Dodge Neon SRT-4

[Jay 02 TA ws6]

praise for a japanese car coming from me?

one little slip, it's massive wheelspin and you watch your opponant drive away

With the full time all wheel drive in both vehicles, I have a hard time believing there would be much wheelspin at all. I say this after a test-drive of a WRX that I took. Granted it has about 70 less HP than the STi, but I could drop the clutch from about 5000 in it and only get a mild chirp, producing a headsnapping effect unmatched by any f-body unless you downshift to 2nd at 50 mph. I will second the tricky launch techniques however. The WRX was so torque defficient in its lower RPM ranges that a simple rev to 1500 and dump (like my WS6) is not a good launch. I found success going up to about 4500 or so, and slowly feathering the clutch while rapidly applying more gas. At one time, I tried to launch the WRX from 1500 with dumping the clutch. The thing nearly stalled... but here is the cool part... keeping my right foot to the floor, I quickly popped the clutch in. The engine quickly free-revved enough to launch the WRX into its powerband -- then, because of the 4-wheel drive, it stuck like glue and the car came to life. It was a fun little car, with amazing grip in the corners... this STi I am sure will be fun too. OK... that's enough blasphemy for a day, I'm out...

[Joe 1320]

Re: praise for a japanese car coming from me?

Originally posted by Jay 02 TA ws6
With the full time all wheel drive in both vehicles, I have a hard time believing there would be much wheelspin at all.

I was referring to the front wheel drive Neon. With the AWD cars, you have to rev the heck out of it and dump the clutch. Then be prepared to smell the stench of a slipping, burning clutch. In order to get decent 60' times, you have to drive it like you hate it. Repeted lauches like this will lessen the life of the clutch and who knows what else when it does hook this way. So far, there have been numerous trans/clutch problem with cars that have been driven this way. There is something to be said for a low rpm torque launch of a V8. I don't think many people will push the car that hard to get the last .2 ET out of it. If they do, it won't be for too long. Perhaps the STI will get an upgrade in the trans.

[giulio]

I have always wondered why america doesnt build more awd into their vehicles. For launching, it's unmatched. Imagine you unleashing all (or most) of your f-body's power at launch, with nearly 2x the grip!

I played with my friend in his 3rd generation eclipse (v6 fwd), and me in my subaru impreza (2.5, supercharged). By mid second gear i was more than a car length away. The subaru lanuches very well. Though his car in 4th gear is a bullet while mine is reaching it's limit in 5th.

My brother always asks me "why don't you buy american? whats wrong with you?"
I'm for america to build a small, safe, inexpensive, and fuel-efficient coupe with power, handling, and style. Maybe they have something with this Neon. But still no AWD option in it... oh well.
_
g

[xxRillixx]

I did actually get to 'play' with one of these in Reno. The first time we went i thought he changed his mind... or missed first, so i slowed down. As i saw him catch up i pushed it, but we hit the next light. This time i waited for him to go. The start was SO slow i wasnt sure what he was doing, but i stuck with him through second... but after that he was gone. Third time i didnt wait for him, at the end of second his nose was at my bumper, shifting into third we were even, and at the end of third he was gone. Quick little car... with the turbo addition.

I know I know... do it at the track. But it was pretty late at night and in an industrial area that i knew pretty well.

[N20LT4Bird]

As a lot of you guys know, im a closet turbo dodge fan. Ive always owned a turbo dodge of some sort and they are nothing short of a blast to drive. I test drove the SRT-4 when if first cam out and I was pretty impressed. The torque steer that Joe talks about isnt there as much because the turbo has a very flat boost curve. The car doesnt relaly feel that fast, becasue the boost comes in almost gradually, but it is pretty quick. My omni "feels" much quicker, because ALL of the boost comes in hard at 3500 rpm. You can be doing 40 mph in third gear and just roll into the throttle and smoke the tires. THe SRT4 is not so much like that, but very quick the less. Biggest bang for the busk out there IMOP.

[Camaro4-2]

speed yes, bang for your buck yes, but at the end of the day you drive a 4-door neon....not 20g's i'd spend on such a car...but my taste isn't in a souped up family sedan...thats just my .02

they are good for their price and quite impressive....but i mean come on...dodge neon. Next thing you know the Saturn SL-2 is gonnna be ragging down the streets with 290FWHP...and all this nonsense...i think bone stock the pony's should be left to the muscle not the sedans.....

[Jay 02 TA ws6]

I take it you haven't heard of the Saturn Ion Redline yet?

[Camaro4-2]

I take it you haven't heard of the Saturn Ion Redline yet?

ug....now i have just looked at the specs for that....seems like a turd though...nowhere near the SRT-4 or STi. Just not my taste i guess. Or maybe i'm jealous because of the price tag and cheap modibility.

[markd79ta]

i think bone stock the pony's should be left to the muscle not the sedans.....

I don't know...I kinda like the LT1 B-bodies and the new 300C and Hemi Magnum. With a child and a need for four doors, I spend very little time in the T/As so I love the LT1 sitting comfortably in my Roadmaster.

I am not too sure about the Neon...not my kind of car. The Neon is probably a pretty nice car for its class...not a class I would ever buy a car in, but that is personal preference. If I were to buy a FWD sedan, I would rather have the SC Grand Prix or Bonneville.

[KnightFire]

Funny I should see this...I just picked one up last night for my Wife, it replaced her 2000 ES Neon.

I will say that I'm QUITE impressed with the little 2.4L Turbo motor...with a $1,000.00 in mods I'll be REAL close to where my OEM 5.7L motor was back in 1993 which is just really odd to think about!

KnightFire

[xxRillixx]

It is quick...But its still a neon, and cries its self to sleep at night because of it.

[N20LT4Bird]

Funny I should see this...I just picked one up last night for my Wife, it replaced her 2000 ES Neon.

I will say that I'm QUITE impressed with the little 2.4L Turbo motor...with a $1,000.00 in mods I'll be REAL close to where my OEM 5.7L motor was back in 1993 which is just really odd to think about!

KnightFire

I bet its closer than you think to your stock 93 as is. Ive seen those guys running high 13's low 14's at the track.

And to me, the fact that its a neon is the beauty of it. Now dont get me wrong, I would never trade the raw torque and power of my bird for a 4 banger, but when I smoke some guy in a 5.0 Mustang with my Dodge Omni, its a rush. You just gotta laugh when you see this little thing burning rubber through 3rd gear. The neon is the same concept - its a 4 door econobox that hauls a$$! Fun if you ask me.

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

Well I was out to the track last night and there was a little black SRT-4 there which was running mid 14s. He was having trouble getting out of the hole with it, but like the other guys mentioned, some LT1s ran that same speed. I thought it was a cute car and had some potential, but I aint into "cute". Also, like it was mentioned, you have to rev the piss out of them to get the low times and you are going to take life out of the clutch. A lot of guys don't realize that you need to launch that way, or are hesitant to do it anyway because it is so abusive. Matter of fact there was a home brew unfinished honda civic - gutted and turboed with slicks on the front - running high 10s and he got 2 good runs in and grenaded the tranny on the 3rd.

One other thing is that even though I admit that some of those cars might be a blast to drive, I look for the whole package, not just some performance. I like it to look like a sports car and sound like a sports car with some guts and potential for better handling & more power. But if I had to make a choice of all the sports compacts - say, for a driver that's also fun - I would get the Mitsubishi - it's not as ugly as the rest, just a shade slower in the 1/4 than the STi, and a little better handling. I would have to have one without the stupid wing.

[Craig 94 TA GT]

Referring to the SRT4...my friend at work has one. It has its ups and downs. He said that they generally wheel dyno at what their "flywheel horsepower" rating is. He said it's quick...will run a 13.9 on a good launch at about 100-101 in the traps. It also has a flat torque curve, where you can take it up to redline without experiencing (hardly) any loss. However, it also has its problems. One of them is that it came with bad plugs and wires (at least last years model). These plugs, for whatever reason is wrong with them, will make the engine ping like crazy. Dodge has a TSB about this and will replace with the correct plugs/wires. He did have his plugs/wires replaced, and claims the pinging is 80% gone. He also said a quick solution is to put in a mixture 100 octane gas, and it will stop pinging. Also, as a turbo car, the power really changes, according to the air temperature and humidity. The launches are quite tricky, as the thing wheel hops like crazy if you launch it too hard...as any FWD car would. So I guess I'm saying that this car isn't bad for the price, but it also has some drawbacks.

[lt1maro]

Well in terms of experience with the neon, i have experience test driving one and racing one twice. The first time i raced the neon i was coming home on the express way and i saw this yellow neon in my rear view mirror. As it got closer i could see that it had the hood scoop. He was moving at a pretty good clip when he passed me. Part of me wanted to go after him but i saw a video of a stock neon destroy a slitghtly modded wrx on the e way and with my 4.10 gear i really didnt stand a chance on the expressway so i said forget it and let him go. To my suprise, he got off at the same exit as i did and low and behold we end up lined up at the stop light together. There was a guy in his mid 50's driving it. He threw a rev at me and i knew it was on but before the light changed a cop pulled up behind me that threw the race off. Long story short as turn onto 203rd street from pulaski ave, i see that the guy is following me into the turn. If anyone is familiar with 203rd street in olympia fields,il it is about a half mile long two lane road. So as i turn to the out side of the street he turns inside of me then i heard his turbo and i punched it he stayed with me all the way through first and second but i started to pull through third. I found out that the guy actually lives down the street from me and he let me drive his car and like someone said before the car doesnt feel fast at all but they are really cars that have to be respeceted no matter if they are neons or not.