John, you really need to go drive one. Find a dealer with an R/T, give them a song and dance and just go drive one.

One of the reasons those cars were (are) fairly expensive is because Daimler rammed several things down Chrysler's throat in terms of supply base and components that would be used. One of those things is the Mercedes NAG trans those cars come with.

There is a silver Magnum R/T development vehicle that all my coworkers have thrashed on mercilessly and beaten the almighty krap out of since about 2006. You might have seen it when I met you at Carlisle.....That poor car has been through the course of several different pcm calibrations, high stall converter, three different camshafts, two sets of cylinder heads, two sets of headers, and testing at the dragstrip + some pretty ridiculous street abuse with each change. The trans has been one of the best parts of the car and is still perfect. Those things are tough.

Oh, and the 2009 5.7 intake ports flow 300cfm OUT OF THE BOX according to a local test facility...They kinda look like a 6.1: intake port with a 5.7 chamber, sorta.