'11 R/T after 2 weeks

[RickyCheung]

My dad bought the 2011 Canadian Journey R/T two weeks ago in Vancouver. The car came with 3rd row seating, moonroof, and aluminium chrome clad rims (I think that's all the options?). First of all, I don't have much driving experience so I can't really do a fair comparison. I've been driving the car for the past week and have put a little over 600km onto the car.

These are some of the problems I have encountered so far:

1. Other than really steep hills, the car is actually quite responsive. However, the engine seem to have a bit of a lag right before it shifts from gear 1 to gear 2; as if it suddenly doesn't take any input from the gas pedal. Is anyone experiencing the same problem?

2. Another problem that I face is the rear climate system. There are four visible vents at the back of the car. But for some reason, I can hear a loud wind blowing noise at the right side at the back of the car. If I put my ear against the wall, I can hear it even clearer. I'm suspecting it's the location of the A/C system. Anyone have any insight?

3. The car is equipped with the standard 4.3 UConnect system and I usually listen to my music through a USB drive. The system tends to give a USB Error whenever I start the car below 5ish degrees. When this happens, I just have to unplug and replug the flash drive back in, and it would work flawlessly. Again, comments anyone?

4. On the spec sheet, it says that this car gets about 13.0l/100km in the city. But according to the EVIC display on the dash, I'm not getting anything close to 13. Even after a road trip from Vancouver to Seattle and back, the fuel economy displays around 20l/100km. Is this right?

Overall, the Journey is a great car to drive around town.

Here's a quick snap with my iPod.

Edited November 19, 2011 by RickyCheung

[redtomatoman]

These are some of the problems I have encountered so far:

1. Other than really steep hills, the car is actually quite responsive. However, the engine seem to have a bit of a lag right before it shifts from gear 1 to gear 2; as if it suddenly doesn't take any input from the gas pedal. Is anyone experiencing the same problem?

2. Another problem that I face is the rear climate system. There are four visible vents at the back of the car. But for some reason, I can hear a loud wind blowing noise at the right side at the back of the car. If I put my ear against the wall, I can hear it even clearer. I'm suspecting it's the location of the A/C system. Anyone have any insight?

3. The car is equipped with the standard 4.3 UConnect system and I usually listen to my music through a USB drive. The system tends to give a USB Error whenever I start the car below 5ish degrees. When this happens, I just have to unplug and replug the flash drive back in, and it would work flawlessly. Again, comments anyone?

4. On the spec sheet, it says that this car gets about 13.0l/100km in the city. But according to the EVIC display on the dash, I'm not getting anything close to 13. Even after a road trip from Vancouver to Seattle and back, the fuel economy displays around 20l/100km. Is this right?

Here's my experience with my 2011 R/T.

1. The tranny is programmed for fuel economy. The shifting takes some getting used to, but it will shift and give you power when you need it. I use the manual shift for passing when I know I need quick power, for example.

2. Dunno.

3. See the forum for threads relating to this.

4. I'm assuming your Journey is brand new. Mine improved in fuel economy after about 5,000 miles. I get around 24 mpg.

I have really enjoyed mine. Drives nice, interior is super nice, and it offers much in the way of utility. I've been on two mountain bike trips, a surf trip, and camping already!

Hope that helps.

Peace.

[Camper]

Pick up my Journey 2012-CREW last Friday,Lovet so far,if encouter any issue,will report to the forum

[RickyCheung]

Here's my experience with my 2011 R/T.

1. The tranny is programmed for fuel economy. The shifting takes some getting used to, but it will shift and give you power when you need it. I use the manual shift for passing when I know I need quick power, for example.

2. Dunno.

3. See the forum for threads relating to this.

4. I'm assuming your Journey is brand new. Mine improved in fuel economy after about 5,000 miles. I get around 24 mpg.

I have really enjoyed mine. Drives nice, interior is super nice, and it offers much in the way of utility. I've been on two mountain bike trips, a surf trip, and camping already!

Hope that helps.

Peace.

Hey redtomatoman, I do agree the engine is quite a powerful one, I guess it does take some time getting used to. Regarding the fuel economy, I do hope it will become better over time because mine is really bad right now. I've seen other people say that they get as low as 11l/100km on theirs; but on mine, the realtime gauge goes up to as high as 25l/100km, and the average is constantly at 20l/100km. Anyways Thanks for answering my questions!! Cheers!

[bigtsr]

RickyCheung if you want to something do this get on a flat stretch of road

at the legal limit,then let up on the gas.

You should see the visual red bar drop below 10.0 at this point in time

press the RIGHT arrow to reset algorythm to base setting or 0.0 k/100km.

Watch your average to see if it goes back up to your high readings.

Smart injector system in theory should be working if it is when you let up on

gas visual should drop usually below 10-12.

This is how my '11 DJ is working.

Edited November 22, 2011 by bigtsr

[walkmanf1]

exactly same truck as my silver R/T...nice.

i think the AWD consumes more @ 14l/100k city.

Edited November 24, 2011 by walkmanf1

[RickyCheung]

bigtsr thanks for the suggestion! I live on the mountain so I'll definitely give that a try when I head to the city.

walkmanf1 Nice to hear that you've got the same one. This journey is amazing!

[Jonathan]

I can comment on #1:

I was really annoyed by the lack of response from the transmission when we first got our Journey Lux. The transmission has adapted to our driving style and I haven't noticed issues like this so much.

[Windancer]

On the spec sheet, it says that this car gets about 13.0l/100km in the city. But according to the EVIC display on the dash, I'm not getting anything close to 13. Even after a road trip from Vancouver to Seattle and back, the fuel economy displays around 20l/100km.

I have a 2010 Dodge Journey R/T, it has every option that was available on it. The EVIC on my car is usually low, somewhere around 1 litre/100 kms lower from the actual gas mileage. As you can see by my signature I have kept track of my fuel mileage since day one of my car. My average over 50 fillups and 17,000 kms. is 15.7 l/100 kms. which too me is a little too high, although my number reflects cold weather iding etc..

To answer your question I personally think 20 l/100kms. is way too high especially on the highway, I would make sure of the actual mileage and then tell your dealer. Personally, I have got a best of 9.3l/100kms on the highway from my car and it seems to be 11.5 l/100kms is about average on the highway. My personal city mileage goes up quite drastically.

If you want to look at my stats just click on the logo below. I let My Fuelly figure everything out, it's free and is available at www.fuelly.com, just my thoughts though.......

Terry

Edited December 1, 2011 by Windancer

[bramfrank]

Simple enough . . . get onto a flat stretch of road and set the cruise control to 100 kph - instantaneous fuel economy shoould read in the 9-11 kph range.

As to putting your ear against the wall and hearing motor noises . . . don't. You want it quiet back there, shut down the rear ventilation.

Your USB issue? Try a different brand of key and see if the problem persists. Have you run into the 250 song, 1 gig of music limitation? Do the controls and display get sluggish when playing high bit rate MP3s?

[RickyCheung]

I can comment on #1:

I was really annoyed by the lack of response from the transmission when we first got our Journey Lux. The transmission has adapted to our driving style and I haven't noticed issues like this so much.

Thanks Jonathan! The Journey's at just a bit shy of 1K KM, hopefully it'll improve by the time it reaches 5K.

I have a 2010 Dodge Journey R/T, it has every option that was available on it. The EVIC on my car is usually low, somewhere around 1 litre/100 kms lower from the actual gas mileage. As you can see by my signature I have kept track of my fuel mileage since day one of my car. My average over 50 fillups and 17,000 kms. is 15.7 l/100 kms. which too me is a little too high, although my number reflects cold weather iding etc..

To answer your question I personally think 20 l/100kms. is way too high especially on the highway, I would make sure of the actual mileage and then tell your dealer. Personally, I have got a best of 9.3l/100kms on the highway from my car and it seems to be 11.5 l/100kms is about average on the highway. My personal city mileage goes up quite drastically.

If you want to look at my stats just click on the logo below. I let My Fuelly figure everything out, it's free and is available at www.fuelly.com, just my thoughts though.......

Terry

Yeah I should've realized that the company always give the best case scenario. I'm getting around 17l/100km now, 90% city driving. I hear from other people on the forum that the fuel economy gets better as it adapts to my driving style. I'm gonna look into the My Fuelly thing, seems quite useful! Thanks!

Simple enough . . . get onto a flat stretch of road and set the cruise control to 100 kph - instantaneous fuel economy shoould read in the 9-11 kph range.

As to putting your ear against the wall and hearing motor noises . . . don't. You want it quiet back there, shut down the rear ventilation.

Your USB issue? Try a different brand of key and see if the problem persists. Have you run into the 250 song, 1 gig of music limitation? Do the controls and display get sluggish when playing high bit rate MP3s?

I'll definitely give that a try next time I hit the highway. Should I reset the average L/100KM? or should I just read off the current fuel economy bar?

Well I only put my ear up against the side of the car when the acessories/electronics are turned on, while the engine being off. Most of the time, I have the rear vents/climate system shut/turned off. But when my passengers do want the heater/cooler, it tends to get a bit loud in the back right.

It's been below 5 Celsius in Vancouver for the past week and I haven't had the problem since 2 weeks ago. I hope it continues to work perfectly. It's only at 139 songs, but 1.03GB used out of my 4g drive. The system works perfectly fine even when playing the 320K songs (which is the bitrate of over 100 of my songs).

Thanks for all the help, I'll keep you guys posted!