first of all..............whats up? i'm kyle and i just joined i own an 04 v6 mustang with a few goodies done to it.............lets just say it pisses off some cocky GT owners lol. i was involved in a wreck the wednesday before thanksgiving (i wasnt at fault). i more than likely am trading the car off once i get it back from the body shop and a dakota rt is a vehicle i am eyeing up as an upgrade. i only want to do bolt ons to the truck (intake, exhuast, tune).

so my questions are, with just bolt ons, what gains can i expect from an rt (rwhp and 1/4 times)? what are the stock 1/4 times for them? build quality? typical problems?


i'm a dodge newbie, help me out

 

Stock R/t's Run i think a low 15 might want to check on that.

Stock hp and tq is 250crank so about 180hp ground.

I have Ram Air intake and stock intake box and tubing to the throttle body.
m-1 intake manafold
small cam lift rockers, heads.
Flow Pro Exuast with Dump
Larger Fuel Injectors
Headers
ect..

And im putting out about 267 to the ground, about to get a new Throttle body (ive been saying this for months) and a tune. Right now im running really rich, so increasing my air flow with my larger injectors and cam i should get a better over all boost of hp.. with the tune im looking for a good number. Im thinking/hoping little over 300 to the ground.

 

Welcome to the forum! The 5.9 R/T is a great choice. The motor/tranny platform is bulletproof, and the 5.9 definately has some of the premier, horsepower gaining, exotic upgrades which are non-existent for some of the other motors available with the dakota/durango. Please let us know what you decide to do and any pictures of the final decision.

 

what are some typical upgrades for one? i know with my mustang, intake, exhaust, pulley, and a tune can put me even with a stock 99-04 auto GT coupe till around 80, then i get pulled about 2-3 cars from 80-120ish. is it the same basic concept for a dakota? how easy/cheap are the engine, tranny to mod/fix? what about the build quality?


i have a few choices on what i plan on upgrading to:
-98+ trans am (auto or manual.........they are just as fast as each other)
-99+ mustang gt/cobra (5 speed if i get the GT)
-98-04 r/t dakota

if stock times are low 15s for a dakota, i know i will be modding that right away, b/c my v6 mustang runs high 14s/low 15s. same goes with the GT, stock times are around low 14s. the ls1 i wont mod for a while, maybe just a lid and an exhaust since they already run mid 13s, which is fast enough for me. i'm not lookin to have the fastest car on the streets, just enough oomph to put a smile on my face. an r/t would be nice b/c i know bigger displacement motors typically net better gains from boltons, therefore i would get the most bang for my buck.

 

If i had a choice.. i would by both a T/A and a Dak R/t.. lol.

T/A are major fun.. stock they smoke my dakota like its standing still.... sad.

I raced one from a dig he gave me 2 car lengths and blew past me like nothing. With bald tires, after he got new rubber.. forget it.

T/A's are fun and fast if you want somthing fun, then go with the T/A or R/T i hate stangs.. its just that everyone has them and im sick of seeing them thinking there all badass with there exhaust. You would think a Mach 1 could blow my doors off, but with new rubber on my dak im pretty damn sure i can hang/beat my friends mach 1 with a good launch.. i hung with him with bald tires.. after i burned out for a good 3 secs lol..

Sorry im shooting the **** to much. I like to talk.

I do love my truck though.. i love seeing the ricers face when i smoke a pos honda with a truck that weights 2x times as much as him..

If you do get a R/T go with a single cab i think they look better then the CC its to long, and heavier.

 

well my first truck was an s-10 single cab................too confined for me. so if i get an r/t, its gotta be an xcab. i didnt know they made a 4-door?


as far as mustangs go.................to each his own. it seems like every other non ford forum hates mustangs lol.........i dont get it. not all mustang guys think they are badass w/ exhaust [8D] but i know the kind you are talking about, they weld in some flowmasters on their GT and think they are hot ****.........gives us a bad name.


personally, i dont really care what you drive, as long as its domestic [sm=smiley20.gif] b/c in my opinion, true muscle lifts the front tires, not spin them. now, i know there are a brazillion hondas with turbos that would make me look silly in a race........but if i ever run into one on the street and lose, i wont say "man i gotta get a honda and turbo it now."

 

R/T comes in standard and CC = Club Cab aka extended cab......no Quad Cab (4 door) in the R/T, and I guess I am diff cuz I would only have a CC or QC, with a regular cab you have no room for any growth or extras like you do in the other styles of truck......but there is not that much to an R/T you can take any V8 dakota and make a truck that can smoke a standard R/T....just depends on your budget and what you really want to do to it.

 

well i dont wanna tear into the motor until i graduate college (in about 2yrs or so)........so until then, just boltons, gears, and such.

 

I second the Dakota R/T motion. Dakota's are an all around great truck. My brother bought a 1987 Dakota R/C with a 3.9 L V6 when he was 16, and he just replaced it with a brand new Cobalt SS, and he is now 24... so it lasted him 8 years, would've been more had he done regualr matinence. My mom had a 1998 Dakota R/C 2.5 L V6 5 spd and she didn't have it inspected or anything, she had it for 4 years and she only had to put $150 into it to get the Cat bypassed, no other matinence. She traded it in on a 2006 Dakota C/C with a 4.7 L V8. I myself have a 2000 Dakota C/C with a 4.7 L V8 Auto. I have had no problems, just maitenance such as Diff service and Oil changes. All of them have been very solid, the only interior squeaking coming in very cold weather, and the engines are capable...even that 2.5 was not bad on a stick. My truck is amazing, I have 183 000 kms and it runs strong. Great truck all around. I would just watch the rear end ont he R/T's being that they're performance trucks, they might have been bagged on hardcore.

And for all Dakota fans, on YouTube if you search for Dakota R/T and there is a video that is over 3 minutes long called Dakota R/T Burnouts.... shows what these truck can do!

There is my 2 cents!

Oh and also, I favour Trans Am's over Mustangs any day... a Black Trans Am is my Dream car, I would call it the Stang Killer.... sorry i digress.

BUY A DAKOTA!

 

It basicly boils down to what you want/need. You are comparing apples to oranges. A truck compared to a car. If you are looking for all-out performance right from the beginning, why are you even thinking about getting a truck? Get the T/A with the LS1. My girlfriend's 98 camaro with the LS1 is a damn blast! If you are looking to use the truck as a truck, then obviously the choice would be to get a Dakota. This is what it boils down to. If you are hungry, and you want to bake a pie, are you going to use a radio? Of course not, you would use an oven. My point being is that they both have great uses, cooking and playing music, but you can't really use them for the other job. This rings true with the dakota R/T and a T/A. The R/T is a great performance truck, but it's just that, a truck. You would need to dump several thousand dollars worth of aftermarket goodies just to keep up with a T/A stock. So if you are looking to go for all out performance, let us know how much you pick up that T/A for. If you want something that is a truck with some serious *****, let us know what color R/T you get.

But that is just my $.02

How do you like that oven/radio bit?