Tough Crowd Comparison Test: Dodge SRT-4

Wow.
This was the last car to the party. In fact, we scheduled the entire test around the arrival of this final prototype. Boy, are we glad we did. Rumors had been swirling for months about an upcoming turbocharged Neon. Two-point-four liters and a turbo seemed a potent combination, but it would still be housed in a bottom-shelf, second-generation Neon chassis, a platform that failed to impress us in the past. Would the power make up for that?

One look at the enormous intercooler told us the engine would be all we hoped for and more. Power output is so far beyond anything else in this segment, it's almost embarrassing. The fact it makes 8 more horsepower at the wheels than DaimlerChrysler claims at the crank might be explained by a difference in test procedures. Since there's no specified SAE test procedure for simulating intercooler efficiency, DC measured output with a relatively hot intercooler as a conservative worst-case scenario. As with all turbo cars, we used a relatively weak fan (20 mph at best) and a spray bottle of water to keep the intercooler consistently cool on the dyno. All four intercooled cars in this test received the same treatment.

None of the other intercooled cars could come close to keeping up, however. The SRT-4's quarter-mile times are faster than a Mustang GT and within a tenth of the 350Z. The SRT-4 launches much harder than a front-driver should, especially one with an open diff and relatively narrow 205-width tires. Credit an econo-box chassis that forces the tires to stand dead straight, sticky Michelin Pilot Sports, and an unusual choice in tire sizes. At 205/50ZR-17, the SRT-4's tires are tall. The large rolling diameter makes the contact patch longer, resulting in far more rubber on the road than, say, a 205/45-16.

But that's all straight-line; we were looking for the all-around package. This is where we were really impressed. Let's start with the normally low-rent interior. It's still an injection molder's paradise inside, but the critical driver's pieces received all the right attention. The seats are big in the tall, fit, Scandinavian sense. They fit full-sized humans well, but have literally the biggest side bolsters we've seen on a production car. The Neon's steering wheel was once so painful to the eye that blowing the airbag would have improved the view. Now there's a three-spoked job with a thick rim and reasonable feel. The shifter, too, feels right, with short, solid throws and an action that clicks positively into each gear. These are the parts a driver has to touch, the rest of the interior, which remains low-rent, is irrelevant.

Gathering performance data, it quickly became clear the SRT-4 was dominating the straight-line tests, and the Mazdaspeed Protegé was being equally relentless with the handling tests. To break the tie, we took to the mountains and let real-world speed decide the winner. As you have surely guessed, the SRT-4 was the faster of the two, but not by much. It took more than three miles for the SRT-4 to pull an appreciable gap on the Protegé. While not as solid and composed as the Protegé, the Neon still showed decent balance, good grip, strong, fade-free brakes, and of course, staggering pull between the corners. This is a lot of performance for $20,000.

Best Feature:
Holy front-mount, Batman! This thing isn't just turbocharged, it's turbocharged right. Big engine; big boost; big intercooler; snortin', poppin', growlin' exhaust. Yeah, we like the engine.

Worst Feature:
It's not as sorely missed as you might expect, but obviously any car with this kind of power needs a limited-slip diff. The stock open diff is an uncharacteristic oversight.

First three things we'd modify

1: Limited-slip differential
Being a new transmission, we don't know of anyone actually making a limited slip for the SRT-4 yet. PVO is working with Tochigi Fuji Sangyo on one however, and Quaife has one in the works as well.

2: Camber adjusters
Neons have zero camber from the factory, which means relatively low handling limits and more understeer than we'd like. Handling would be greatly improved with 1 to 2 degrees of negative camber.

3: Stiffer dampers
The SRT-4 was designed in Detroit. The suspension is better controlled than most cars developed on that city's bombed-out roads, but it still feels a bit floaty and disconnected when driven with all the gusto its engine, brakes and tires can deliver.

Base price: $19,995
Measured horsepower at the wheels: 223 hp @ 5700 rpm
Curb weight as tested: 2,870 lb