yeah they go pretty quick-so do evo's and wrx's then you mod them and start breaking stuff srt4's have marginal brakes at best and yes most of em can't drive they get squirelly

 

I would be somewhat careful of the dodges I was at the drag strip yesterday and the track was littered with them. The slightly modified ones were running in the low 13s. There were four or five of them running in the real low 11s in the 1/4 mile and they certainly did not look the part except for some drag slocks. I also did see a dodge colt with an eclipse motor running 10.7. Now that was funny.

 

Oh yeah , i would not buy a neon but I can respect them and as far as handling and braking you can make anything handle and brake well. The aftermarket kits for these cars are far cheaper than 951 kits. We had a dodge caravan stick turbo as a shop van and were running 23psi and that van was way faster than my 951 and had a lot of supension modifications and handled well for a van. Oh yeah it finally did burn to the ground though.

 

Ha-haa...I just hooked up with one on the highway. Stock - young guy driving.
I pulled next to him and we were both smiling like a couple of retards who knew each other for 20 years.
I nodded forward - he took off. Pretty quick takeoff too, faster than an early Viper.
They are pretty quick, even stock.

 

In Dodge's defence it appears they got rid of the SRT Neon ...

http://www.drivesrt.com/en/dodge/caliber/

It's now the Caliber SRT4, and it does come with dual piston calipers...

Jason

 

The srt calibur looks about 20x better than the srt neon!

 

a stock 951 (probably not the turbo s though) vs a neon srt-4 stock are probably very very similar. I just like the fact that they come stock with lsd and its not just an option. I got to race a neon sxt or some thing at skipbarber racing school and let me tell you those things are not bad at handeling (not as good as the 951).

The fact is, is that it is a very impressive car that will hold its own to many cars including 951's. But it non the less is a Neon.

 

I went to take a look at a Caliber last night, it wasn't the SRT (as it won't be here for me untill the fall) it was the SXT - top of the line trim level, all I have to say is, Oh come-on! you have got to be kidding me! there is no way I'd own one of these, I don't care how much Gusto it has. Complete and utter plastic piece o' crap! Though it would be great for hauling your cheap plastic crap you bought at Wal-Mart! End of discussion for me, if a SRT-4 ever wants "To Go" with me I won't even bother.

Jason.

 

Guys,
an SRT-4 is more like a WRX, or Evo without the the AWD than a 951. All 3 are small cheapo econoboxes with turbo motors. the SRT-4 is just fwd.

Now with an turbo car you can make good hp. Handling is where the SRT-4 will suffer. More so than the WRX, or Evo due to trying to seen all that power through just the front wheels.

In straight line... well who the hell cares. In the curves... well who the hell cares. The 951 will be more fun to drive, but if you look at track use... well it all depends on the driver and mods. similar hp and weight should give the edge to the 951 due to balance and the rear wheel drive.

There is an SRT-4 race car on the west coast Guy runs with NASA in performance Touring and USTCC (US Touring car Championship, think cheaper version of speed touring car). Car runs pretty good. Still however it is an neon with a big hp turbo motor. Personally I just don't like fwd cars. I had a GTI Turbo. Nice car and It could make really nice power, but I did not like the fwd on it and the balance it created.

 

I wonder if the SRT4 engine will fit in an NA....

 

As a current SRT-4 owner who is looking at buying a 951, I'll throw in my two cents if anyone wants to hear it. I track my car which is one of SRT-4's weaker points. On the Drag strip it can destroy a lot of much more expensive equipment out there. When there are turns the weak side of FWD and a forward weight bias come back to haunt the car. Even with putting about 375 hp to the ground, some "weaker" cars can beat me on the track. When you begin asking the front tires to brake or accelerate at the same time as turn, they are easily overwhelmed. I could go through a set of R compounds every other session. You can only get so much grip from a set of front tires.
The balance of the car is very front heavy. It's an understeering pig especially when trying to exit under high power. Now while a rwd more balanced car can outhandle mine that doesn't mean my car can't tear up a track. With a set of coilovers, drop ride height, bigger sways, and some much needed camber up front the car does quite well. The brakes, yes even the stock single pots, are outstanding. The SRT-4 can stop, repeatedly, shorter than a lot of exoctics.

That all being said it is a great bang for the buck car. I bought it new and with less than $6000 in aftermarket upgrades have a great handling(for what it is) car with more power than most. It has almost 50,000 miles on it with 20+ track days running race gas and over 350 hp. I have had no problems at all with the car other than routine wear items like brakes and bearings and the like. With 125hp more than stock the original clutch is just starting to slip, not too bad for a econobox based sport compact. Oh yeah no tuning at all, just plug and play while passing emissions with flying colors and getting 30 mpg.

The fwd is it's biggest downfall. I'm quickly tiring of it and that's why I've been looking at 951's. I love the turbo cars and their relatively cheap hp gains. I've always loved the 951's lines and can't wait till I get one for myself. Personally I couldn't care less about the name of the car, or who made it, or whether the interior is plastic or leather. I just like driving fun cars. The SRT-4 and the 951 both fit that bill.

Here's a pic of my SRT-4. I'll be taking it out to run at Heartland Park Raceway in a few weeks, which may be the last track day I do with it before getting a 951. Anyone want to trade? The graphics are all decals, if that scares you off, but they help pay the bills.


I wont argue about the stereotypical SRT driver. I concede that point. Although all aren't bad just like any other group of car guys/gals.

 

Kudos to you, I for one love to hear from the voice of experience, and may I congradulate you on your choice of your next vechile, you won't be disapointed. Sure there are far less expensive ways out there to get into the 951 performance arena however they can't match the feeling inside when driving one. I feel I should say that given the choice of the Lancer/WRX/SRT econoboxes out there the SRT is the best looking of them all, had Chrysler given the Neon RWD or Awd and a decent interior appoitment I would have seriously looked at one for a DD/Kid hauler. However that would never happen cause it could probably spank the Crossfire at a fraction of the price along with more versitility. I'm in agreement with you in not caring in a name but a car is more than great performance, if I'm going to be DD in it, it has to have some tactile qualities to it, if it's an all out track car, screw it 'cause it's al getting ripped out anyway.

 

Lutjens, YA killing me

 

I agree the name is not so much important as the car's performance. As well as the name can be miss leading leaving a buyer to belive that the car has been well maintained.

What I find amusing is the Crest of Stuttgart on the car. Originally Stuttgart was a German Royal Stud (Horse) farm. The town being called “Stutt Garten”. American “Stud Garden”. Later shortened to Stuttgart. IE the Big Black Stallion on the on the Porsche emblem.