Axel

I have an issue here. I'm going to be picking up my car tomorrow. Ok, so what's the issue right? Well, I'm going to be picking it up about 600 miles away. Here's my concern, obviously I'm going to have to drive that on the highway. The manual says that you aren't suppose to keep a constant speed or go over a certain mph until you reach a certain mileage. Obviously this is going to be really hard to follow. What damage am I going to end up causing by having to do this, or what could happen in the long term?

Also, looking to go to the 18" wheels. What issues is that going to cause if anyone knows? Is it going to throw of the speedometer or cause some other issues since the gearing is different?

Ridge Runner

[&:] None,you,ll be fine,just vary your crusing sppeds and rpm,s every so many miles,cruise at 60 mph for a while,than 70,than 80,than 90, you get the point.Just don,t stay in the same gear at the same rpm,alter your crusing as you go.Also,about every 100 miles or so,I would stop and let it cool down,and check the fluids.With a long drive like that,I would not go straight thru,let the motor go thru some cool down cycles.The manuals have a large degree of overkill in them,but I would NOT EVER get heavy into it on it,s maiden voyage. The wheel change will affect your vehicles calibration,but you may be able to remap it with the hand held after market programmers. But,maybe they won,t work on your rotors,maybe the 18,s won,t fit a car with 20,s because of the abs,and brake rotor size.[] Where are you getting it,are you going to Indiana where that one fellow posted that the prices were good?

MoparGuy

Look at it this way Axel. By the time you get it home, the break in period will be over and you can have at it. How cool is that? I brought mine home and it is sitting in the garage with 75 miles on it. What are you supposed to do with that?

BkChallenger09R/T

I see you are getting a 6 speed. Running the engine up though the gears and down will help break in the engine. Depends on what speed you plan to drive. But 70 mph I think is less than 2000 rpm in 6th gear. A long way's from the 5800 rpm red line. Running at one speed cruising . You get a ring grove in the cylinder at the highest part the ring will reach. A shift to 5th every now and then will help stretch out the rod's and ring groove will be higher up in the cylinder wall. You aren't going to get much in 600 miles anyway. If the car has any miles on it at all when you get it . Say 75 or 100. I don't think it will hurt if much . But a cool down and checking oil and stuff wouldn't hurt . Good idea to get a quart of oil at the dealer to take with you and rag or funnel to put some in . Mine didn't use enough to worry about before the first change at 2400 miles. But think I did add a pint at about a 1000. None since and I changed the 2nd time at 3000 miles and 5400 total on the car. I went with Castrol GTX 5w20 reg oil . And have the dealer use my oil. I would use prem gas. I do put a little plus sometime . But not often and no more than 1/4 tank when I do. Best of luck .

Mullit

thats the issue I am having with the A/T, I dont know what gear its in, it is sooo smoothe, I have 623 on it so I open it up a little more but the mpg sucks

BkChallenger09R/T

I ran into that problem with the new 1971 Challenger R/T 340 automatic . My drive to work was about 58 miles one way . And 42 of it on interstate at 70 mph one way . The engine ran at that one RPM so much it got sluggish . I guess ring grove also. I had to start hammering it every chance I got to get it have a better response and pep. I don't remember what my gas mileage was back then . But I could drive to work and back each day plus other driving for about $2.50 a day. Think prem. was $.23 . But I didn't make much money back then . But had a good job at GE and made better than alot of people.

Axel

Thanks everyone. I didn't have a chance to get on last night so I didn't respond. I'm getting ready to head out there today, Kansas City, and actually taking a big risk. I did financing through my own credit , which still qualifies for the $1,000 rebate as they call it, but the dealer seems to want a check. They close the dealers down there at 6 which is shocking to me since they close them here at 9. I never had a chance to contact the person to find out if they have a way around this. They know I'm approved, but they insist on the check for some reason. I have never heard of that, but then again, I have never done this before so it's a big risk. Good price on the vehicle though. It's the same one I changed my avitar to.

If anyone wants to look at it, it's on Bob Hoss Dodge website, the only one they have. I have it locked, but a down payment on it, so I'm not worried about anyone else getting it. I also feel bad because it's in the showroom right now. How can I take it through Kansas after that?

The gas thing, I only am going to need to worry about that while traveling through Kansas. Thankfully when you get up to Colorado elevation the octane rating changes a bit. That makes it a bit easier on the pocket book.

Again, thanks everyone. I'll let everyone know how things go when I get back.

whylee

If you are buying a R/T the 18's will fit. The gearing is going to depend on the diameter of the tires you buy. If your new 18" tires have the same outside diameter as the 20's you will notice no difference. Its not so much the diameter of the wheel, its the tires diameter that will make the difference.

Ridge Runner

Your right whylee,but the key word is IF. They change the ratio to a 3.92 because they have a bigger overall rollout.

mot250

There is no IF. According to Tire Rack tire specs, the tires on the 20s are 28.7 inches tall (diameter) and come in at 729 revolutions per mile. The tires on the 18s are 28.4 inches tall and come in at 731 revlutions per mile. Not enough to cause a speedo calibration issue. You could nearly get that spread of actual tire height and revolutions per mile difference on the same tires just with poor tire pressure managment or differences between new and worn tires.

The difference in gears is purely for performance (real or presumed), not to compensate for tire diameter.

You could feasably order the Challenger with 20's and the taller gears (numerically lower) from the dealer and there would be no difference in speedo calibration. As another example, the automatics do not get different gears with the 20's vs. the 18's.