i_love_spool

iTrader: (1)

Got bored today at during lunch while at school in London, Ont. so I hopped the bus and went to a Dodge dealership to check out all this hype about the SRT-4.

When I say hype, I mean my own self-built hype: Saturday night on Dundas St. W I roll up (in the Z24) behind a SRT-4 and a Stang GT...I can see the SRT-4 owner goating the Stang owner and I'm thinking to myself this is going to be a good race. Stangs are 250hp? and SRT-4's are supposedly 230hp (claimed).

Anyways light goes red, and the SRT-4 and GT just launch in a squeal of tires, I go after them (obviously losing ground). Anyways the SRT-4 just made a total meal of this GT two stop lights in a row, then the guy in the GT had enough at forked off. Anyways I pull up next to the SRT-4 and roll down my window and start chatting up the guy, buddy asks if I want to "drop it" and I'm like "nahhh I have nothin, and judging by what you just did to the Stang, you'd eat me by like 9 cars". He was like "hahaha, ya that guy was swearing the first time and lost it the second time, I guess he wasn't too happy with his brand new Stang GT"

So ya I went down to the Dodge dealership and oogled one for all of about 2 minds before I was approached by a rather leggy saleswoman.....YUM, and I though Dr. Crash's nurse was hot....HELLOOOO Dodge Saleswoman. Anyways after I was done sniffing her perfume and oogling her chest (which she obviously used to sell cars, judging by her plaques in her office). Anyways I decided to get the low-down on this SRT-4 from top to bottom and she talked me into a test-drive (well not really talked, I just nodded and watched her ( . )( . ) while she slid some keys across a desk). She mentioned something about no-obligation to buy and pressure this and pressure that.......Only pressure I felt was that coming from my pants

Hmmmmm Spool back in a Turbo-Car with a Low-cut blouse-wearing blonde......

So we hopped in a demo car that had all the bells n whistles (considering how few options there are on this car, it was LOADED).

From the second the sparkplugs light up I knew that this thing was a wolf in sheeps clothing. Pulled out onto the road, checked to make sure she had her seatbelt on and lit the thing up for a good 500 meters.

The acceleration on this thing was spectacular. Such a small car with SCARY speed. I can see SOOOO MANY people wrecking these things who don't know how to drive.

Anyways I had a spirited boot around for a good 30 mins while she blabbed on about LSD this and BOV that, and made pitches for me to commit and all about MOPAR and they're staged upgrades to make this Viper Jr. reach insane HP levels.

I asked her all about this whole 230hp-250tq thing, and mentioned that I had seen quite a few people with stock dynos that were putting up numbers that were insanely close or above the engine rating. She didn't know nothing about it, but did say that "Chrysler in the 60's and 70's often under-rated their engine power so as to fool competitors, give customers more bang for their buck and obviously reduce insurance costs". Nuff said....

Personally, after comparing this car to previously owned cars and a few other FWD cars I've drive, there's no way it's putting out 230 hp at the crank and 250 tq. It's a bold-faced saucy lie. And I love it. It reminds me of that "Japanese Gentlemans Agreement" about not going over 280hp, and then they went at did it anyways, but just called them "280hp" cars. I wish more car companies had this practice, but I'm sure the insurance companies would catch on.

The seats in these cars are just spectacular, they hold you in your seat like a **** in a condom. There's no slippage at all! The only negative thing I can really say about the car is that the handling of the car is not capable of handling such speed. If you were to buy one, strut bars and serious suspension would be necessary if you ever hope to take this car through a corner well-above the speed limit.

So the test-drive ended, she handed me her card, which unfortunately didn't have her home number on it......and I promised I'd call her back....sometime.

In conclusion:
1) Breasts are beautiful, but don't sell cars....Hot Oral does....

2) SRT-4's are deadly fast, and I'm sure alot of rich kids with more money than brains, and more need for speed, than WRC reflexes will kill themselves with them

3) For $32,000 after taxes and everything, these cars are a STEAL. I don't know what Dodge was thinking, obviously they want to kill Honda, Nissan, Mitsu and everyone else in the "Pre-modded" factory car niche. And honestly they do it. The Honda Civic SIR, Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec-V, Mazda Speed Protege, Mitsu Evo, Sub WRX, and Nissan 350Z can't hold a candle to the value of this car in terms of speed alone.

4) I feel ripped off, for $7000 more I could be driving a 230 hp (but not really, probably closer to 250 hp) car, destroying cars that are worth $5k, $10k and $30k more than it's worth.

5) From what I've read these cars respond EXTREMELY well to mods, I'm talking Old Skool JDM car gains. Stage 1 Mopar is new injectors and a ECU re-flash or something, and it'll get you into the 13's if you know how to drive.

6) $32k Canadian for a low 14 second car and another $2k to get it deep into the 13's....DEADLY.

7) I can't emphasize how much these things need a lower stance and serious chassis reinforcement laterally. They're too high-up for the speed the can obtain quickly and should come standard with a stiff strut bar in the engine bay.

Anyways I have the brochure on PDF from a Chrysler Dealership in Toronto if anyone wants it, pm me and I'll email it to you.

uranium9v

iTrader: (3)

Nice review...I'd buy one from her...a car that is.

SAEVO

iTrader: (1)

I'll stick with the EVO!!!

Sailorgoon

iTrader: (1)

Nice write up, man.

Neons have always been cheap to make fast. I'm surprised that it took Mopar so long to make a salesfloor version with some *****.

I know a few guys that have them, and they love them. I'm not big on the Neon look, but I'd be happy to be a dork in a Neon if it can roast 6-cyl Camaros.

I love my Lancer, but there are other cars that I'd also have bought, maybe even over the Lancer. The Protege5 was my first choice, but I couldn't find one I liked, within my price range. If cars like the SRT-4 and the Matrix XS were out when I bought my Lancer, I'd have had to think twice about it.

i_love_spool

iTrader: (1)

Uranium....her ***** were like this, no joke....it was borderline obscene! http://www.streamingsurgeries.com/extreme/wish01.jpg

SAEVO.....No Evo's in Canada. We got Jipped. All we have is a $27k SRT-4 or a $54k STI

t-dotlancer

i didn't want to say anything but i test drove one too. Now if i could only get a punk kid to buy my car for 20,000...LOL

Cordwood

Get rid of the scoop, the silly "I'm a Viper" front grill, and the gay wing and I'd be driving one of these. The styling is way to silly for anyone over the age of 25.

Alias

iTrader: (2)

Very entertaining! I am definitely intersted.......in the saleswomen not the dodge though.

Evilution VIII

Light goes red and they launch? across the river here in michigan,, (and probably everywhere else in the states)
we go on green!

Kyle M.

rEVOlutionize

too bad theyre front wheel drive..... i think...?

SAEVO

iTrader: (1)

theres no way here **** were like that...............

Dr Crash

iTrader: (28)

like the hp numbers, too bad they are so ugly and so poorly built. a friend of mine had a neon and it was such a piece of ****. if we had that much hp in our cars....!!!!!

i_love_spool

iTrader: (1)

I LOVE the HP and Torque numbers, it reminds me and my dad about his Dodge Dart Swinger....under-rated engine to keep the insurance costs down and to fool people into thinking it's slower than it actually is.

I don't think they are ugly at all, the front of the Neon SRT-4 looks very tasteful and borrows elements from SEVERAL other "desirable cars": the classic Dodge grill which appears on the Viper, Stratus, Avenger. Further more the area of the SRT-4 which goes from the grill to the hood is no uglier than the current Evo 8 grill; the round headlights which is very very similar to the GDB Subaru Impreza's; the wing is reminiscent of a Toyota Supra and to any who deny this, then they should go find one and take a real good look up close, it's the same wing but smaller. The only thing "ugly" about the SRT-4 is the rims, they could've done a better job on that design.

As for poorly built, the Neon, Neon R/T or Neon SRT-4 do not show up on the official "Lemon Car" list, a list which includes the Eclipse, Tiburon and several other "tuner" cars. So although the build quality is "poor", it's much better than other cars that sell. Furthermore I've read the srtforums and looked for problems regarding the car and it seems the two worst things are (1) some have fans that click against the fan housing causing a noise when you turn on the A/C and (2) Some of the 2003's had misaligned doors so the paint scraped off. Both of these things were covered under the standard 7 yr / 115 km warranty. 7 Yrs or 115,000 km's is more than enough time to have every single problem on the car corrected.

I did hear that 97/98 Neons had serious issues, but the difference between the two cars is 180 degree's. Different engine, transmission, LSD, even body style.

Finally the numbers speak for themselves:

http://www.srtforums.com/forums/show...5&pagenumber=1

Anything that's putting out looks like 225 ACTUAL HP and 250 ACTUAL TQ at the wheel's for a car with a 230 crank hp and 250 crank torque rating that sells for $32000 after tax w/ a sunroof is WELL worth the hassles of whatever "build quality" issues there are.

I mean Dodge LIED there asses off when they rated this cars engine, and anyone who owns one or has driven one knows it. The engine is probably 250 hp and the torque is probably 270 hp.

Finally the response of these little beasts to basic mods such as bigger injectors, an ecu-reflash and an exhaust is absolutely spectacular.

Here we are buying bolt-ons such as headers, test-pipes, intake manifolds, and bored throttle bodies and getting like 12 whp for $1000, meanwhile buddy with an SRT-4 drops $1000 on his 2004 and is pushing close to 300 hp with a boost controller. SICK.

I don't care what anyone says about these cars. Any idiot that says "Dude your still driving a Neon" after that Neon hands a Impreza WRX, Evo 8, Stang GT or 350Z, it's *** at a stop light is obviously a tool. The SRT-4 is always going to be criticized by Muscle Car heads, and Import Guys alike because it isn't a 427 Hemi and it doesn't rev to 9000 rpm, it's a domestic which means it's illegitimate in the import world and it's displacement isn't a muscular 4 litres and it doesn't have 8 cylinders to fire on.

Fact of the matter is these cars are here, they're here to stay (judging by the sales of them) and they're going to embarass you in front of your girlfriend, regardless of there badge.

Personally I think they are an EXCELLENT bang for the buck, they have power, taste and moderate handling and unlike our Lancer, they don't feel like your driving a 4x4 even when you have the car lowered and best of all, they don't have ****ty one-stage paint jobs, SOHC engines and massive wheel hop from only 120 hp + a few mods.

In comparing the Subaru Impreza WRX, WRX STI, EVO, Sentra SE-R Spec V, Mazdaspeed Protege and SRT-4, all hot street cars that people are racing (the nubreed of street cars, long live the nubreed, DIE HONDA DIE). We have a difference of $26k between the cheapest car (Spec-V) and the most expensive car (STI). But then when you look at power and power alone you have nearly 2x the power in the STI as the Spec V. On the other hand, you have about $22k between the SRT-4 and the STI and only 50 crank hp (If you believe the dyno). I know it's comparing apples to oranges.....but guys we race apples against oranges. SRT-4's are going to race every other car out there and vice versa. Most will win and some will lose. We might as well respect that car for it's street cred and stop thinking of it as a Neon.

johnnysixer

iTrader: (1)

well no matter how much power you can get out of that **** pile, all I need to say is 3 words. FRONT WHEEL DRIVE.

xkpbreaker

iTrader: (1)

if you want "best bang for buck" it would be the EVO..... even with a $10k price difference here in the states....
srt-4 is just straightline performance.....
when it comes to overall package nothing can beat the Evo...
acceleration, all wheel drive, handling better then (S4, M3, Carrera C4S), look/style , JDMness...