So heres the deal. I have a 2001 Dodge Stratus SE 2.7L V6, it has only 26000 miles on it and was owned originally by family. I know for sure it has all stock parts and 90% sure they are all original too. I was wondering if you fine people could help me out on some questions I had and also give me your honest opinions and suggestions. First thing is first, I want to keep this car in top shape since Its basically just getting broke in. So lets just say there is nothing changed in it at all ever (besides oil and the standard fluid jobs). What is the first thing i should look at to keep the car maintaining good performance? I am basically a newbie at under the hood mods too but I am determined to learn from here on out now that i have a car where i can work under the hood on rather than need a lift everytime (cough pontiac cough). I need everyone elses strategies on how you keep your vehicles in tip top shape. Also besides intake, which i am already purchasing soon. What modifications are semi cheap and semi doable without a lift or professional help? I appreciate any answers, help, tips or suggestions! Thank you in advance and hope to hear from the Dodge community soon!

 

Well the first thing i would make sure you do is change the oil and oil filter at least every 3000 miles. The 2.7 v6 are known for oil sludge problem especially for pre 2005 years. It will only be a problem if you leave your oil unchanged. The only other thing that could become an issue in the future is the timing chain. The 2.7 uses a chain instead of a belt which means around the 80k mark you should change out. Not a worry for you though. Now for add ons. If you already getting a intake that is one basic thing covered. If you want to put in some better parts that may give a tiny little bump you could start by putting in some nice bosch platinum spark plugs. If you want some better performance the only other easier... possibility is an exhaust system, but that will have to be custom since they dont make a system for the 2.7. If you dont want to do a complete system you could just replace the stock muffler and that might depending on what you use give you a couple hp. There is not much else that i can think of to get any performance out of the 2.7 that is easy and semi cheap. You can start with intake, plugs and maybe the muffler. If you want to check out other peoples rides you could check out stratusphere.net, cloudcars.org, 2gstratus.org, or 2gss.org. Good luck and congrats on the new stratus.

 

Thank you very much for the suggestions and tips. I am going to start with the intake and I was thinking about a full exhaust system, but a little up the road since I will have to get it customized. I changed the oil in it as soon as I got it, but I will get that filter changed, pretty sure they didn't change it.

 

Ya I just changed my air filter and and its a lot more responsive. Probably should have done that a while ago.