Dodge SRT4

Off Topic
1

The March issue of the best Mexican car magazine, AutoMovil, compares the Dodge SRT4, VW Golf R32, and SEAT Leon Cupra R. The results are astounding. To put it mildly the SRT4 beat the shit out of them. The writers of Mexican car magazines treat Volkswagen like God, same way those in the USA treat Honda, Toyota and BMW. But the SRT4 hit 60 mph in 7 seconds ? with inferior Mexican gasoline ? more than 2 seconds ahead of the contenders.

So there weren?t many excuses AutoMovil could make. And the r32 is a $35,000 car ? almost 2x the price of an SRT4. Maybe one day there will be a true Volkswagen sports car but it?s not now. Ironically the sportiest VW now is the Toureg SUV. The Leon is a true sports car but way overpriced. Calling the SRT4 a Neon is like calling an SE-R V Spec a Sentra. Daimler?s buying Chrysler looks more and more like a great thing, although it?s interesting that the SRT4?s turbo technology is from Mitsubishi. A month or 2 ago AutoMovil compared the SRT4 with a Honda CBR 600 RR sport bike ? and it was a tie. That is fuckin? amazing. And for Sport Compact Car magazine, a Bible of the import car scene, to give the SRT4 Car of the Year really tells you something.

And before the VW/SEAT fans start making excuses the Neon platform is now rated at average reliability according to Consumer Reports, something we can?t say for our SEAT Ibiza. And regarding safety I would definitely believe the VW is the safest car tested, our ?96 Cabrio is built like a German tank, but in any of these cars a 100 mph+ crash and you?re a pancake. The point is not to crash. And as for another possible competitor, the Renault Clio Sport, the March AutoMovil issue refers to the fact that it brakes as ?well? as a Mitsubishi Montero SUV ? pretty pathetic for a sports car ? spend the extra $2,000 and buy an SRT4.

The March issue of AutoMovil also tested some other cool cars:
The $35,000 Alfa Romeo 156 SeleSpeed ? but where is the speed ? only hit 60 mph in 12.6 seconds!!!
The Audi A3 V6 ? 60 mph supposedly in 6.7 seconds ? not bad!! ? but for $47,000!!!

2

Daimler owns part of Mits and they have worked together on many cars.

Laser/Talon/Eclipse were all the same car for quite a few years as well as some others.

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0-60 in 7 seconds? Was the test uphill and into a wind? All the American mags posted 0-60 for the SRT-4 at about 5.5.

Personally, I dont like the front end of the SRT4. The performance specs on it are rather impressive for a $20k car and cant really be beat by any car in its class. I own a Mini Cooper S and love it to death. Unfortunately it should have come with about 40-60 more HP from the factory (without having to spend $6 on the Works pkg). I like the uniqueness and styling of the Mini much moreso than the SRT4.

Now if only I had the $$ to slip an M3 engine into my Mini! :smiley:

4

Dodge sucks, period. That car is a Neon, period. You can’t judge a car by it’s “out of the factory” performance. I know many people who have owned Dodge/Chrysler products including a cousin who sold his Audi A4 and bought that top of the line Chrysler(I can’t recall the name but it was over $50,000) and he greatly regrets it and says he will never buy a Chrysler product again. I have heard the same thing from everyone who has owned one of these in the past.
By the way, most American magazines exaggerate the performance tests of the cars so they will sell better. I knew someone in the publishing business and he told me that the auto mfgs. themselves “support”(you know what that means) these mags to do this to increase sales. Read most AAA or CAA based studies or Consumer Reports as they are not as biased. I would never purchase a car based on what most mags say.