Dodge Redeyes

[DavidKFla]

You feel good about it?

Trailer?

Yep. Trailer is next.

 

[DavidKFla]

Did you already take care of the For Sale thread, I couldn't find it.

No. Looks like someone else did.

 

[DavidKFla]

May whatever you believe in bless you with more taxi's 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

That's what I'm hoping for. 👍👍👍

 

[Boris]

You can find the loonies in every crowd, the entitlement of bmw owners is wild, the snobbery of porsche owners is unmatched unless you jump into the ferrari world.

Shelby owners calling hellcats boats but they can't even control their cars properly.

You got explorer st owners throwing some bolt ons and then thinking they are fast as compared to a stock trackhawk or durango hellcat.

Trx owners and their inferiority complex when it comes to raptors and then raptor owners who have a superiority complex to the trx because raptors hold their value better.

I like all cars that are fast and fun except maybe ev's which are fun in their own right but the novelty faded pretty quickly for me.

Just gotta be yourself and not watch these idiots argue about nothing while wasting their time.

If its fast and fun, works for me.
A modded ST is the poor man's Durango Hellcat. It won't be as fast but it doesn't hit the pocket book as hard either. .

 

[2pac]

If its fast and fun, works for me.
A modded ST is the poor man's Durango Hellcat. It won't be as fast but it doesn't hit the pocket book as hard either. .

Agreed, I think intercooler + downpipes + intake + tune will beat a durango hellcat or a trackhawk but throw a pulley and tune and watch what happens, let alone injectors and fuel pump.

The thing that I like about the explorer is its way more modern than the durango in terms of styling and technology.

 

[EricG]

Agreed, I think intercooler + downpipes + intake + tune will beat a durango hellcat or a trackhawk but throw a pulley and tune and watch what happens, let alone injectors and fuel pump.

The thing that I like about the explorer is its way more modern than the durango in terms of styling and technology.

I have to admit your bias towards Ford styling and technology has always puzzled me a little...I mean modern styling must mean that they change it a lot and just because it's been changed it's better then? IMO constant change doesn't mean it looks better(especially for Chevy but Ford is not far behind), if fact many times to me it is a step backwards, but I may be more traditional than some people my age. I mean I hate it when sports teams always change their jerseys and colors where as some other people love it. As far as tech, our work vehicles are always brand new Ford leases, and I hate the technology interface in them and it prevents me from using the vehicle well. Can never figure out what some of the buttons are for. I know you have an affinity for Expeditions and big Lincolns, they actually compare with a Durango. The Explorer can only be fairly compared to a Jeep as they are both much smaller vehicles. To me the Explorer does not compare well with a Grand Cherokee for fit/finish and styling. Features are a wash, comparable but different interfaces. I'm probably just more used to Jeep stuff. I will be keeping my 10 year old LX570 Lexus for a while I think, but I do wish it had forced induction, especially here at a mile high. I would consider a Hellcat Durango, I think they are one of the best-looking large SUVs on the market. Only thing close is the GL550 but I'm scared to fully commit to owning a big Benz. Had quite a few in the family and they are sadly so expensive to own, and I'm not talking about the payments which are also large.

 

[2pac]

I have to admit your bias towards Ford styling and technology has always puzzled me a little...I mean modern styling must mean that they change it a lot and just because it's been changed it's better then? IMO constant change doesn't mean it looks better(especially for Chevy but Ford is not far behind), if fact many times to me it is a step backwards, but I may be more traditional than some people my age. I mean I hate it when sports teams always change their jerseys and colors where as some other people love it. As far as tech, our work vehicles are always brand new Ford leases, and I hate the technology interface in them and it prevents me from using the vehicle well. Can never figure out what some of the buttons are for. I know you have an affinity for Expeditions and big Lincolns, they actually compare with a Durango. The Explorer can only be fairly compared to a Jeep as they are both much smaller vehicles. To me the Explorer does not compare well with a Grand Cherokee for fit/finish and styling. Features are a wash, comparable but different interfaces. I'm probably just more used to Jeep stuff. I will be keeping my 10 year old LX570 Lexus for a while I think, but I do wish it had forced induction, especially here at a mile high. I would consider a Hellcat Durango, I think they are one of the best-looking large SUVs on the market. Only thing close is the GL550 but I'm scared to fully commit to owning a big Benz. Had quite a few in the family and they are sadly so expensive to own, and I'm not talking about the payments which are also large.

It's not so much affinity as it is having modern features, sure everything ford and other manufacturers do may not all be useful but at the price point a durango hellcat is at well equipped 107k, they are literally knocking on the x5m's door at 115-120k, and close to double an explorer. The durango absolutely competes with the explorer, the expedition/navigator compete with the grand wagoneer. The previous gen jeep grand cherokee is a tweener that's in no mans land but the closest comp is definitely an explorer, the new gen competes with the explorer much better but has no answer for the ST in terms of as a performance vehicle.

I may be a little bias as I think ford is ahead of the pack in terms of trucks, aside from the trx both gm and ram are always chasing ford. Some of the tech there trickles down to their other vehicles unlike ram which hardly ever trickles down tech to dodge.

But undeniably the tech in the durango is behind, things like 360 degree camera's, auto hold, panoramic roof, lane centering, fully digital dash, etc etc are all mandatory for a 100k vehicle in my opinion.

As far as styling goes I'm not a fan of the durango rear period, the front looks great the sides look fine but god is that rear ugly and outdated, imagine spending 100k+ on a durango that can't differentiated from a r/t and looks the same as a 2012 rear, is that a positive or a negative?(for me it's a negative)
Another thing I'm not a fan of is that a lot of durangos get the hellcat hood, wish it was more exclusive.

Toyota/lexus are the best in terms of reliability and I love those vehicles for that reason, unfortunately they are often behind in terms of tech/powertrain because they won't put out a product they know will be 100% bulletproof whereas others rush to get it out first.

Fit/finish I don't have too much info on for the new grand cherokee but the explorer is ok at best, lot of little stuff that bugs me.

Best looking large suv I would probably go with an escalade V but that's a whole different price bracket, I like both the explorer st and durango hellcat pretty evenly in terms of styling, don't like the plastic fenders on the explorer but also not a fan of the basic rear on the durango.

I try to be as objective as I possibly can because I have had the privilege of experiencing different brands and continously I'm not a fanboy of any one car at all, different vehicles have different pros and cons.

 

[Jimmy N.]

Once you leave cali you never look back, parents moved to the east coast in the early 2000s and they go down as saying that it was the best decision of their life.

I can't say that leaving CA was the best decision of my life. Moving to the USA was.
But leaving CA is a close second.

Anyway, I need to check if I have photos of those cars. One was a Darracq. And it was far from a palatial setting. Most were crammed into a small old wooden barn. Heck, even his '50s (?) Rolls Royce woody shooting brake was sitting outside.

Oh, and someone mentioned insurance. It was hard enough to get insurance on buildings in that area, and insuring unregistered vehicles probably wasn't any easier.

 

[Jimmy N.]

But undeniably the tech in the durango is behind, things like 360 degree camera's, auto hold, panoramic roof, lane centering, fully digital dash, etc etc are all mandatory for a 100k vehicle in my opinion.

...imagine spending 100k+ on a durango that can't differentiated from a r/t and looks the same as a 2012 rear, is that a positive or a negative?(for me it's a negative)
Another thing I'm not a fan of is that a lot of durangos get the hellcat hood, wish it was more exclusive..

Meanwhile, I'd gladly pay extra not to have all that fancy tech and a large hole in the roof.

And just like with the Challenger, Trackhawk, and now the Durango, had it been obvious that they have the 6.2 I wouldn't have wanted one. Peel off a couple of badges and they look much like the V6 version. Perfect.

 

[Speedy!]

I appreciate the info @2pac you and I have similar tastes aside from BMW. I like the looks of some of their performance models but everyone I've known to own one has quite a few issues after about the 3 year mark that are expensive to fix. It practically became a BMW club at work for a while and it was a common theme.

The Explorer ST is something I looked at briefly. A friend has one and loves it. They're a sporty looking SUV which is kinda rare surprisingly. There's some Range Rover SUV I really like the looks of (Sport maybe?) but they're known to be pieces of crap. I seriously considered a Durango for a while but honestly they're just so so IMO. I agree on the front / side profile looking pretty good but the back end looks pretty blah. I'm not interested in a $100K Dodge anything so the Hellcat version it out. I was looking at a R/T with Tow and Go which basically gives you all the SRT functions but has the 5.7 instead of the 6.4. For whatever reason going to the 6.4 added like $12K which seemed crazy for what amounts to a 100HP increase in power. I actually rented a Durango on vacation to see how we'd like it. The deal breaker was Mrs. Speedy said I had to sell our 2002 4Runner if I got anything else and that's a no.

I also took a close look at the new Bronco. I liked the 2 door version and I wanted the 3.0TT 400HP but didn't wanna pay $90K for a Raptor to get it. So, I looked at a Badlands with the Sasquatch package (stupid name) and optioned it with a 2.7L TT (330hp but 415tq) 35" tires and 4.70 gears but by the time you added silly stuff like heated front seats and heated steering wheel it's over $60K and like the Jeep I just don't think a utility vehicle like that is worth that kinda money. Plus when I talked to the local dealer they told me there's a minimum $10K ADM and I told them to call me when they're $10K below MSRP and I'd think about it.

So that led me to just deciding to put a few bucks into the old 4Runner. I've been going through it the past few months and have done everything mechanical, all brand new, all new fluids everywhere, lower ball joints, rear axle seals and bearings, valve covers gaskets and all that goes with them, timing belt, water pump, new radiator and hoses, coolant flush blah blah blah. Now I'm working on cleaning up the chassis and suspension, painting it, replacing any bolts that look cruddy, and refurbing the skid plates and tow hitch. After that it'll be a custom leather interior and "maybe" have it painted Inferno Orange Metallic. I've had it 21 years and in about 3 more I can get an antique plate for it which will be hillarious.

 

[Bobo]

Meanwhile, I'd gladly pay extra not to have all that fancy tech and a large hole in the roof.

And just like with the Challenger, Trackhawk, and now the Durango, had it been obvious that they have the 6.2 I wouldn't have wanted one. Peel off a couple of badges and they look much like the V6 version. Perfect.

I too prefer less tech most of the time, not always more!! I turn most of that crap off in my wife's Jeep. I can't stand lane keep, forward collision, etc
Give me power windows a big engine and 3000 watts and I'm good to go!

I must confess I do like the butt chiller seats! Although they don't replace the awesomeness of the steering column ball chiller of the 70's

 

[Speedy!]

My wife's car has all the lane centering, avoidance stuff and I also have to turn it off. Way too distracting for me. She's become reliant on the 360 camera and doesn't understand why I don't use it. I told her none of my cars have it so why bother?

I'm also not a fan of this monstrous computer screens they put in them these days. I don't need a laptop on the dash. I don't mind a mix of analog and digital gauges, but if it's purely digital it needs to have an analog theme and the graphics better be superb.

 

[2pac]

Meanwhile, I'd gladly pay extra not to have all that fancy tech and a large hole in the roof.

And just like with the Challenger, Trackhawk, and now the Durango, had it been obvious that they have the 6.2 I wouldn't have wanted one. Peel off a couple of badges and they look much like the V6 version. Perfect.

As a weekend car I would prefer a hellcat to stand out as a daily I wouldn't want the attention.

It's one of the reasons I like bmw and porsche for daily'ing cars, most people wouldn't know an m5 or 911 turbo s if it hit them in the face, all they see is 5 series bmw of 911 porsche.

 

[DGatzby]

Love my new 392 Durango SRT Premium.

Drove it from MN to Colorado this weekend. Had to fill up ONCE between Des Moines and Denver and it has every up to date advanced feature on it I will ever need. Looks good and is comfy as they come.

This was its gas mileage btw DSM and central Nebraska. As it started climbing in NE it fell to 19-20 MPG. Happy as hell, no supercharger and runs great!

 

[2pac]

I appreciate the info @2pac you and I have similar tastes aside from BMW. I like the looks of some of their performance models but everyone I've known to own one has quite a few issues after about the 3 year mark that are expensive to fix. It practically became a BMW club at work for a while and it was a common theme.

The Explorer ST is something I looked at briefly. A friend has one and loves it. They're a sporty looking SUV which is kinda rare surprisingly. There's some Range Rover SUV I really like the looks of (Sport maybe?) but they're known to be pieces of crap. I seriously considered a Durango for a while but honestly they're just so so IMO. I agree on the front / side profile looking pretty good but the back end looks pretty blah. I'm not interested in a $100K Dodge anything so the Hellcat version it out. I was looking at a R/T with Tow and Go which basically gives you all the SRT functions but has the 5.7 instead of the 6.4. For whatever reason going to the 6.4 added like $12K which seemed crazy for what amounts to a 100HP increase in power. I actually rented a Durango on vacation to see how we'd like it. The deal breaker was Mrs. Speedy said I had to sell our 2002 4Runner if I got anything else and that's a no.

I also took a close look at the new Bronco. I liked the 2 door version and I wanted the 3.0TT 400HP but didn't wanna pay $90K for a Raptor to get it. So, I looked at a Badlands with the Sasquatch package (stupid name) and optioned it with a 2.7L TT (330hp but 415tq) 35" tires and 4.70 gears but by the time you added silly stuff like heated front seats and heated steering wheel it's over $60K and like the Jeep I just don't think a utility vehicle like that is worth that kinda money. Plus when I talked to the local dealer they told me there's a minimum $10K ADM and I told them to call me when they're $10K below MSRP and I'd think about it.

So that led me to just deciding to put a few bucks into the old 4Runner. I've been going through it the past few months and have done everything mechanical, all brand new, all new fluids everywhere, lower ball joints, rear axle seals and bearings, valve covers gaskets and all that goes with them, timing belt, water pump, new radiator and hoses, coolant flush blah blah blah. Now I'm working on cleaning up the chassis and suspension, painting it, replacing any bolts that look cruddy, and refurbing the skid plates and tow hitch. After that it'll be a custom leather interior and "maybe" have it painted Inferno Orange Metallic. I've had it 21 years and in about 3 more I can get an antique plate for it which will be hillarious.

Bmws great for leasing in all honesty, $1000/mo for a 125k m5 that's a pure tax writeoff is a win win, unfortunately they depreciate like a brick, have issues after the 4 year warranty is up, and more importantly cost a ton of money in terms of insurance and maintenance.

With that being said their M cars are some of the best daily cars, hellcat level power with awd and interior/tech that looks like it belongs in a 6 figure car.

I think the big problem with the germans is that they shove so much tech into these cars and the tech is so new that they often sacrifice reliability to be the first, take for example the s class/7 series/a8, the cars will literally tilt their side if they see a t bone is imminent to protect the passengers, noise cancelling microphones when an accident occurs to protect your ear drums, etc etc it's truly mind blowing how far they are but it also leads to expensive out of warranty issues, I would never own a bmw/audi/mb out of warranty.

Range rover is improving but they are littered with quality control issues and maintenance nightmares, no thank you on that for me, they are extremely nice cars however.

Yeah exactly I think you hit the nail on the head, durango at 100k is a bit of a joke, in 2021 it was a little better with them starting at 82k and well equipped was 92-93k, at 107k + adm + taxes I'm out.
Even the srt is overpriced, given the choice between an explorer st or a durango srt I would take the explorer if budget and bang for buck were important, $500 tune and you are faster than a 392, 3-4k + tune and you are competing with stock ddhc at a 30k+ cheaper price.

Bronco raptor is a nice vehicle though admittedly not 90k nice, I think fair price would be mid to high 70s.

Lots of options out there in general, the thing with Toyota is they are damn near bulletproof so if you have one kept well and maintained then it's best to just ride with it.

 

[DGatzby]

Bmws great for leasing in all honesty, $1000/mo for a 125k m5 that's a pure tax writeoff is a win win, unfortunately they depreciate like a brick, have issues after the 4 year warranty is up, and more importantly cost a ton of money in terms of insurance and maintenance.

With that being said their M cars are some of the best daily cars, hellcat level power with awd and interior/tech that looks like it belongs in a 6 figure car.

I think the big problem with the germans is that they shove so much tech into these cars and the tech is so new that they often sacrifice reliability to be the first, take for example the s class/7 series/a8, the cars will literally tilt their side if they see a t bone is imminent to protect the passengers, noise cancelling microphones when an accident occurs to protect your ear drums, etc etc it's truly mind blowing how far they are but it also leads to expensive out of warranty issues, I would never own a bmw/audi/mb out of warranty.

Range rover is improving but they are littered with quality control issues and maintenance nightmares, no thank you on that for me, they are extremely nice cars however.

Yeah exactly I think you hit the nail on the head, durango at 100k is a bit of a joke, in 2021 it was a little better with them starting at 82k and well equipped was 92-93k, at 107k + adm + taxes I'm out.
Even the srt is overpriced, given the choice between an explorer st or a durango srt I would take the explorer if budget and bang for buck were important, $500 tune and you are faster than a 392, 3-4k + tune and you are competing with stock ddhc at a 30k+ cheaper price.

Bronco raptor is a nice vehicle though admittedly not 90k nice, I think fair price would be mid to high 70s.

Lots of options out there in general, the thing with Toyota is they are damn near bulletproof so if you have one kept well and maintained then it's best to just ride with it.

So how does it compare with a 392 with a tune? Easy to say it works against an untuned vehicle. Let’s tune the 392, then what?

 

[Jimmy N.]

As a weekend car I would prefer a hellcat to stand out as a daily I wouldn't want the attention.

You're saying that I should put the badges back on, but with Velcro, and then keep track of what weekday it is when I'm driving?

I had planned to give them to DGatzby, so his Durango would get some extra get up and go.

 

[Speedy!]

I think the reason an Explorer ST can pick up a decent amount of power from just a tune is because they're turbo charged. Start playing with boost pressure and things get interesting. A tune on a standard SRT 392 won't give a ton.

My 4runner is 21 years old and I've had two things go bad on it. One oxygen sensor and one rear axle seal. That's pretty damn reliable.

 

[MJS73]

You're saying that I should put the badges back on, but with Velcro, and then keep track of what weekday it is when I'm driving?

I had planned to give them to DGatzby, so his Durango would get some extra get up and go.

Putting badges on with Velcro is just plain stupid. They should be magnetic.

 

[2pac]

So how does it compare with a 392 with a tune? Easy to say it works against an untuned vehicle. Let’s tune the 392, then what?

Issue with 392 is its n/a versus the twin turbo explorer, forced induction cars are generally detuned for reliability and/or fuel economy/epa standards. Whereas naturally aspirated cars don't have that much to gain on a tune only, you would need headers,catless, etc etc to actually see noticeable gains with a tune, basically whatever they do to 392s to give them more power including pro charger would be need to be done to yours to pick up 80,90,100hp.

Ford offers a performance tune that alone boosts the car up 30-50hp, so you know there's more to be had. Boost pressure like speedy said is key

Jon also has one of these so he ended up tuning his and then I offered to be another test subject for him, we are both under the impression that the car can handle 65-75hp over stock on a 93 tune, some tuners have cranked it up to 100HP with good results but Jon has said he thinks in terms of reliability he would rather be safe than sorry and there's quite a few weak points in the car like the wrong subframe being used due to parts shortages and the 10r60 transmission as opposed to the 10r80 in mustangs and f150s.

Overall the car is incredibly fast and just on a tune the car runs somewhere from a 12.2 to a 12.8 depending on weather, da, etc etc. The small stock intercooler is the cause of the repeatability issues as the car heats up and pulls timing quickly, the downpipes are also a maior restriction, adding an intercooler and downpipes as well as an intake the car should be reliably into the high 11s/12 flat area, unfortunately that's where we see the upper limits of the car without spending a ton of money or going into E blends. At the end of the day they are suvs and not racecars.