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I assume nothing has been made simply because the usual buyer of a Journey isn't interested in performance. Now if they offered something for the 3.6L vans, I'd be scratching my head. It's no secret that people buy a Journey because they want the versatility and 3 rows in a lighter package without the stigma of owning a minivan. Personally, coming from a Road & Track sport package Charger, I'm happy with the top-end performance of my Journey. Surprisingly quick sonuvabich. I just wish it had better low-end torque for faster launches. Doesn't need to be tire-smoking, but more torque in the low end would certainly improve day-to-day city driving characteristics. I was talking to someone who has a 2012 Avenger R/T about it, and it is quite interesting that we have identical engines and drivetrains (or at least, Avenger had AWD available to it, his is FWD), and the Journey is based largely on the Avenger/Sebring/200, and yet Diablo does not list the Journey.

That's correct. European cars have an additional red light in the back to help drivers behind them see them in thick fog. Parking lights tend not to be enough, so a brighter set of red fog lights help substantially. They aren't intended to be on all the time, however it's not uncommon to see Audi's in the US with their rear foglights on constantly, even in clear weather, I suppose for some kind of cool factor.

If it's anything like the 300M, it's difficult and the wiring isn't already there. The NA-spec 300M does not have rear fog lamps, while the EU-spec 300M does (along with front "city-lights", halogen projectors, and headlamp washers). In order to add rear fog lamps, one must install a switch up front, and get crafty tapping into the foglamp circuit and pinning the tail lamp harness to turn on the secondary filament on the corresponding bulb. I've thought about doing it on mine, but it's a bit of work. The EU-spec headlamp switch had a switch for rear fog as well as a headlamp-leveling dial that the NA-spec switch does not have.

It's been over five years since I had a car with an oil monitoring system and it typically lit up around 3,000 miles (2003 Grand Prix). On my 300M, I typically do a 5,000 mile OCI, and Blackstone Labs told me I should be able to go to 7,000 miles on the oil I use. My Journey is at 3800 miles on the factory fill, no sign of the OMS light. When is the typical first service? It's the first car I've owned with 4-figure mileage and I've heard that new engines tend to need a first oil change sooner than usual.

I wouldn't be surprised if the reverse lights and hatch switch share a ground, or perhaps the hatch switch and headlamp switch. Look for a ground near the rear of the vehicle (probably need to remove interior trim pieces) and around the headlight switch in the dash.

Something I always do when I wash my cars is, after drying the exterior and finishing with the wheels, wheel wells, engine, I take a clean MF towel and spray-wash solution and go to town on the door and trunk (liftgate in this case) jambs. It does seem like the weatherstripping could be better back there to block dust from collecting, but giving the aerodynamic nature of the shape of the Journey (and any CUV, SUV, MPV for that matter), it's to be expected to see more dirt collect there. I have to wonder though if the rear fog lights on the Journey in Europe (guessing all Fiat Freemonts?) would alleviate that reflector dirt problem. Off topic, how do the reflectors look tinted? I'm off and on about modifying my Journey with anything permanent since I plan on getting into an SRT Journey, Grand Cherokee, or a sport wagon if the big three decide to make them by 2018. Trying not to do anything that will reduce its value...

Curious about that as well. I've noticed US-spec rear reflectors leak water around the edges, leaving a mess on the fascia. I've also heard they collect stones, which can be a hazard while washing. I haven't experiences it yet, in spite of the horrible ground-up roads around Metro Detroit.

All else fails, you can get a subwoofer that is switchable. The two 10" subwoofers I installed in my 300M Special (Infinity Kappa Perfect 100.9W) are 4/2 ohm switchable. I have them set to 2 ohm at the flick of a switch, aligning them with the rest of my Infinity Kappa speaker system (the OEM Infinity Spatial Imaging system was 2 ohm as well, removed for my custom designed system).

I've never purchased a brand new car, but doesn't the dealer generally go over various features with new owners to avoid the fog associated with alien features? I would think they'd be happy to demonstrate it for someone spending so much money at once. It's worth asking the question of the salesperson who completes the delivery transaction. If he doesn't know, ask him if someone might know... there could be a Uconnect guru on site.

I wasn't aware that hands-free texting was an option... but then I don't need my car to do that. From my R/T 8.4 (no nav) I haven't tried. I have a Moto X, which senses that I'm driving as soon as the car senses my fob approaching and fires up the electronics. Bluetooth pairs before I even get in. As people text me, the Moto X offers to read aloud the message, and then offers to send a reply via voice dictation...

I always say to myself that I'm buying a brand-new car, I'm ordering it instead of picking one off the lot. So far every car I've purchased has been used, with me as the second owner. My 2014 R/T Journey included (bought it with 2,000 miles, first owner's wife wanted more content and a Grand Cherokee, so his loss was my gain!). But, I'm not sure I could sweat the anticipation. I'd be bouncing off the walls...

What weights are you guys pulling? We've considered putting a hitch on one of our Journeys (mine has the 3.6L, 6-speed, AWD, so guess who's losing that battle...) and getting a camper down the road to spend weekends up north with. All depends on toy priorities after we buy a house to store them. I want my Camaro, dangit!

Good to see others pulling good numbers. I don't buy cars for fuel economy since my commute is 6 miles round trip of stop-n-go, often sitting through 4-5 traffic light cycles at two major intersections. I get about 16.5 MPG average like that. I do manage to get 27-29 on the highway at about 70 MPH if traffic isn't a pain. I'm at 3600 miles now, hoping it improves as the engine continues to break in.

I always go to sylvania's website to find the bulb numbers for any car. http://www.sylvania.com/en-us/applications/automotive-lighting-systems/Pages/lrgallbulbs.aspx?year=2013&qual=60&model=1223&make=24 2013 Dodge Journey w/ LED tail lights has a bulb size of 2504. Google says 2504 crosses with 5202 and H16. When in doubt, go with the H-series bulb. The bulb on my Charger was 91XX, crossed with an H-series bulb, H11 IIRC. I went with H11 and had no problem installing the new kit. For my Journey I might go with LED since the OEM foglight is useless anyway. My Special has LED bulbs for that same reason. I was hoping to get projector headlights with HID but it looks like the only good solution is to buy TYC-brand headlights, open them up, and replace the reflectors with TRS projectors. I wouldn't mind it if the TYC headlights weren't so expensive by themselves. Eagle-brand OEM-replica projectors for my Charger were cheaper at $200. Yikes.

I can guarantee the above posted photo is nothing more than a what a fan with decent photoshop skills wishes it will look like. SRT Hellcat/LX Charger SRT8 hood scoop, 2014 Durango headlights and fascia squeezed to Journey proportions, etc. We won't see the SRT Journey until sometime after the new base model is introduced, which we can expect to happen sometime next year either at NAIAS in January or NYAS in April. MAYBE LAAS in November, but that's a stretch given that not even AllPar has made any noise about the next Journey (that I've noticed, and I've been getting more familiar with AllPar as AllPar and the 300M Club get more connected). I would not expect to see spy shots of the SRT Journey for at least another year. Fiats latest plan is for production at the tail end of 2016 as a late 2017 MY entry, so we might not see anything for as many as two years. My guess? I would expect the next Journey (base version) to adopt features from the 2014 Durango, and appear to be something like a baby Durango/lifted/bloated Dart hatchback (Fiat offers a Viaggio/Dart hatch in China). The SRT version will likely be turbocharged with standard AWD, though whether it has a four or six remains to be seen. Currently Chrysler has no turbocharged six, however it has a turbo four in the works, so we may see that installed with over 300 BHP. I would expect a 2.4L turbo engine outperforming the Caliber SRT engine with modern tech from Fiat. If the Dart SRT is released before we know more about the Journey SRT, I'd expect the same or similar engine to be used. My plan for my next vehicle is to purchase a 2018 MY Grand Cherokee Limited, Journey R/T, or Journey SRT, depending on which vehicle has the best bang for buck, looks, and fits my budget at the time. Unless I go to work for GM, in which case I might flog my employee discount if they manage to build something worthy of having my name on the title.

When I was car shopping I couldn't help but notice the front dual-piston calipers and larger rotors on my Journey R/T appeared to be similar to the ones on my old 2007 Charger R/T Road & Track. I thought that was interesting, but unsurprising given it was a modern vehicle, and heavy. It seems new cars of all types are getting larger and larger brakes to improve on safety, and given that the Journey is designed from the start to be a family hauler, safety is built in. As for braking feel, I haven't slammed on the brakes on my '14 R/T yet (just under 3600 miles currently), but the feel isn't really any different from my 02 300M Special, which has smaller 11" rotors with single-piston calipers. We'll see. I don't have a family (bought it for carting the dog and "stuff"), so one of these days I'll look around, whistle nonchalantly, and test the brakes.

I realize this in an old thread, but there was something in the OP that made me wince. Do NOT use fabric softener on your MF towels while washing them. Part of the charm of microfiber is the static charge that sucks up dust particles. Fabric softener ruins their ability to do this. Just use detergent (without softener). When drying, the preference is for low or no heat. Heat ruins the fibers. http://www.autogeek.net/mi101.html I've gotten quite a few great detailing tips from Autogeek, I highly suggest anyone interested in washing their vehicle go there and peruse. They also sell many different products. Lately I've become affluent in car detailing, as I take my 2002 300M Special to car shows both local and far away. That car has a detailing regimen that is probably far more work than anyone would want to do on their daily driver. Here's what I did on my Journey a week after I took it home from the dealer, 6 months after it was produced (production 01/2014, original in-service date 3/20/2014, my purchase date 5/20/2014). Yes, I highly recommend doing this even for a car hot out of the factory. The first wash felt like sandpaper, and now it feels like glass. 1. Wash wheels, engine bay, tires, wheel wells - Spray engine bay down, avoiding electronics (battery, alternator, fuse/relay center, PCM/TCM/ECM, some people put foil over these, I never have and have not had issues). Spray a good degreaser on dirtiest parts, avoiding rubber and paint. Let sit a minute, then hose off. Do not start engine until it has dried. Do not use Simple Green, as it is known to cause corrosion on aluminum parts. I use Purple Power Citrus available at Autozone. Wheels - spray down with Adams Green Wheel Cleaner. Follow directions on bottle, and spray off. If the wheel is particularly nasty, scrub with a wheel brush. Do this on the wheel face and on the inside, reaching between the spokes. Special brushes are available to get around the lug nuts. Wheel wells - Spray the liners with Black Magic Bleche White. Hose off. Take a wad of Nevr Dull (auto parts store) and rub it around the liner. Great for removing road tar and many nasty things we run over each day. Spray again with Bleche White and hose off to remove white residue left behind by Nevr Dull. Tires - Scrub with auto wash. There is product similar to Bleche White made for black tires, though I have not used it. I have used Purple Power in the past with good results. 2. Wash - Meguiar's Deep Crystal Wash (Advance) (car wash soap is fairly irrelevant, as its only purpose is to provide lubrication between the wash mitt and paint surface to aid in dirt/grime removal), two 5-gallon buckets (nice and cheap at Home Depot), two grit guards (autogeek, and sometimes at major car shows under vendor tents), blue "chenille" wash mitt (Advance). Wash whole exterior, get in all the tight spots, use top-down approach. IE wash horizontal surfaces first, then verticle surfaces, then fascias and rockers. Doing so avoids rubbing dirt into the paint. Have soap solution in one bucket, plain water in the other. Rinse your mitt after wiping it on the car in the water bucket, reaching down to the bottom and rubbing it against the grit guard to remove dirt and contaminants, before dipping into the soap bucket for fresh soap. One panel at a time, rinse it before it dries, and keep vehicle wet until you're finished and ready to dry. Dry vehicle with waffle-weave microfiber towel. I like to soak the towel first, then ring it out. Sounds counter-productive, but it helps the towel soak up water much better. I drag it across the vehicle front to back, then get the sides, then fascias and rockers. Open your hood, trunk/gate, doors, fuel door and use a waterless wash spray (Griots Garage waterless wash at Advance is nice) and MF towel to clean and dry your jambs and backside of doors, hood, decklid/liftgate. This is important to complete the clean look and help avoid rust forming from water left in the door seams. 3. Clay bar - Meguiar's Gold Class (any auto parts store). Yes, even a brand new vehicle. ESPECIALLY a brand new vehicle. These cars leave the factory with fresh paint before they've fully cured. They're exposed to pollen, the elements, rail dust, etc as they're transported to the dealer. The result is a surface not unlike sandpaper. Take the clay bar and fold it over, knead it. Three times. Take any plain detail spray (I like Meguiar's Quik Detail, which comes in the Clay Bar kit), spray a section of a panel, slide the clay bar across the surface back and forth, up and down, not in circles, until there is no more resistance. Do not rub it in, use minimal pressure. Keep the surface lubricated with the detail spray. Wipe it off with a clean MF towel and, fold over the clay and knead it, move to the next section. If you drop the clay bar, throw it out and get fresh clay. It WILL pick up garbage from the ground and WILL scratch the paint. I clay bar my show car once per year in the Spring, and my daily driver twice per year before and after Winter. 4. If you have a lot of swirls and scratches, this is where you would polish the car. I like Meguiar's M105 heavy cut polish for heavy swirls, followed by M205 fine-cut to finish it out. Otherwise M205 is fine. Be aware, this stuff dries white. It will get on plastic trim if it isn't masked off, and it will collect in paint chips. My paint was fine, having only 2,000 miles on it, so I did not polish it (and yes, I have a pure black PX8 Journey). Be careful, as it will leave white marks on any plastic or rubber it gets on. Standard fare with auto store waxes and polishes. If that does happen, Stoner makes a product called Trim Shine that has worked well at restoring and cleaning up the textured grey plastic ground effects on my Special. 5. If you're satisfied with the level of swirls in the paint (IE didn't have any to start, or removed them in step 4) you can now move on to your favorite sealant or wax. If you just want wax or sealant and to be done with it, you can't go wrong with products by Meguiar's, Griot's Garage, and Mother's at auto parts stores. They dry white, so be careful. Spread it on, and let it dry. Do the whole vehicle before you start buffing it off. If you buff it off before it dries, then it hasn't adhered to the paint and you've wasted product and time. On my Journey, I used a product called Zaino AIO. This is an all-in-one swirl remover, polish, and wax. Zaino recommends it for daily drivers. Zaino itself is a fairly expensive product, I think I spent close to $150 this year buying Z-AIO, Z-2, Z-5, Z-6, Z-9, Z-10, and Z-FX. Each of those products does different things (Z-2 and Z-5 are polish coats, Z-FX is a flash cure additive for Z-2 and Z-5, Z-6 is a gloss enhancing spray, Z-9 and Z-10 are leather products). It's expensive, but when used properly it lasts a long time. My $150 investment should last a few years at least. The key Zaino is "a little goes a long way". I use a dime-sized amount of product per panel.That's right. A dime. Any more than that is wasted product. One ounce of Z-5 and Z-2 does three coats on a sedan. I used maybe one ounce on one coat of Z-AIO on my Journey. On my show car I used ALL of those products to get a "mile-deep" shine out of the Deep Sapphire Blue pearlcoat paint. On my daily driver, I used one coat of Z-AIO. One coat of that stuff covered up what few swirls I had and put down a layer of protection that has nasty rainwater micro-beading two months later. The fun thing about Zaino? Layering it makes it better and better. On my show car I have one coat of Z-AIO, three coats of Z-5, a coat of Z-6, and three coats of Z-2. I used Z-FX flash-cure additive to reduce the cure time from 8 hours to 20 minutes on the Z-2 and Z-5, and people can't stop staring at it. The paint is smoother now than it was when it left Brampton Assembly in April 2002. I'll keep layering on Z-2 through October to deepen the shine before I store it for the Winter. Z-AIO combines the effects of those products to work very well in a daily-driver application. Two coats should be enough to last you 4-6 months. I'll apply maybe 5 coats throughout the year between full details. With that much use, the bottle should easily last a few years. Obviously with multiple cars, it will go faster. 6. Trim and tires - I use Adams VRT and Stoner Trim Shine on all plastic and rubber trim, as well as weatherstripping in the door and trunk openings. I use Stoner More Shine on the tires and engine plastics. I may soon start using Black Magic Tire Gel, but that is more involved. Use a brush to get the gel into all of the features of the side wall. Do each tire, then come back with an old towel and buff off the excess product, otherwise you'll sling it all over the car. 7. Interior - Since this isn't in the interior section, I'll just quickly note how to clean the inside. Vacuum the carpet and mats. Use Bissel Mean Green Machine to shampoo if you have to. Vacuum seats. Use Z-10 Leather in a Bottle to restore your leather if you have it. 303 Aerospace protectant on the dash, console, door panels. Do not let it dry. Spray on a MF towel, wipe on, buff off. Glass - Stoner Invisible glass every time. Safe on tint and doesn't streak. Some tips: Meguiar's ScratchX is great for getting out surface scratches and swirls in your clearcoat and paint. Meguiar's PlastX is great for cleaning up headlight and tail light lenses. I used both of these on a salvage yard tail light for my show car that looked tired next to the mint light on the other side, and it cleaned up perfectly. Nevr-Dull is an awesome product with many uses. I described it here for the wheel well liners, however I also use it on my polished exhaust tips, polished and machined wheel surfaces, and various metal surfaces under the hood to remove stuck-on dirt and remove contaminants from the metal. Wipe away the wadding chemical with a MF towel. MF towels - Softer the better. I get mine at Costco - pack of 36 for $16 Black trim dressing - I use a product called BlackWOW to dress a lot of the trim on my show car. There is also PreWOW for cleaning the surfaces if needed. I have not used it on my dail driver and do not use it often, since the Pre-WOW and BlackWOW kit at Autogeek is $45. I used it on the rear window trim on my Special that has been nasty and fighting me for years. Now it looks brand new. I let it sit for several hours before allowing water to hit it, and it hasn't washed off yet, in spite of washing the car and driving it through two super cell storms in PA. The stuff smells great, too. In between washes, as suggested the California Duster is great for removing dust. If it has rained, it's best to wash the car. Use only a GENUINE CALIFORNIA DUSTER. Knock-offs don't suck up the dust nearly as well. After a weekly washed use a spray detailer - Meguiar's Quik Detail, Eagle One Nanowax detailer, Zaino Z-6 are all good. The Zaino is expensive, so I only use it for shows. Otherwise I use Meguiar's and Eagle One. Meguiar's NXT Generation and Final Inspection are also good ones to use, I have a bottle of Final Inspection in my kit.

On the LH and LX platforms, all that was needed was to swap out the OEM radio with an RB1 or RB4 for LH cars, and REC or RER for LX vehicles, and running a nav antenna to a location where it could catch a good satellite signal. I had added an RB1 to my Special years ago and later a Kenwood SatNav and ran the antenna to the center of the dash under the trim piece below the windshield. I've had my Journey for two months now and have't looked into it yet, but swapping out whatever passes for a radio in this touch screen system for what looks like the latest RB-series chrysler SatNav sounds like it would work just fine, The ease of doing it depends on what is needed to pull the bezel out (piece of cake in a 300M, Charger, Magnum, 300C, Challenger, bit more involved but doable on an Intrepid) and how easy it is to wedge the antenna up in the dash or pull the trim piece at the base of the windshield and attach it there. $1200 seems pretty steep though?

FWIW, we have two Journeys (my 2014 R/T Rallye AWD with Alpine audio and my other half's 2014 SXT Blacktop 2.4L FWD with base audio) and my Alpine system has a lot more bass to it. I feel like there could certainly be more, but when my show vehicle (2002 Chrysler 300M Special) has a completely upgraded audio system with custom 6.5" Infinity Kappa components front and rear, Infinity Kappa Perfect 10" subwoofers, Kenwood 400w 4-channel amp, Infinity 600w 2-channel, RF 3SIXTY.3 DSP, and a Nexus 7 in place of the radio... I can't really trust my own judgements for audio. In all probability, my Alpine system in my Journey probably would more than satisfy the majority of consumers.

Hello all. As of May 20, 2014, I am the proud owner of a 2014 Dodge Journey R/T. 3.6L, 6-spd, AWD, with Rallye appearance package. I traded my 2007 Charger R/T with 29R Road & Track sport package for this after I adopted my friends dog and realized that the suede seats weren't going work, so it was time to get into the 5-door vehicle I've been wanting for a few years. My other half bought a 2014 Journey SXT Black Top 2.4L earlier this year and turned me on to it (though the 4-banger was not on the radar at all, I need power and the 3.6L delivers!). I did some searching, and came across my 2,000 mile R/T at a dealer near my office that was traded when the husbands wife wanted something with more content. His loss on the trade was my gain. Coming here now and absorbing what I can. As the title suggests, I don't know much about this car. I've learned that it has the Rallye appearance package (black headlight buckets, body color (PX8, a color I'm familiar with on the LH platform) grille, Anthracite 19" wheels, roof rack deleted, sport-tuned suspension, black leather seating with red stitching on seats, door bolsters, door armrests, steering wheel. It has the Alpine audio system and 8.4" touch screen, auto up/down front windows, heated steering wheel, remote start, however it lacks a sunroof, navigation, and rear backup camera. I did consider other CUVs and SUVs, however I found nothing else held a candle to the power, refinement, quality of materials, and price as my Journey. That seems to be the way with Chrysler... every comparable competitor falls short on everything else. There are a number of things I'd like to do to it to make it my own, however the goal is to avoid large expense and permanent modifications. I'd like to end up with: - Rear fascia protector - Rear back-up camera - Navigation system of somekind - Wish the Android Auto function of the upcoming Android L update worked here - Projector HID headlights - Projector HID or LED foglights - Upgraded air intake system, likely short ram to avoid hydrolock - Upgraded exhaust - WK1 Grand Cherokee SRT 20x9 wheels with 255/40/20 tires (245/45/20 keeps OEM tire diameter, however I want as wide of a tire as possible on a 9" wheel) I saw a Journey Crossroad on display at the Carlisle All-Chrysler Nationals in Carlisle, PA this past weekend with 255/50/19 tires on it that looked fantastic. The 225/50/19 on the car now look far too thin... one of the vices of what everyone calls a "van" I suppose. Anyway, these upgrades will happen a little at a time. Currently saving for my first house, and I tend to relieve my mod-bug itch on my 2002 Chrysler 300M Special (laundry list there already, with a lot of lighting, audio ripped out and completely customized with tablet and DSP, and performance mods). I can see the modding culture for Journey buyers at large is not unlike that of the LH platform, resulting in zero aftermarket, so I'll have to get crafty. But, that's half the fun! For now, if I could find a good rear fascia protector and full front-end mask, I'd be happy for the rest of the year...