And obviously the 5 speed auto trans .

How is it power wise, especially when accelerating on the highway after cruising along at a leisurely pace then punching it to pass or ?

Any problems with the trans itself so far ?

Reason I ask is I am thinking of buying a Challenger , but with an auto instead of the 6 speed .

I've got a 2007 Charger Daytona and I love the car, I've had it on the highway and when I need to pass I feel like I'm in my uncle's 1960 Olds super 88, back in the day, it just blows by the cars when passing, I've only got 2200 miles but it gets super milage on trips (24mpg)and its hard to keep it at the posted speed limit

John:

I am assuming they are still using the ZF 722.6 variant in those later cars. Those transmissions are great. There are a few issues with the printed circuit board, but overall they are awesome units and very durable to boot. The circuit board snaps on to the top of the valve body and can be changed out in half an hour. And they are extrememly easy to build. The entire internals with planetaries and drums come out and load in as one unit.

MB

28,500 miles on my Daytona. I love it. The 5.7 is an excellent motor, with gobs of torque and great milage. They are very reliable as well. Plenty of passing power and consistant 13.4-13.5 ets out of mine with a tune and headers.

The trans is very smooth and with my CMR tune, shifts firmly and barks the tires on each 5500+ shift.

Have an 06 Daytona for the wife to ride. I drive the long road trips. The change-up when accelerating is nearly seamless, (wife can't tell). Torque is good, and 23+ mpg on these road trips. I would recommend it. That being said, I would rather eat worms than drive an automatic, and a Charger with 4 doors is a Coronet. So I'm waiting on the B-5 blue on the new Challenger.

"IF YOU'RE UNDER CONTROL, YOU AIN'T GOING FAST ENOUGH."

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.

Thanks guys .

Zippy , I drove a charger last summer , almost bought it but the warranty , or lack of , was the sour point , this of course was before the lifetime powertrain came out and I just bought something else .

I did drive a 6 speed R/T the other day , it was pretty nice , but for my daily driver I need an automatic . No song and dance was required to get them to give me the keys for it , I'm hunting around now for a deep water blue with leather and no hood to fender stripe .

one thing though is I think the automatic needs more rear GEAR

the only repetitive issue in the NAG1 is the leaking wiring connector plug

The 09 heads and lifters are going to be the hot ticket coming up. The MDS transition really differs from car to car, but for the most part I have seen it be pretty seamless.

We will soon be able to run even bigger MDS friendly cams with the 09 MDS lifters.

I've got cars with our Econo heads, Sidewinder cam and a basic exhaust running 12.40's with traction and knocking down 26-29 mpg on the highway with MDS.

I've seen 13.1's from an 09 R/T with no major work.

These cars truly rock !

Lacking the gear (for now), the only way to test one is on the highway. 60 to 80mph punch and let 'er scream. try both an automatic and a manual downshift.

The gear thing is because Daimler set up the 3rd member to take ONE gearset and nothing else Not just the gear has to change, the whole case has to change which is even harder to do.

my dads daytona is stomp and go. 60 to 100 in a few secs. It's more responsive than mashing the pedal on a 4bbl on the hwy and waiting that 1 second for the 4bbl to kick in.

My wifes 06 R/T has 60k on it, no problems so far other than the leaking connector on the trans.

It does need a bit more gear though, it's running 2.82's but a 3.20-25 would be about perfect, once it's about 20mph it moves out good for a 4100# car.

A few weeks back I had a guy in a '03-04 Viper try to show off, he had revved at me at a traffic light and when it went green I rolled out at a normal pace, I was about 3 or so cars out and he was still sitting there then I saw the nose pitch up when he launched so I nailed it and since I was already moving he couldn't pull much on me and didn't pull even with me until I was well into 3rd gear.

Last time I had it out it was running 13.7's but I've added headers/exhaust and a Predator since so It probably runs better now.