Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General just saw the '03 Neon SRT-4

Front Wheel Drive Sux!!

lose the wing and slam it and she will look better

I think a mesh grill instead of the typical "Dodge" looking one would go a long way. Debadging is a must...

Troy@SVT said: SVTCole the latest info I've seen from SCCA is that we have been moved from d stock to g stock for the SVT Focus. The Sentra SE-R was moved as well but the Spec V stayed in D.

That may be so, and is probably fair, but it still does not bode well for the SVTFocus considering it got smoked by the ACR by 1.5 seconds (an eternity) on a 42 second course.

Now, I will say that adding aftermarket struts might help the Focus, but they did not even get into camber adjustments in the test. The Neon can legally add up to 2.4 degrees negative camber!!

To be fair, I smell a rat on the Neon because the wheels I see pictured look nothing like the stock 15" ACR wheels I see in the brochure. The tires they tested also look considerably wider than the 185/60-15 that come stock.

Still the ACR is only $14,870 list plus $1,695 for A/C and a bunch of other stuff....then subract $2 grand cash back....its no contest, especially as a third car. Add a 7 year/100K warranty. Deal closed if they can find me one.

Let me add that I asked a long time pro-mechanic about the reliability of Neons as his shop is well-respected and works on a variety of cars. He said no major problems except the automatic tranny. His boss, the owner, also bought his wife a PT Cruiser knowing full well it had Neon mechanicals. Then shift story to Focus. He told me one of the mechanics at the local Ford dealer was calling the Focus the F_ckus due to its mechanical problems.

I think I'll take my chances on the cheaper ACR with its better warranty...and no tendency to rollover!!!

Head gaskets were (I don't know if they still are) a problem for the Dodge 4cyl engines. Both the 2L in the Neons and the 2.4L found in the cloud cars, the PT Cruiser, the recently released budget priced minivans and it now seems the SRT-4

TB

Agreed. The ACR is a purpose built car so it should do better in autoX. But I would think if the ACR constantly wins this year by those margins, it would get moved up. Still should be a pretty good year in G stock.

The Neon will be a beast with the 2.4L turbo but it somehow seems wrong to stick a turbo on that old wheezy cast iron 2.4L minivan/Stratus motor, put in in a crummy Neon and kick everbody's ass. Like a little punk with a big gun vs Jessie Ventura (unarmed).

Here's a good link for info on the SRT-4. SRT-4 Info

Ugly. No class. Very fast. They claim that it's 11.0 inch brakes let it stop 60-0 in 120 feet. That's not very outstanding, nor is 11 inches very big. (SVT Focus has 11.9 inch front rotors).

Cool that the exhaust is muffler-less. The turbo must mute a lot of sound. That's going to be one noisy car...thrash from the iron block 2.4L minivan motor, along with turbo whistle and a lumpy non muffled exhaust. Yuck.

One of the patients at my clinic has been driving a prototype of the production version of this car to his appointments for some time now... Granted his version looks like a regular neon on the outside aside from attachments for various measuring devices, larger rims, and dual tailpipes... the inside appeared to have a few noticable changes (aside from testing gauges and stuff).
He was telling us that it will be decked out with seats from the Viper as well...
He's got a few great kill stories too... people don't expect a Neon to be fast... (did I just say neon and fast in the same sentence without a "not" in there? )
Anyway... Just thought I'd add that... time for bed...