etbarden

I think I know what you're hearing and yes its normal. Its just the design of the planetary gears and the ratio of the gears. I wouldn't worry about it.

I just recently got a 2011 Dodge Journey. While I love it, I found some weird things recently. The shudder I only notice when Im going in reverse and the tranny is cold. But everything else has been ok. The new pentastar V6 and the new dual clutch 6 speed auto it pretty good. Too bad all you 09 and 10 owners got stuck with a crappy powertrain, but I must say this, computers DO help. You'd be surprised how much a powertrain update helps.

I have a 2011 USA Journey Mainstreet, no AWD and new pentastar V6. When I was city driving more, I was getting about 16-17 mpg. Now I'm in the country a little bit, I'm about 22 mpg. I had a 06 Chevy malibu V6 and that thing got same numbers maybe slightly better. I think this is good gas milage for a crossover. I don't think Acadias get that good. I'm at about 2050 miles, so hopefully the more I put on the better. Things are still tight and bearings need to loosen up. All you brand new owners, lets be patient and see if we do better with more milage. As it says in the manual "high rpms are desirable" lol.