar dislikes.
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SKT PK 9 Man said:
Nice T/A! The matte goes well with the blue. Some of the issues you describe just take more seat time. Others puzzle me because I have the same power train and do not have similar dislikes.
Click to expand...
It would be just my luck to have bought a lemon. Wouldn't surprise me given my luck with this car so far.
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L
Sounds subjective for the most part. No car is perfect. You want to fall in love with your Challenger M6? Go drive an M7 Corvette. I had a Barton in a previous Challenger. Nothing against it, but for a street car I think I am okay with the stock shifter.
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lieu910 said:
Sounds subjective for the most part. No car is perfect. You want to fall in love with your Challenger M6? Go drive an M7 Corvette. I had a Barton in a previous Challenger. Nothing against it, but for a street car I think I am okay with the stock shifter.
Click to expand...
I think if I can figure out the weird throttle sticking and 2nd gear clunk to be sure there isn't an inherent issue with the car, that part will be fine.
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Smokeshowchallenger
how much was the ppf/ ceramanic coating and did you do the whole car? I was thinking about getting it done..
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SmokeShowTA
Ceramic tint would help keep the interior abit cooler on warmer summer days.
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RatFink said:
Picked my car up from the PPF/Ceramic shop on Saturday morning and promptly put 300km on it visiting a small town and getting it covered in bugs.
Lovely day - 24 degrees celsius out there with clear skies and surprisingly little traffic so took full advantage of it.
Some new unfiltered observations with the car:

The looks:
Yep, that box is checked - couple pictures taken by the PPF shop and one at the final destination where I happened to park next to a less-handsome car.




The good:
  • Road manners: On the highway it is a great cruiser. It is pretty quiet (mostly road noise getting through), doesn't require constant intervention due to the numb steering and effortlessly does the speed limit and passes.
  • Power: I broke the break-in procedure at 500km and got rubber in 4th. As a driver it seems boring to be honest but apparently as a passenger it's pretty exciting.
  • Highway fuel economy: 9.1L/100km cruising at 105-125km/h is extremely solid


The less good:
  • Shifting: As many have said, a Barton shifter would be good. The stock lever is fine for every day gentle driving but under power I do not think it is precise enough. Furthermore I have seen a couple issues:
    • Downshifting into 2: Under normal driving, no heroics or anything, I will get a real clunk getting into 2 coming down the gears. Really having to force the lever into 2 and when it does it really does not sound happy at all. This is under full granny mode.
    • Upshifting under wide open throttle/downshifting 6-5: When I broke the rules, again without trying to be heroic, under wide open throttle acceleration my throttle seems to stick open. Foot off the gas, clutch pedal fully in - my revs continue to climb between shifts. Very disconcerting. Similarly, downshifting 6-5, again, foot completely off the gas, clutch pedal fully in, the revs will climb (this is doing like 100km/h).
    • Clutch delay valve: Yes, it needs to be taken out. Very hard to shift smoothly and actually requires some aggression in shifting to make it smooth - the other cars that I have driven can be shifted very smoothly if you just move slowly but this car needs to be rushed a bit between the lever and the pedals
    • Skipshift: it got me and it's stupid. I had forgot to engage my custom mode/sport mode when it happened.
  • Stereo: The HK stereo is quite underwhelming when you are moving. You really do not notice the subwoofers at all and you end up with a lot of high-end (yes I have played with the balance)
  • HVAC: Seems kinda weak - the cooled seats are a bit anemic but the car is DARK so it gets really hot when parked.
  • Seat comfort: This one is a bit funny -the lack of bolstering is great for just cruising but when you turn a corner they are not sufficient. HOWEVER they give up about the same time that the car starts to feel too heavy and like it is about to give up (picture a cloverleaf doing 80km/h on a suggested 40km/h). The headrest is also useless - way too far back and vertical, needs to be canted forward more like in other Dodge products.
  • Exhaust note: Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. I don't quite understand what the RPM/throttle windows are where it sounds bad but sometimes I just notice that it isn't very good sounding (from the inside - maybe it sounds ok from the outside).
Click to expand...
Looks good, what is not right with the HK audio. For what it is mine sounds good, takes some time for all new audio to break in and will sound better, tighter; same story on the exhaust becomes louder after approx 3K plus miles. What are you expecting ? Anyway enjoy the ride.
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Smokeshowchallenger said:
how much was the ppf/ ceramanic coating and did you do the whole car? I was thinking about getting it done..
Click to expand...
It was about $4k CAD to do the full car ceramic, nose/hood/fender/mirror PPF, including a mix of clear and matte. I chose to go with a more expensive shop that does the local Ferraris/lambos/Koenigsegg and was not disappointed.
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Michael Lee said:
Looks good, what is not right with the HK audio. For what it is mine sounds good, takes some time for all new audio to break in and will sound better, tighter; same story on the exhaust becomes louder after approx 3K plus miles. What are you expecting ? Anyway enjoy the ride.
Click to expand...
I think the audio will require some high speed balancing to get it to sound best at highway. I don’t really use it around town doing 50km/h - I listen to the engine then.

The engine sounds good over 3 it’s true. More seat time will help me figure out when and where it sounds best and worst. Sometimes it sounds like it has a miss in it, but no check engine light so I guess no miss.
It’s one thing mustangs and Camaros have over challengers is a far better exhaust note - far more rumbly and bassy
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Bucko1
Nice car. Also, nothing wrong with the Camaro (the one you referred to as "less handsome?) to your side. Many of the members here own or have owned one.
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Too Fast
Bucko1 said:
Nice car. Also, nothing wrong with the Camaro (the one you referred to as "less handsome?) to your side. Many of the members here own or have owned one.
Click to expand...
That's what I was thinking. We all should show some love for other CARS, especially sports cars. At least that person wasn't driving an SUV/CUV. I've started complimenting other cars, mostly V8 and RWD, whenever I get the chance. Like at a gas station.
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ShakeNBake_WB
I have a manual 392 and do get annoyed with the delay in rev hang, the throttle by wire is the culprit. Both my other rigs are traditional cable operated throttle, one is a modern motorcycle that is fuel injected, the throttle response is crisp and does not feel delayed, the other is a carb’d 318 van which is as simple as you get. I will say it takes a little time to get used to the rev thing. I drive mine in sport and feel like it’s the best option. I wanted to get a pedal commander to reduce the delay but I just got used to it and you sort of automatically adjust after while. While the pedals aren’t great for rev matching, I find I have no shifting issues when downshifting. I don’t like to overwhelm the synchros plus it just comes natural when doing it on my bike everyday. The only shift I don’t like is going from 5th to 6th. I find myself pushing the shifter away from me to make sure I don’t hit 4th, which I’ve done twice. Sometimes it’s a little clunky but you have to remember that these are very robust and strong transmissions so they’ll handle what you give it

My brother in law made the same comment about the seats. He has Laguna in his HC but he made mention that the ventilated seats seem to feel better when the AC is on.
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