Charging Forward
I had just spent a few years in the US studying. And when I got back and started my career, I obviously needed a car.
In 2006 There was nothing being sold that I liked. Today I would probably go for an Audi S5, but back in 2006, nothing really caught my eye. To me cars are much more than just transport. I’ve been asked a lot, why this car? Why not a supra? It would have been cheaper, and faster.
Again we have to go back to my stay in the US . I fell in love with Muscle cars. Cars from the 60s and 70s that defined a generation. I fell in love with huge small block all motor cars that were mean and raw. So I decided to buy a car that was sort of what my perfect car was, and that I would build my own car. I had done the same in the US , but with a 2G Mitsubishi Eclipse, Modifying I guess, is in my blood.
Since my choices were limited, as the Camaro wasn’t even in the works yet, and the Lumina SS is a bit too refined, I went with a mopar. I’m also a huge Dukes of Hazzard fan, so that helped my choice.
Exactly a year after buying her (yes, her) the warranty was up, and that very same day I installed a CAI. It was the 1st step in what was a pretty simple plan. Make the most power without any forced injection, just like a Muscle car from the 70s. Turbos were a no-no, A supercharger wasn’t an option, and Nitrous is just plain scary. If I were going to own my perfect car, it would have to be an all motor build.
Very soon after the CAI, I joined chargerforums.com, and I still believe that this was the single most important move I made. Today I am a “Gold” member on there, sharing my experience with newer Mopar freaks. But back then, I was a newbie, and didn’t know much about the car. It was a supporting vender on that site that suggested Extreme performance in Abu Dhabi . The owner of the company told me that they had an authorized dealer in the UAE, and gave me Extreme’s owner’s name and number. Calling Mr. Abdulla Al Zaabi of Extreme was the 2nd smartest thing I ever did for this project.
Extreme sells everything under the sun for the modern HEMI cars. And I mean everything. Strokers, heads, cams, superchargers… You name it.
We decided, given my want for an all motor build, that we would add some Kooks long tube headers, a Borla catback system, and we would order stage 2 racing heads and a stage 3 cam. This was all supported by a new tune, sent by the makers of the heads and cam, Power Ported performance in the US . Shipping took about 3 weeks, and a week after that she was doing 450 bhp. Not bad as her baseline was 340. I was extremely happy.
Then tragedy struck. The car is an R/T, not the race oriented SRT-8. And thus the stock bottom end was not as reinforced as that of the SRT-8. I threw a connection rod and the car was dead. Of course, Abdulla at Extreme being an optimist, told me not to worry, and that we can turn this really bad thing into a great thing.
We started researching motors. And found that we had a few options, a 6.1 (370 cubic inches) from an SRT-8, a 6.4 liter (392 cubic inches) from mopar, or an as yet un-tested 6.7 liter (410 cubic inches). After asking many questions, and many long distance calls to the US at 2 am, we had decided that we wanted the maximum power, we would be one of the 1st people in the world, and the 1st in the Arab world to try a 6.7 liter HEMI.
The motor it’s self took 3 months to build, and a month to be shipped. My old stage 2 heads were fedexed to PPP for repair and upgrade. They are now better than stage 2s but not as good as stage 3s. Somewhere in between to match the needs of the new cam we would be using including titanium everything and the best valve springs you can get.
We then ordered new 3 piston calipers for the front end, and new cross drilled rotors for all 4 corners. We replaced the brake lines with braided lines for an ever more crisp stop. The sway bars were replaced with Hotchkis racing sways, and the suspension was replaced with stock SRT-8 suspension. We also changed the torque converter to take a more efficient advantage of the new power.
The car was build up in 2 weeks, and we were finally done. Or so we though.
We had miscalculated one issue. With a motor that wasn’t as widely known as the 6.4 liter, we ended up with a beast that we, and many others, couldn’t tune. She idled like a crying baby after a cigar, she pulsated, and smoke was a constant. It was here that Abdulla again interjected and through his contacts in the US tuning scene found a tuner who not only had a huge following, but he was also willing to try it by email.
After a month of back and forth with various tuners, Mr. AJ from long Island new york emailed us a tune. For the 1st time she was not idling badly, and not smoking. We took her for road tests, logged data, and emailed the data back to AJ. This happened 3 times. And she was finally able to be let off at WOT.
She netted a great 425 whp after that. And I was happy. But Abdulla at Extreme had something else up his sleeves. He had arranged for AJ to visit the UAE to tune a few cars, and wanted him to tune mine in person.
In total it took 8 months, But she was finally tuned in person and I had a huge smile plastered on my face. She made a whopping 550 bhp and 570 ft-lbs of torque. Not bad at all for a car marketed as a “Family” sedan with a bite. She has a bite alright, like an angry vampire. She spins through 3rd gear, and is almost scary to drive. It’s what I imagined my perfect car being.
I now feel a sense of calm, of relief that she is finally done. We of course will ad to her as new things come up. Just this week we found out that the LSD and beefier half shafts of the new Challenger SRT8 will fit the charger and add better gearing, so we will be doing that mod in November or December. We just replaced her wheels with Dodge Viper style black 22 inch rims running huge 295 tires in the back to help traction. And we have some matte black graphics going on her in a month or so.
Its mandatory to note that if it were not for Abdulla at Extreme, I might have given up and sold her after the rod incident. So thank you brother for your perfect help and expertise. I also have to thank AJ for his amazing tuning, PPP for their great input, customer service, and workmanship, Arrington Engines for a great bulletproof motor, The guys at Yellowhat for their amazing detail work, Trading Enterprises for their great paint shop, and all the guys on ChargerForums.com, for being there for my questions and driving me on as they saw the progress every day.
I’d also like to thank those who denied this as a failed project, suggesting that a Supra or GTR would have been faster, they would have been. And those who insist that no matter whets under the hood, a BMW or Audi is king here in the UAE, That is true. And realistically, for the money spent on this project, car and parts, I could have bought an S5, or S4, or many other “better” cars. But what I got was so much more.
So thanks for annoying me so that I would have the drive to do something different. Every time I drive her now I get stares, people point as she rumbles by. Every time I stop for gas people come up and ask about her, every time I see another charger I get a thumbs up, every vette or 911 I pass wants to race, and every time I look at her here in Arabia, I hear the Beach Boy’s singing “She’s real fine my 409” in my head, I know that I built this, she’s one of a kind, and that feeling, that is something money just cant buy.
---------------
That is the draft of the story about us and this project that will be in Top Performance Magazine in a few months time. I'm so excited!
In 2006 There was nothing being sold that I liked. Today I would probably go for an Audi S5, but back in 2006, nothing really caught my eye. To me cars are much more than just transport. I’ve been asked a lot, why this car? Why not a supra? It would have been cheaper, and faster.
Again we have to go back to my stay in the US . I fell in love with Muscle cars. Cars from the 60s and 70s that defined a generation. I fell in love with huge small block all motor cars that were mean and raw. So I decided to buy a car that was sort of what my perfect car was, and that I would build my own car. I had done the same in the US , but with a 2G Mitsubishi Eclipse, Modifying I guess, is in my blood.
Since my choices were limited, as the Camaro wasn’t even in the works yet, and the Lumina SS is a bit too refined, I went with a mopar. I’m also a huge Dukes of Hazzard fan, so that helped my choice.
Exactly a year after buying her (yes, her) the warranty was up, and that very same day I installed a CAI. It was the 1st step in what was a pretty simple plan. Make the most power without any forced injection, just like a Muscle car from the 70s. Turbos were a no-no, A supercharger wasn’t an option, and Nitrous is just plain scary. If I were going to own my perfect car, it would have to be an all motor build.
Very soon after the CAI, I joined chargerforums.com, and I still believe that this was the single most important move I made. Today I am a “Gold” member on there, sharing my experience with newer Mopar freaks. But back then, I was a newbie, and didn’t know much about the car. It was a supporting vender on that site that suggested Extreme performance in Abu Dhabi . The owner of the company told me that they had an authorized dealer in the UAE, and gave me Extreme’s owner’s name and number. Calling Mr. Abdulla Al Zaabi of Extreme was the 2nd smartest thing I ever did for this project.
Extreme sells everything under the sun for the modern HEMI cars. And I mean everything. Strokers, heads, cams, superchargers… You name it.
We decided, given my want for an all motor build, that we would add some Kooks long tube headers, a Borla catback system, and we would order stage 2 racing heads and a stage 3 cam. This was all supported by a new tune, sent by the makers of the heads and cam, Power Ported performance in the US . Shipping took about 3 weeks, and a week after that she was doing 450 bhp. Not bad as her baseline was 340. I was extremely happy.
Then tragedy struck. The car is an R/T, not the race oriented SRT-8. And thus the stock bottom end was not as reinforced as that of the SRT-8. I threw a connection rod and the car was dead. Of course, Abdulla at Extreme being an optimist, told me not to worry, and that we can turn this really bad thing into a great thing.
We started researching motors. And found that we had a few options, a 6.1 (370 cubic inches) from an SRT-8, a 6.4 liter (392 cubic inches) from mopar, or an as yet un-tested 6.7 liter (410 cubic inches). After asking many questions, and many long distance calls to the US at 2 am, we had decided that we wanted the maximum power, we would be one of the 1st people in the world, and the 1st in the Arab world to try a 6.7 liter HEMI.
The motor it’s self took 3 months to build, and a month to be shipped. My old stage 2 heads were fedexed to PPP for repair and upgrade. They are now better than stage 2s but not as good as stage 3s. Somewhere in between to match the needs of the new cam we would be using including titanium everything and the best valve springs you can get.
We then ordered new 3 piston calipers for the front end, and new cross drilled rotors for all 4 corners. We replaced the brake lines with braided lines for an ever more crisp stop. The sway bars were replaced with Hotchkis racing sways, and the suspension was replaced with stock SRT-8 suspension. We also changed the torque converter to take a more efficient advantage of the new power.
The car was build up in 2 weeks, and we were finally done. Or so we though.
We had miscalculated one issue. With a motor that wasn’t as widely known as the 6.4 liter, we ended up with a beast that we, and many others, couldn’t tune. She idled like a crying baby after a cigar, she pulsated, and smoke was a constant. It was here that Abdulla again interjected and through his contacts in the US tuning scene found a tuner who not only had a huge following, but he was also willing to try it by email.
After a month of back and forth with various tuners, Mr. AJ from long Island new york emailed us a tune. For the 1st time she was not idling badly, and not smoking. We took her for road tests, logged data, and emailed the data back to AJ. This happened 3 times. And she was finally able to be let off at WOT.
She netted a great 425 whp after that. And I was happy. But Abdulla at Extreme had something else up his sleeves. He had arranged for AJ to visit the UAE to tune a few cars, and wanted him to tune mine in person.
In total it took 8 months, But she was finally tuned in person and I had a huge smile plastered on my face. She made a whopping 550 bhp and 570 ft-lbs of torque. Not bad at all for a car marketed as a “Family” sedan with a bite. She has a bite alright, like an angry vampire. She spins through 3rd gear, and is almost scary to drive. It’s what I imagined my perfect car being.
I now feel a sense of calm, of relief that she is finally done. We of course will ad to her as new things come up. Just this week we found out that the LSD and beefier half shafts of the new Challenger SRT8 will fit the charger and add better gearing, so we will be doing that mod in November or December. We just replaced her wheels with Dodge Viper style black 22 inch rims running huge 295 tires in the back to help traction. And we have some matte black graphics going on her in a month or so.
Its mandatory to note that if it were not for Abdulla at Extreme, I might have given up and sold her after the rod incident. So thank you brother for your perfect help and expertise. I also have to thank AJ for his amazing tuning, PPP for their great input, customer service, and workmanship, Arrington Engines for a great bulletproof motor, The guys at Yellowhat for their amazing detail work, Trading Enterprises for their great paint shop, and all the guys on ChargerForums.com, for being there for my questions and driving me on as they saw the progress every day.
I’d also like to thank those who denied this as a failed project, suggesting that a Supra or GTR would have been faster, they would have been. And those who insist that no matter whets under the hood, a BMW or Audi is king here in the UAE, That is true. And realistically, for the money spent on this project, car and parts, I could have bought an S5, or S4, or many other “better” cars. But what I got was so much more.
So thanks for annoying me so that I would have the drive to do something different. Every time I drive her now I get stares, people point as she rumbles by. Every time I stop for gas people come up and ask about her, every time I see another charger I get a thumbs up, every vette or 911 I pass wants to race, and every time I look at her here in Arabia, I hear the Beach Boy’s singing “She’s real fine my 409” in my head, I know that I built this, she’s one of a kind, and that feeling, that is something money just cant buy.
---------------
That is the draft of the story about us and this project that will be in Top Performance Magazine in a few months time. I'm so excited!
well done abit, i'm genuinely happy for you... it sounds beautiful, your story full of sweat, blood and tears... lol...
you chugged along at times of adversity, takes some strength =)
alf mabrook ya'akhi.
also, while i dont know jack about tuning cars, the draft was interesting enough to keep me reading (coming from a lay-person, that's a compliment).
all i know about cars is that i like it when they go VROOOOM!
does yours? ;)
Not really. She gos more like Blaughghghghghghaaaa!
Like a boat basically. I hope their editors turn the acronyms and inside info into easier language. I hope.