I figured this should be a pretty interesting topic. Before I go into my take, let me say that I love the car and my gripes/ideas come more from a loyal enthusiast point-of-view than that of someone just ragging on the car.
The word "Mopar" means a whole, heck-of-a-lot more to me than it does to most people. I equate Mopar with the best-of-the-best, winning, and total dominance across multiple levels. The looks, performance, handling, and details all have to be tweaked to the top of their game. It isn't a matter of simply winning or being the best, it is how far ahead of the competition we are. I could literally write a book on what "Mopar" means to me, but for now this will suffice and we'll move on to the topic at hand...
First off, I will say that my phone call from Detroit wasn't as nice as some folks feedback might have been...they asked for my opinion and I gave it to them, lol. And to their credit, the Mopar 11 Charger has a lot of what we discussed so I know they listened...although I'm sad they didn't make amends with us by possibly retrofitting stuff or offering discounts etc.
1. Factory Stereo: Weak, No Nav Option, and No EVIC
My biggest gripe was the stereo. This thing is seriously weak (130-4 Speaker). The car is really quite on the inside and I can't really drive down the road at 60-70 with a window down and hear my music without turning the volume up so much it distorts...an equalizer might have helped considerably. That pans into another issue: navigation and EVIC. With the lack of performance parts one would think it would be loaded with the best factory options in terms of technology and creature comforts....nope!
None of the cars were even built with navigation! Before I got my car I was trying to get a price and have navigation and the 6 speaker system installed by the dealer (you know to have the paperwork). Well, Chrysler had literally sold out of 2010 back nav units (we found 2 and the price was over $2k, ouch!). I didn't want to go online and buy one because I wanted it all legit and documented. So I got word from a parts friend in Dallas to wait for the 2011 because it would have Garmin based GPS and be much better...okay let's wait. And I did...and we waited some more, and some more. Prices came in a little more than the previous $2100 but the radio was not available still.
No worries, I'll distract myself by going for the EVIC upgrade. Should be a simple plug and play right? Nope! I would have been willing to pay the high factory price to have the rather cool scanning and most importantly in-dash performance figures. I will say that the people I worked with found a way to make it happen...that way just included a tech flying in from the factory to basically rewire the car...I didn't even ask for the price.
By this point in time I had decided to go with an aftermarket sound system (far better than the factory's top of the line stuff and at a fraction of the cost!) and figured if I got the Diablo Trinity I would have a similar in-car feature to augment DynoMaster on my cell phone (which is either scary right or really, really off). You can literally do both of these mods and still come in cheaper than just the factory head-unit :shock:
2. No Cat-Back Exhaust
The one thing that really seemed like a no-brainer to me is the lack of a factory cat-back. This is readily available, pretty inexpensive, and would serve to compliment the car. I know the team throws around "stealth" a lot..but let's face it...The Mopar 10 is sleek, but it won't sneak up on anyone..it looks far too bad ass to be underestimated, lol. Everyone I have talked to has this as one of the first shortcomings. Shorty headers would have been awesome, but I am realistic. The cat-back has been featured on several specialty cars over the years and made a ton of sense in my book.
3. Ridin' High
This one is just a bit behind the cat-back. The ride height isn't bad on these cars and they still look great, but my thoughts are that any car labelled Mopar had best be able to back it up in looks, performance, and handling. Would a lower ride height have been too much to ask for? Right after the exhaust, this is usually one of the first performance mods folks make. Again, I wouldn't expect the top-of-the-line coil overs, but something a bit lower would have been nice.
4. Performance or Aesthetics
The M10 does both very well, but I feel the factory should have done both, but at the very least picked one path to favor. It seems like the coil springs and cat back would have really rounded out the performance end of things (scoop, cold air, STP, lowered, and exhaust). Similarly something like navigation, EVIC, HIDs, and embroidered floor mats, or a custom speedo print (Mopar 10 on the tach...number on the speedo) would have been nice.
5. MOPAR
This one is really minor, but it would have been really cool to see more Mopar badging...like we see on the Mopar 11. The grille emblem and I think the tail panel etc would have been nice touches and done even more to set the car apart.
6. The 392
Yep, you read right. I guess as I continued to bombard the poor guy who called to get my feedback with ideas and "could have dones" he might have felt bad and spilled the beans that a few people at Mopar were fighting to get the 392 as the M10's power plant. I'm not sure if anyone else heard this, but I have no reason to make it up. His reason for why they went with the 5.7L was two-fold price and IE. The final decision was that if the M10 had a 392 and was priced where they had it (apparently it wouldn't have gone up too much, it at all) people would buy it over the Inaugural Edition 392 and they didn't want that to happen.
While I'm very disappointed it didn't happen (I had secretly wondered, but didn't stress too much about it) I was glad to know that there are still a few, old-school badasses at Mopar that still feel the way I do. You can have a low-key Dodge, Plymouth, or Chrysler...but the word Mopar conjures up the very essence of muscle car. You instantly think of 440s and 426 HEMIs terrorizing the streets and tearing up the track. I want that sacred word to continue to do the same today.
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