Hi from London

[mydodgejourney]

Hello all, it feels great to join here after reading this forum for weeks and scouring the net for all the info I could find on the DJ. Yesterday my wife and I finally took delivery of a brand new 2010 RT in sea blue from Sytners in Manchester, we had traded in our 4 year old Seat Alhambra tdi Stylance for it after seeing one on the road then googling it to find out what the hell it was ! The drive back to London was eye opening to say the least, a smooth competent drive and very very cool looks, with gadgets for everything, and motorway speeds with the 2ltr diesel are more than enough for the job.

Dodge have really stumbled onto something here, Euro people carriers tend to be about as stylish as the ass end of a constipated dog and built to be functional at the expense of every other trait such as sportiness and road presence, and the DJ has this in spades, we absolutely love this car and time will tell if it delivers all it promises.

in two days we leave London for our annual one month motoring expedition to South Eastern Romania, something we have been doing in the Seat Alhambra these past 3 years, but now we will be heading off in our new DJ, its a 2K mile ride taking us about 3 days across France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and finally Romania, I will be reporting back with updates on how the DJ takes the punishment of Romanian highways !

regards to you all.

Mark

[mydodgejourney]

we just got back from Romania, what a trip, four thousand three hundred and thirteen miles in 4 weeks, lots of thoughts about the DJ now I have had a really good chance to drive it thru some of Eastern Europe's toughest and most dangerous roads, avoiding upturned trucks, mangled horses, and hundreds of shaven headed tattoo'd young men driving A8's like maniacs thinking they are the "Transporter" across the backroads of Romania, going to put up some pics

and will give you a full run down ;-)

cheers to you all and hope you are all enjoying the Summer where ever you are.

Mark

[RebelThunder]

wow, nice road trip! hope to see pics of the DJ in action!

[Tiptronic]

A braver man than me----congrats!!

[micaxe]

we just got back from Romania, what a trip, four thousand three hundred and thirteen miles in 4 weeks, lots of thoughts about the DJ now I have had a really good chance to drive it thru some of Eastern Europe's toughest and most dangerous roads, avoiding upturned trucks, mangled horses, and hundreds of shaven headed tattoo'd young men driving A8's like maniacs thinking they are the "Transporter" across the backroads of Romania, going to put up some pics

and will give you a full run down ;-)

cheers to you all and hope you are all enjoying the Summer where ever you are.

Mark

Greetings from OZ (not summer here!!), seems like you guys in UK have same spec cars we get in Aust,but we only get R/T with CRTD option, SXT & R/T with 2.7 V6 Just have a question. do you have a left foot rest for driver???, it's the frustrating thing missing from otherwise good car, as you can agree with after your recent trip.

Thanks Michael

[mydodgejourney]

Greetings from OZ (not summer here!!), seems like you guys in UK have same spec cars we get in Aust,but we only get R/T with CRTD option, SXT & R/T with 2.7 V6 Just have a question. do you have a left foot rest for driver???, it's the frustrating thing missing from otherwise good car, as you can agree with after your recent trip.

Thanks Michael

Daaammmnnn I knew there was something else ! when I wrote up some of my experiences and personal views on another thread I completely forgot to add that the one thing that really really really ticked me off was the lack of a footrest for for my left foot, there is just a dirty great empty spot and it makes you damn ankle ache on long motorway journeys, so much so that I have asked my local garage to look into making me a home brewed affair to compensate, otherwise you get a 2.7 V6 option ? wow, how I wish it had a different motor in RT guise over here, we get a 2ltr Volkswagen 138hp Diesel engine only which is a shame for such a fantastic wagon, hopefully if European sales are sufficient then Chrysler may consider a facelifted version in 2 years time with a V6 Diesel, are you listening Mr Chrysler ? hehehehe

take it easy Michael.

Mark.

[micaxe]

Daaammmnnn I knew there was something else ! when I wrote up some of my experiences and personal views on another thread I completely forgot to add that the one thing that really really really ticked me off was the lack of a footrest for for my left foot, there is just a dirty great empty spot and it makes you damn ankle ache on long motorway journeys, so much so that I have asked my local garage to look into making me a home brewed affair to compensate, otherwise you get a 2.7 V6 option ? wow, how I wish it had a different motor in RT guise over here, we get a 2ltr Volkswagen 138hp Diesel engine only which is a shame for such a fantastic wagon, hopefully if European sales are sufficient then Chrysler may consider a facelifted version in 2 years time with a V6 Diesel, are you listening Mr Chrysler ? hehehehe

take it easy Michael.

Mark.

Hi Mark,

2.7 V6 petrol standard here, wish we had 3.5 the Nth Americans get, it's a little underpowered when I have my 3 teenagers + 8yo & luggage loaded but really gets going when the "cams come in" at 3500rpm, till 6200 redline. Also not that economical around the 'burbs', lucky to get 15lt/100km. The diesel is same unit you have with Getrag DSG 6sp which has a fair bit more torque than the V6. All only front drive here, we also get space saver spare.

Regards

Michael

[paul-collins]

In North America we have the emergency brake in pedal form for the left foot, no room for a dead pedal. (I think you Euros and Brits have the hand brake)

[mydodgejourney]

Hi Michael, Hi Paul, yes, we have the front drive only model here also, thats a shame too, I wonder why Chrysler opted for that ? the brits love their 4x4's or "soft roaders" as the media call them here, so called of the X5's and Audi Q7s and Range Rover Sports which almost never get used "off road" but are hugely popular anyway as the status they imply in the class obsessed UK, their sales represent a large market share, still I guess the Journey looks the part and often I am asked if its a 4x4 and there is surprise when I explain its actually a front drive car.

thats the reason why we dont have a foot rest then even with the auto option that I have, the bulkhead is probably prepped for your emergency brake and would probably involve extra cost and work to install a standard foot rest for us complainers hahaha, yes the handbrake feels like a 'stuck on' item, and it mounted, amazingly. on the far side of the center console so I actually have to kind of reach over hold it with two hand to push the button in and heave it up slightly then let it down, all in all a clumsy solution, a dash mounted handbrake like Mercedes would have been a better idea...oh well, what do I know....

have a great day guys.

Mark.