Neon SRT-4 Finally tested... we have underrated HP numbers!

[Rent]

This is the biggest collection of net racers I've seen in a long time.

I won't say a word about the SRT-4 until I drive one. They could have made a ton of improvements to it over its little brothers. A base Focus is a total POS as well, but the SVT is a delight. I won't care if you dog on this car AFTER it comes out, but as for now (NFS and others), I would advise you go outside and start test driving REAL cars instead of reading about them.

Desslok - The STI wing is the only model that makes the wing functional. All the WRX riceboys and 2.5RS scrubs tak those gaudy wings on their cars, so I don't wanna hear that the wing is functional on a car that isn't even in the states yet.

Ahh, I feel better. This is why is dislike SCC, its one of the worst mags to get this stuff out of.

 

[geno]

Originally posted by: dirtboy

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
BUILD THE DAMN RAZOR
That I would love to buy.

🙂 Now where's that fool that said I was ignorant for wanting a rwd car under 20k. Too bad they aren't building the Razor... 🙁

I never called you ignorant, but hey, you said it - not me. Is the Razor available yet? I thought not - it's nowhere close to being a production car. So until Chrysler makes a difference (Chrysler? Innovating? Nah, never - they have crappy quality!

). Also, if it does ever come out, it'll be far from practical, so if you'd like your little RWD go kart, there you have it!

 

[geno]

Anyone that buys an SRT I would be more than willing to show you what a WRX plus a thousand dollars in engine mods can do.

LOL - have fun upgrading/raplacing that tranny once it bombs on you

Most WRX people I've spoken to wouldn't trust anywhere near 300HP with it 🙂

It's a ricer POS as nfs4 said.

No, it's not a ricer. In fact, it'll smack the hell out of any (real) ricer such as the Spec-V - which has no real speed to back it up.

A base Focus is a total POS as well, but the SVT is a delight. I won't care if you dog on this car AFTER it comes out, but as for now (NFS and others), I would advise you go outside and start test driving REAL cars instead of reading about them.

Great statement Radeon 🙂

 

[CraigRT]

NFS4 = retard

gotta love the very first post... great addition there buddy!!

anyways, this car kicks ass... for a second there I thought I was on neons.org! (switching between AT and .org)

genocide, were you in the PVO chat on Dodge.com? car sounds freaking sweet. it's totally different than a regular neon or R/T even. Car is gonna haul some serious buttocks, and look sweet while doing it! 😀😀😀

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Yield
NFS4 = retard

gotta love the very first post... great addition there buddy!!

anyways, this car kicks ass... for a second there I thought I was on neons.org! (switching between AT and .org)

genocide, were you in the PVO chat on Dodge.com? car sounds freaking sweet. it's totally different than a regular neon or R/T even. Car is gonna haul some serious buttocks, and look sweet while doing it! 😀😀😀

I'm glad you take pleasure in callingme a retard 😀

Do you have anything else meaningful to add? 😛

I won't care if you dog on this car AFTER it comes out, but as for now (NFS and others), I would advise you go outside and start test driving REAL cars instead of reading about them.

You could easily apply that statement to people praising the car before it comes out, so what's your point? You can't criticize one group without applying the same standards to the other.

That being said, when it comes to domestic compact cars, the Focus is THE benchmark...not the Neon.

 

[Cfour]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: Yield
NFS4 = retard

gotta love the very first post... great addition there buddy!!

anyways, this car kicks ass... for a second there I thought I was on neons.org! (switching between AT and .org)

genocide, were you in the PVO chat on Dodge.com? car sounds freaking sweet. it's totally different than a regular neon or R/T even. Car is gonna haul some serious buttocks, and look sweet while doing it! 😀😀😀

I'm glad you take pleasure in callingme a retard 😀

Do you have anything else meaningful to add? 😛

I won't care if you dog on this car AFTER it comes out, but as for now (NFS and others), I would advise you go outside and start test driving REAL cars instead of reading about them.

You could easily apply that statement to people praising the car before it comes out, so what's your point? You can't criticize one group without applying the same standards to the other.

That being said, when it comes to domestic compact cars, the Focus is THE benchmark...not the Neon.

I think his original post was merely stating the potential this car could have. Personally, I'm keeping my mouth shut until I drive one, and I wish many of you here would do the same...

BTW, the WRX (although a great car) is pretty damn over-hyped on these boards.

 

[CraigRT]

I'm not going to wait until i drive one to pass judgement... i already have an R/T an it's almost the same inside minus colors and such.. the SRT is about 2 seconds faster in the 1/4 mile... freaking awesome... no need to test drive this, i already like my car... the SRT is all that much better.

 

[Bullhonkie]

Originally posted by: geno

First off I KNOW the WRX's have a TMIC, so obviously it needs somewhere to get the air from - and as for the wing, does it really serve a purpose? Cmon now - gimme the answers I wanna hear...

The WRX spoiler doesn't really serve a purpose, but it's pretty small and also optional so you can just as easily have one without it. If you mean the bigger wing that's seen on the STi, straight from this press release:

The advances incorporated into this model include the exterior design with superb aerodynamics due to a new front design and large rear spoiler, large headlamps that are more effective for night rallies, and a functional interior. These changes are all for the purpose of improving driving performance.

In addition, the WRX STi has superior front to rear aerodynamic balance and improved stability during high-speed driving by its special aerodynamic equipment, i.e., front corner spoilers, side sill spoilers and the large rear spoiler. Cooling of the inter-cooler has also been enhanced by enlarging the air intake in the bonnet to increase air intake.

Emphasis in bold added by me. Thank you, please drive through. 😛

 

[StageLeft]

CFour I know it may seem that way but I disagree about the WRX being overhyped. This is why: The car costs $24k and what do you get?
1) AWD. Although many people don't need this, for those in wintery climates or where it rains all the time this can be a great benefit.
2) Fast as hell. The car does 0-60 in 6 flat.
3) Subaru. You don't sacrifice quality to get those two pros above. Subaru has outstanding build quality.

 

[MiataGirl]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
CFour I know it may seem that way but I disagree about the WRX being overhyped. This is why: The car costs $24k and what do you get?
1) AWD. Although many people don't need this, for those in wintery climates or where it rains all the time this can be a great benefit.
2) Fast as hell. The car does 0-60 in 6 flat.
3) Subaru. You don't sacrifice quality to get those two pros above. Subaru has outstanding build quality.

it's more like 5.4 seconds 0-60 🙂

 

[vi edit]

it's more like 5.4 seconds 0-60

As I mentioned in another thread, in order to achieve those numbers, you're looking at a clutch rebuild and tranny problems before you hit 30,000 miles(if you make it that long).

It's one thing to be able to achieve respective numbers, it's an entirely different thing to be able to do it without thrashing the drive train to death.

 

[MiataGirl]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

it's more like 5.4 seconds 0-60

As I mentioned in another thread, in order to achieve those numbers, you're looking at a clutch rebuild and tranny problems before you hit 30,000 miles(if you make it that long).

It's one thing to be able to achieve respective numbers, it's an entirely different thing to be able to do it without thrashing the drive train to death.

well, it's one thing to drop the clutch from 4000 rpms or whatever, but most people i know just side-step it, which isn't nearly as bad.

but how many cars can you actually drag regularly to get magazine times without doing damage to it?

 

[geno]

Emphasis in bold added by me. Thank you, please drive through

It's a press release written by Subaru for god's sake! What are they supposed to write, "we added a useless front fascia and rear wing just so it'll look pretty"

of course they're gonna attribute a function to it! Hell, even Dodge says that the exterior pieces on the SRT added are for aerodynamics, but do I believe it for a second? No. They don't build these cars from the factory to be stable at 150mph, they're NOT built to do top speed runs, so do you honestly think they'd put in tons R&D into aerodynamics (for that 1% of buyers who do max it out) or just claim that the parts serve that function?

 

[dirtboy]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: dirtboy

The Maxima is fwd. 😉

so is the GTP. i think thats what she was getting at.

??? Well that's just a plain stupid post then. I could buy a KIA that is fwd and under $20k. Hell I could buy two of them and still have money left over. Pfft.[/quote]

yeah, but how much power does a KIA have? you called a maxima crap, now me and every other maxima fan boy here is going to haunt you for the rest of your bruce lee loving days.[/quote]

I will consider myself haunted then.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: dirtboy

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: dirtboy

The Maxima is fwd. 😉

so is the GTP. i think thats what she was getting at.

??? Well that's just a plain stupid post then. I could buy a KIA that is fwd and under $20k. Hell I could buy two of them and still have money left over. Pfft.

yeah, but how much power does a KIA have? you called a maxima crap, now me and every other maxima fan boy here is going to haunt you for the rest of your bruce lee loving days.[/quote]

I will consider myself haunted then.[/quote]
|\|\4X!|\|\4 p|/|/n5 j00! 😛

 

[thedarkwolf]

Somebody over at the hard forum actually posted some scans of the article.
http://www.hardforums.com/showthread.php?s=7028ccb87ef282f183a962932382e25d&threadid=517546&perpage=15&pagenumber=1
Check out that torque curve.

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
Somebody over at the hard forum actually posted some scans of the article.
http://www.hardforums.com/showthread.php?s=7028ccb87ef282f183a962932382e25d&threadid=517546&perpage=15&pagenumber=1
Check out that torque curve.

guess that thread throw's out NFS4's whole "wrx is a rally car" argument.

 

[vi edit]

No cruise control? WTF?

 

[cjchaps]

From the link a few posts above:
"Oh yea ... this is SCC dec issue - some may say that Dodge sent them a ringer, but it's rumored that Dodge's quote of 215 hp and 245 lbs of tq to the public is actually to the wheels!"

If that 215 is to the wheels, that means that the crank power on the Neon would be around 240-250 and Torque would be at 270-290 maybe? I'm thinking probably not. No car manufacturer EVER quotes HP to the wheels.

 

[cjchaps]

Geeze, what are you smoking, I want some of it. Just because they slap a bunch of stickers on a Neon, and drive it off road doesn't mean it's a rally car. The Neon was not designed to be a rally car, where is the WRX was and is. Are you saying any car that I put stickers on and drive on a dirt road is a rally car? If the neon was built from the ground up to be for rally it wouldn't be FWD either.

guess that thread throw's out NFS4's whole "wrx is a rally car" argument.

 

[Rent]

You could easily apply that statement to people praising the car before it comes out, so what's your point? You can't criticize one group without applying the same standards to the other.

That being said, when it comes to domestic compact cars, the Focus is THE benchmark...not the Neon.

I tell that to everyone the same thing I posted up in here when they start getting all giddy about a car that hasn't come out yet.

The Neon isn't even out yet, so it doesn't matter what benchmark you put it up for because it doesn't mean sh!t. When we get production SRT-4s, then you can start going off about what is wrong/right with the car.

This is the only hot hatch I've yet to drive. Rest assured when I can get my grubby hands on one, I'll come back with a full report.

 

[iamwiz82]

there have been quite of few of these done for awhile. I konw that they produced at least 5. One was destroyed in a car accident involving a former-exec's son(guess why he doesnt work there anymore). They made 2 originally, one black, one yellow. These two did not have the styling of the current one. They did a minor facelift and butt lift to the 2 newest ones. BTW, those are momo racing seats with the holes fo the 5 pt harness filled in. My dad is the one who did the seats for the prototypes.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
No cruise control? WTF?

Interior pic with cruise

that one has cruise.

 

[Balthazar]

Originally posted by: dirtboy

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
Meh...would have taken it more seriously if it weren't so ugly 😕

Anyway, let's see if I end up happy with my S2000 😀

One of my clients has one and I drove it and then a Miata. I like the Miata 10x's more than the S2000. I think in the end if I am to buy a roadster I will get a used M Roadster only because I can't afford to drop down $60+k on a new Boxster S.

I am the exact opposite, Miatas a cutesy cars, I didn't care too much for the one I road in (a 2001 if memory serves) but my friends S200 was alot of fun and a) I could actually sit in it without feeling like I'm gay, and b) I though it drove all around better than the Miata.

As for roadsters though, can't stand the M series roadster, I would taz a Z roadster any day of the week, I just cannot get past the looks of the M's (the coupes are absolutely horrible too).

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: NFS4
Too bad it looks like a ricer POS. Crappy interior to go with the riceboy scoops, wings, and various other crap. But hey, what do you expect for $20,000 from Chrysler.

Anyway, Neons are junk and a purdy engine isn't gonna make it any better. Spend the extra $2k and get a REAL car like the WRX.

How could you say as a car enthusiast? The Neon SRT is not designed for dashboard strokers, it was designed to be a economical performance machine that blows the doors of anything in its price-range in acceleration, performance, and handling; and from what I have read on it, it does all three quite well. The Neon ACR is already an auto-x champion, and the acceleration/braking figures show it stellar results as well. This car will be a winner if it is reliable (which it should be..well apart from the first production problems that will probably crop up).

No one thinks about interior or re-sale value (and that will probably be null since people will modify the crap out of it) when they think of this car. They think about flexibility of the drivetrain/engine/suspension, mods, boost, etc...

You can really discuss the interior of the Neon since it doens't really matter. This car was designed for the 10% enthusiast market, not Joe and his mommy.

Like I've said many times, I don't have a one track mind like many of you other performance nuts out there. There is more to a car than performance to me. If the car doesn't have the whole package, then I don't give to sh!ts about it.

The reason why most don't think about resale value is b/c you have 18-22 year olds buying the vehicles and don't know any better to begin with. Maybe it's just that I've mellowed as I've grown older, but cheap thrills don't always stroke my fire. I want something with more substance, something that does it all. I still find it funny that the Neon STILL has power front windows and rollup rear ones😉

In this price range, you have the WRX and you have the Neon SRT-4. Neither are going to win any beauty contests, but my money goes with the Scoobie. You hear people bitch about Dodge cars and their problems all the time. Rarely do you hear people have mechanical problems with Subarus.

As to saying that a real enthusiast would welcome the car, fine. I welcome a car that can deliver performance at this price but DON'T THINK FOR ONE MINUTE that I am REQUIRED to like it b/c of this.

There are many other vehicles that I'd rather have for $20,000 than a Neon on crack:

Mini Cooper S
VW Jetta 1.8t
Nissan Sentra SE-R
Mazda Protege 5
SVT Ford Focus
Mazda Miata

Don't think that a person is NOT an enthusiast b/c they don't bow down and quiver b/c something delivers stellar performance numbers. That's not the whole story.

But you have to look at teh car in the right context. If the Neon was an attempt at a semi-luxury sporty car, it would be a crappy car. But its not at supposed to have any instances of luxury..just pure performance..thats why we are praising it. We aren't comparing it to a A4 which would be a better car since it has a lot of luxury/smooth ride even though its slower. Its in a totally different price range.

Let me ask you (well everyone) this: Could you guys really justify the price increase of a A4 compared to a (Neon/Focus/Sentra/Corolla) just to get the good interior and luxury? Would you pay the extra $10k (or whatever it is) to have a great interior, quiet ride, supple leather?

I know I wouldn't! Maybe its cause I'm cheap or I'm satisified with a car that gets me from point A to point B while allowing me to have fun. And comfort to me = A/C + cd/radio + sunroof + no rattling. That's all I need (oh and some good seats). If a Neon can offer that while being blazing fast, then in my mind its not really any better off than its competitors.

That said I would choose a WRX over this (mainly for hte AWD) but it is not in the same price range. Also, you mentioned that performance is not everything...and your right. But when your in your 20s, comfort really doesn't matter. The guys who buy the Neons SRT, etc.. probably are gonna chuck out the suspensipon and put some coilovers with stiff rebounds and increase the boost so there is lag like hell (or crazy torque-steer) which makes the car less comfortable...and they are paying money for that! Why? Cause they enjoy it! And by the time they are older...they'd get another more-comfortable car for their family/etc...