Neighborhood Yard Find for me!

[Charley Lillard]

I sit in my cars and forget why I'm there.

[TMagda]

Big bang for the buck. Congrats Steve. Nothing better than teaching your kids stick. Mine learned on a Wrangler and a 944.

[njsteve]

Today we did an oil change on the beast and bottled up a sample to send to Blackstone Labs for analysis. Gonna do the diff tomorrow when the limited slip additive arrives (amazon). We also installed the extra set of wheels and 275/40x20 Pirellis off my 2022. They look nice in the wheel wells and car rides a lot nicer than with the expired 8 year old 245/45x20 Goodyears. Interestingly they are the exact same rolling height so the speedo is the same. The only problem is that they have 2022 TPMS sensors which are not compatible with the 2011 ECM. So that low pressure warning light is blinking away.

Then I gave the boy 4.8 miles worth of driving lessons on the 1/2 mile long street next door. It was funny. Afterwards the wife asks us to rate his proficiency on a scale of 1 to 5. At the same moment, I said 1.5 and he said 1.6. So we were close! He has to get the hang of applying the gas only in the last two inches of clutch travel at the top.

The residents on that street know us and our crazy cars so by the end of the 20 minutes of lessons, the entire street was full of spectators. One of the guys had his toddler grandson standing next to him in his driveway. When my son, on his 5th attempt to get rolling in first, finally succeeded, the two-year-old started yelling, jumping up and down, and clapping his hands all at the same time. He was thoroughly entertained.

We then made it home safely just in time before it started raining.

Here's some photos;

[njsteve]

The boy says he wants to install the black gas filler cap I took off my 2022 since it would go better with the dark wheels. I think he's right. And here's some suspension shots. Damn, this thing is clean for a 12-year-old Northern car!

[olredalert]

----Maybe needs a similar color coded stripe as the Heck Kitty!.....Bill S

[njsteve]

The wife and I were thinking the same thing. The boy wants the correct 2011 R/T Classic stripe in black, like this:

[GM Powertrain]

Talk about luck finding one so close to your house! Looks like a great unit. Finally have a deal in place for a Hellcat after a loooong search (Nice used, unmolested examples are hard to find-especially for a reasonable price.) I love this platform. Lots of room, comfortable and of course the Hemi power. I'm sure my others will be mothballed when the 'Cat comes home.

[njsteve]

The Hellcats are fun. It's like driving a couch with JATO pods bolted on the back. Enjoy. The hardest part is finding one that has not been modified/tuned/abused. What year? Is it a stick (very rare) or auto? And depending on the year there were warranty issues with the superchargers similar to the ZL1 Camaros and their front hub problems.

[GM Powertrain]

One owner, Phantom Black/peanut butter Laguna 2015 A8 with just over 5000 miles. Owned by a 70 year old single guy who currently has two Raptors, a Shelby GT500 carbon fiber package car Ford used for it's advertising, and just sold his 1000 horse Trackhawk (guy knows his stuff!) Wasn't selling I just heard about the car from someone. NO tune, just a couple minor things I would have done anyway. Two years left on his transferrable 10 year FCA warranty (part of why I'm buying a '15.) Interesting side note: Not long after he took delivery of the car he was contacted by FCA asking if he could bring the car back as the first 10/11 cars that were dealer delivered got through making 13psi of boost and more aggressive tuning then the 11.6psi like they were supposed to have. The request was denied! I was told in no uncertain terms make sure its straight before you stand on it! To say I'm excited is an understatement.

[njsteve]

Awesome find! Make sure you get some Michelin PS4 tires for it and throw away the Poorellis if they are still on the car. The Michelins are THE go to tire for these cars and can handle the horsepower with predictability. The Pirellis are fine for a 300 horse car but not a 700-800hp car. Totally unpredictable in their traction and handling characteristics at higher power levels. And yes he was right: Make damn sure you're pointing in a straight line before releasing the horses, otherwise those horses head straight for the forest, or the guardrail, or the nearest telephone pole.