Crane 216 cam, Mopar Performance heads, Mopar performance headers/cats, stock 6.1 "suitcase" exhaust W/resonators replaced by "Blastin' Bob's" resonated kit, 6.1 intake manifold port matched to the heads W/phenolic adaptors, CMR "Predator" tune & AFE Stage II CAI. That rounds out the engine/PCM part of the equasion
Pro-Torque 2800 Stall convertor, 3:06 SRT differential, (4.32:1 FDR in 3rd gear) 25.7" Mickey Thompson 275/40R 17 Drag radials on `17" X 9 1/2" Centerline "Hammer" forged aluminum wheels. (the short drag radials ups the effective FDR in 3rd gear to 4.67:1 compared to 28" drag radials) M&H 4.50 X 17 26" "Frontrunners" mounted on 17" stock spare wheels W/1.3" adaptors to clear the brake rotors.
Thing is, cam/heads/headers/tuner yield from 100 to 150 RWHP on the 5.7 while similar mods on the 6.1 only yield gains in the 50-75 RWHP range due to the fact that the 6.1 is already "turned up" from the factory. There is about a 25-35 RWHP difference in the end & the 200# or more of additional weight due to the beefier block & other components goes a long way to negating that HP advantage. Right now, of the 4 quickest N/A stock displacement LX cars (Magnum/300/Charger) on the LXforums database, 3 are 5.7s W/the top 2 spots held by 5.7s. (the top N/A spot is held by a 426 6.1 based stroker)
The Crane 216 W/the 112* LSA was a bit of a challenge in the idle department until the "Predator" tuner came along allowing complete control of A/F & ignition timing. The engine now idles @ 750 RPM W/the slightest hint of some lope. Just enough to tip off someone W/a good ear that something is not OEM.
Street manors are impeccable other than the fact that that the stock OEM replacemnt size 245/55R 18 BFG KDWSs will not allow me to stand on it in low gear W/O going up in smoke. MPG in my mixed rural/small town driving is about 19 MPG, hi-way cruise @ 75-80 MPH is about 23 MPG. drop to the speed limit & it goes up about 2-3 MPG.
If the Mercedes "E" class derived "NAG1" 5 speed auto could be transplanted into the early mopar bodies, (near impossible W/the overbearing computer "HAL") the 1.41:1 reduction 3rd gear would yield a FDR of 4.55 W/a 3.23 axle ratio.
Imagine that W/the 1:1 4th gear & overdrive 5th. A 10 second "A" body that you could drive to the track 4 hours away.
Check out forum member MomsR/T. He is involved W/Frank's Racing. They have been on the leading edge of developement of the new Hemi performance cams/heads & are working on "A" body tarnsplant kits.
If anyone is interested I can post some PIX, dyno charts etc. from my home computer.
I am @ work now & can not cut & paste on this computer.