Originally posted by ATL-SVT: use the pull down at the upper left of that page and compare it to the focus svt, or the contour svt. I don't care how it beats them, it beats them both hands down. I know the article you speak of with the mazdaspeed and the focus. The focus and mazda both got a .87 and the srt a .86 (that doesn't really justify outhandling) . It's easy to handle when your car is slow.
I looked at the dropdown, and I did compare it to the contour, and yes it won, big surprise given the track. The contour isnt a race car, its a nice balance of power, handling, grocery getter, european styling, etc...You must have agreed at one point because you had one. I wasnt trying to start an argument with you, I like the srt-4. I personally would just have a hard time driving a riced up looking neon around, but I could almost if I made a bit of a leap just because of the value it represents.
Handling at speed is what we are looking at, and its easy to overcome weaker handling with exceptional speed and power, which is what the neon has.
In any case, I already have a fast car that I would put up against any streetable neon. You could get a stripper brand new z28 last year for just over 20k, and I noticed that the neon didnt compare too well to the 98 camaro on the track results. You can buy one of those used for about 13-14k now, with the extra 5-6k you would crucify the 20k neon in every category. And I noticed it also used the slowest times that car has tested in the 1/4 at 13.9, where as other reviews put it as low as 13.1, and some others have gotten the car into the 12s bone stock. Doesnt seem like a good comparison you say? Well neither does comparing a contour svt to a neon srt-4.
