[er15Matuka]

Hello, Dodge people.

I am Al. I just did something bordering on crazy, teetering on epic--- I traded my Audi Q5 for a manual Challenger SRT 392...here in Stuttgart, Germany, the epicenter of every thing Porsche, Mercedes and Audi, plus a smattering of BMWs.

Then, a couple of days after I signed for the car, I took it on an 1700-mile roundtrip journey to Marseilles, France over the Fourth of July weekend. The French absolutely LOVED this Destroyer Gray car! I've lost count of how many times truck drivers honked their horn when I zoomed past them, children waving at me, other car drivers giving me thumbs up, pedestrians gathering around the car wherever and whenever I parked it, taking selfies with it.

And the smiles, brothers and sisters! My new Challenger induced uncontrollable grinning from Europeans, especially when I revved it. It reassured me that I made the right decision in trading in my Audi: no one grins at an Audi here in Europe. I mean, I parked my Challenger next to an immaculate convertible Bentley one day, and no one took a single picture of the Bentley. I and my Challenger meanwhile were mobbed by a happy crowd who asked me to turn the engine back on and rev it as they clicked away with their cell phones. Awesome.

Anyway, this is my first muscle car. I have been a very sensible driver and car owner all my adult life. In fact, I don't even know how to do a donut! And I still have my Ford Fiesta parked somewhere in Honolulu from my previous stint there in 2016.

I hope you guys will be an infinite resource for me as I slowly discover the potential of this beautiful beast I now drive everyday on the Autobahn. I am planning to progress slowly. To start, I am enrolling at a performance-driving school next week. Quite pricey here in Germany but I figured I need it especially if I'm going to represent the Dodge/MOPAR community properly on the Nurburgring by the end of this year.

Yes, I'll post the video here when I finally get to do it. But for now, I'll settle on chasing down Porsche 911s and BMW M3s on the Autobahn. Maybe go after some stray Euro Mustangs too, whenever I find them.

*Here's a pic of my car on July 4th, parked in front of a former monastery in Lyon, France. 'Merca.

Your new friend in Europe, Al.

 

[nunya]

Welcome from the Eastern Panhandle of WV!

 

[jkelly16]

Welcome to the Z from NC! Glad you joined, enjoy the site!

 

[HenryZ]

Congrats on your new SRT! I, too, am in Germany...waiting for my RT to clear customs. Hopefully, any day I will be able to go to the port and pick it up. Maybe we'll see each other on the Autobaun.

 

[bad8nti]

Hello from Strasburg, VA

Hello and Welcome to ChallengerForumZ from the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Enjoy your Ride and the Site! You'll find some knowledgeable and friendly people to answer your questions or just entertain you. Glad you could join us!

 

[Shanes13]

Sweet! Welcome to the site!

 

[70barcuda]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[CopterDoctor]

Welcome to the forum from Sunny Palm Beach Florida!

 

[17ScatPack]

Welcome from Northern California!

 

[Rockster]

Welcome.

Just a heads up. When you take your Challenger onto the autobahn for a high speed run be sure to monitor coolant, oil temperatures, and if an automatic transmission fluid temperature. (Maybe the manual has a transmission fluid temperature sensor, too?)

I don't expect any problems but I recall years ago -- when I owned a Mustang and participated in a few of the Mustang bulletin boards -- a guy in Germany bought a Mustang and took it on the autobahn.

Long story short this overheated the transmission -- automatic -- and ruined it. When he tried to get some help in getting the transmission replaced he was told the car was not designed to prolonged high speed operation.

Instead it was designed for type of driving that is the norm here in the USA in which highway speeds are limited to in most areas to 75mph or lower. (Not sure when Montana changed over from a "reasonable and prudent" speed limit law to posted speed limits.)

 

[frankp]

Are you in the military. Did you have the car shipped over. If not I'm curious how many are shipped to Europe for the market. I can't imagine it being too popular considering most countries roads are so narrow

 

[er15Matuka]

Welcome.

Just a heads up. When you take your Challenger onto the autobahn for a high speed run be sure to monitor coolant, oil temperatures, and if an automatic transmission fluid temperature. (Maybe the manual has a transmission fluid temperature sensor, too?)

I don't expect any problems but I recall years ago -- when I owned a Mustang and participated in a few of the Mustang bulletin boards -- a guy in Germany bought a Mustang and took it on the autobahn.

Long story short this overheated the transmission -- automatic -- and ruined it. When he tried to get some help in getting the transmission replaced he was told the car was not designed to prolonged high speed operation.

Instead it was designed for type of driving that is the norm here in the USA in which highway speeds are limited to in most areas to 75mph or lower. (Not sure when Montana changed over from a "reasonable and prudent" speed limit law to posted speed limits.)

Thanks for the head's up, Rockster. I will definitely put up the oil temp gauge on display when I do some prolonged "frisky" Autobahn shenanigans. The fastest I've had the SRT go was around 125 mph while on street mode, for maybe 3 minutes. After that, as in most cases on this fabled road, traffic slows everything down. What's the optimal oil temp for more than a minute of high-speed runs? I didn't see it on the manual.

 

[er15Matuka]

Are you in the military. Did you have the car shipped over. If not I'm curious how many are shipped to Europe for the market. I can't imagine it being too popular considering most countries roads are so narrow

I'm a contractor now, actually. I used to visit Europe for short stints when I was still on active duty. The car was shipped brand new from the East Coast. And you are correct: this car is like a Unicorn here. The Mustangs are all over the place now, esp. after Ford introduced some changes on their lineup. And as far as roads being narrow...man, going uphill and downhill 'round blind curves in the south of France was hairy. The SRT barely had room on the right (mostly ravine 12 inches away) and on the left (lead-footed French drivers on their Renault 18 inches away). What we'd consider one-way streets there in the US, they split them here---on hilly terrain! But, it's making a much better and safer driver, I think.

 

[FastMikeR1]

Greetings from Montreal,Quebec. You are lucky, you will be able to open the throttle a lot on the Autobahn.

 

[baggerjack]

Welcome from the Chicagoland area!

 

[Rockster]

Thanks for the head's up, Rockster. I will definitely put up the oil temp gauge on display when I do some prolonged "frisky" Autobahn shenanigans. The fastest I've had the SRT go was around 125 mph while on street mode, for maybe 3 minutes. After that, as in most cases on this fabled road, traffic slows everything down. What's the optimal oil temp for more than a minute of high-speed runs? I didn't see it on the manual.

Not so worried about engine oil temperature -- but of course you monitor it along with coolant temperature and transmission fluid temperature -- as I am worried about the transmission temperature.

With my Challenger Hellcat and its A8 transmission around town in stop/go driving I've seen the engine oil temperature climb to 230F. Even at this temperature oil pressure remains very good around 40psi at idle climbing to over 60psi with some RPMs.

While the engine oil temperature reaches 230F once I get out of town and on the freeway the oil temperature drops and in a few miles can be just under 200F.

Coolant temperature can also climb to 212F but it appears the fan(s) come on and tend to keep the coolant temperature from going much higher. And like oil temperature once on the freeway the coolant temperature drops and hovers around the 200F mark.

Transmission temperature generally stays pretty low, below 190F, though prolonged driving in city stop/go traffic and using the paddle shifter to upshift can get the transmission temperature to 200F. But it is a slow rise.

Like engine oil and coolant temperatures though the transmission fluid temperature drops once on the freeway, but slower to drop and by not as much.

Not sure what you'll see after a minute of high speed driving, and by high speed something a ways beyond the 75mph speed that is about the maximum these cars see here in the USA (at least legally).

You'll just have to monitor the temperatures and learn what the car does under the type of usage you are giving it.

However, I would expect the coolant temperature to stay under or at 212F. If it goes higher though I'd not be too worried unless it appears like it wants to keep going up which I don't expect it to do.

Likewise oil temperature could get to 212F -- which is the temperature at which the viscosity index "40" in "0w-40" is measured and thus is not really hot but just up to working temperature -- and could climb a bit higher. Again a few degrees higher would not concern me. But oil temperature continuing or appearing to continue to climb would concern me and I'd back off.

And the same goes for the transmission fluid temperature. Arbitrarily I'd stay with the 212F temperature.

'course, as you are driving you not only keep an eye on the temps, or have a passenger/copilot do this for you as I'm sure you'll have your eyes busy monitoring the autobahn, but you also keep a sharp eye out for any warning lights/messages.

These cars seldom see sustained high speed driving (outside of what testing the factory does) so you are in some ways breaking new ground. I'd sneak up on the higher speeds learning how the various systems deal with the heat load.

Very important: After every run be sure you drive the car at a more moderate pace for a while to give the systems time to shed the considerable heat load.

Also, very important: Follow the factory break in guidelines.

My advice would be to change the oil early several times as the break in progresses. For instance with my 2018 Hellcat I changed the oil at 500 miles, again at 2000 miles, then again at 5000 miles. Going forward I will follow a 5K mile/6 month oil change schedule which helped my Porsche Boxster obtain 317K miles and my 996 Turbo obtain 161K miles with neither car manifesting any signs of any engine degradation from the miles.

Oh, and one other thing, and that is my advice would be to treat the high speed runs like a visit to the "track" and show up at the autobahn with fresh oil in the engine.

 

[VIXFIX]

Hello from WI! Can't wait to see pics of your adventures!

 

[wvhemis]

Welcome to the Z from WV... Glad you joined us...

 

[ScatSRT]

Welcome to the Forum from Pennsylvania! Congrats on purchasing that sweet Unicorn! I really enjoyed your introduction. It's nice to know how well received our American Muscle car is throughout Europe.

 

[MommaBetty]

Welcome to the forum from SW South Dakota! That is a great introduction! Enjoyed your experiences over in Germany! Will be fun to keep hearing the responses from over there! Enjoy the forum!