SRT-4

[Seved]

Hey, I dont know where to post this at, So i'll post it here, Anyone know anything about the Dodge SRT-4, is it any good?How does it compare to say a WRX? If anyone has any info would be great, Thanks guyes

[B18a1CRX]

It's cheap and its fast it is a car that goes 0-60 in 5.8 seconds for under 21,000 brand new.

I personaly don't like them because it is still a neon.

[pierced&studded]

I like the SRT-4 a buddy of mine works at a car dealership and we got to test drive one they are quick, when boost kicks in it looses traction up tell about 2nd then when boost hits it lost tracktion a lil bit again in 2nd....i would take one over a wrx but thats just me.

[Tra2xx]

Hey, I dont know where to post this at, So i'll post it here, Anyone know anything about the Dodge SRT-4, is it any good?How does it compare to say a WRX? If anyone has any info would be great, Thanks guyes

I think they are great personally. As far as how it compares to a WRX, I've seen racing vids of WRX's with intake/exhaust get taken by stock SRT4's with like 4 people in them vs. 2 people in the wrx. That was of course from a roll.

I realize there are lots of haters when it comes to the "it's a neon" aspect of it -but many of the people that say that own a slower car with less room and no warrenty.

I think it is awesome you can get a fast 4 door that has great potential for a really good price.

[Weston-work]

Turbo + FWD w/ open diff = acceleration traction problems.

If I had to choose between the two, I'd go for the Subaru... it's AWD, race proven, and I'd trust it to get me where I'm going.

[THRICE]

"It may be quick, it may be fun, but afterall, it's just a neon."

Hehe, that was just a little rhyme I dillied up. Sure they are cool and all, but a factory turbo'd car for 21k? PLEASE, :rolleyes: don't expect the car to be worth 2 squirts of piss after 80 thousand miles.

[Weston-work]

Exactly. I've seen and heard of regular Neons blowing up on their own, so I have a hard time beleiving that the turbo version is going to be so great.

[Jackrabbit]

Sport Compact Car's car of the year for 2003 I believe. The 2004 will come witha Quaife LSD.

I wish I would've waited before I bought my car. There are a lot of SRTs running low 12s with minimal mods. But I'm partial to Dodge... obviously. :D

But this is hardly the forum to ask about domestics!

Just a neon indeed. ;NutKick;

[Brian]

"It may be quick, it may be fun, but afterall, it's just a neon."

Hehe, that was just a little rhyme I dillied up. Sure they are cool and all, but a factory turbo'd car for 21k? PLEASE, :rolleyes: don't expect the car to be worth 2 squirts of piss after 80 thousand miles.
There are lots of turbo cars in that price range that don't have problems.

[djet820]

I love the sounds of the SRT-4, the exhaust and BOV sound awesome. And they're pretty quick too.

[THRICE]

There are lots of turbo cars in that price range that don't have problems.


Yeah, but how many factory turbo'd cars in the 21k range that carry the name Dodge and Neon don't have problems? Two words that don't work together ... Dodge, and reliable.

[gjcivic]

Yeah, but how many factory turbo'd cars in the 21k range that carry the name Dodge and Neon don't have problems? Two words that don't work together ... Dodge, and reliable.

yeah, and 13 second- honda- turbo - reliable... those all go together great...

along with new honda + boost= NO WARRANTY

and how much does it take to get a honda into the 12-13 sec range?

new civic..... around $15000... now what... swap, no, that won't get me there, and I'm already aproaching $20K, oh, and there goes my warranty......how about n2o........ BOOOOOOM (go ahead, argue that enough n2o to get to 12's is safe....)..............you get the idea....

maybe an RSX with boost... but there goes warranty, and reliablity (we are talking 12-13 sec, remember?)

so, I guess you could buy a used honda, swap, build, and boost it... it will run great... but will you REALLY want to drive it around??? We all know how long hondas last in a movie theater, restraunt, mall parking lot, don't we??????????

I just can't really find anything wrong with a 14 sec. car, factory turbo'd, built for boost, 4-door that cost under $20K new, with factory backed tuning that still maintains warranty........................ well, there is one thing wrong, I CAN'T BUY ONE.........................

[THRICE]

There are plenty of Honda owners on this board with boost and NO2 that have zero reliability issues whatsoever. As I said before, don't expect that thing to be worth a shit after 80k. Just you watch.


EDIT : NOT DIRECTED TOWARDS YOU GJCIVIC, IT'S DIRECTED TOWARDS THE FIRST HONDA HATING TROLL TO WALK INTO THIS THREAD.

[djet820]

Any car wouldn't be reliable after messing with it. But the car came striaght from the factory with a turbo, so it was built for it, unlike hondas.

[Jai SI]

People that mod Hondas do it knowing full well the risks and cost potential. I know that if I got a Civic, swapped it, boosted it, it would probably only run 14's or so, but shit, now you got a Civic that run's 14's, not a Civic that runs 18's.

[Jai SI]

And plus, where's the fun in buying a car that's already fast. You don't get to pop the hood at local street races and shout out random aftermarket parts.

[exciv2000]

just for the records, neons are stolen in high number too, we just don't hear about them as much because we're primary import focused, and please, a neon is NOT an import.

[djet820]

And plus, where's the fun in buying a car that's already fast. You don't get to pop the hood at local street races and shout out random aftermarket parts.

You could always name off the parts you already have.

[Jai SI]

It doesn't sound as cool.

[Weston-work]

A boosted Honda can be reliable. There's nothing magic about a factory turbo'ed car, so it's entirely possible to make a boosted Honda just as good, if not better. And even the stock block will last longer with boost than most people claim it will, if you have some common sense...

The problem is that one kid blows up his turbo Honda, and everyone says "well, that's because it's supposed to be a NA motor, dumbass". Then they go around saying how they blow up all the time and such. But the truth of the matter is that plenty of us have blown up stock NA Honda motors too. So, anything that goes wrong with a boosted Honda is not automatically the result of being boosted. I'm certainly not saying that they are as reliable as NA; I'm just saying that a lot of problems get blamed on the fact that it's boosted, when there's no proof of that.

Think about how many people have turbo Hondas but are clueless about their oil situation... most likely running an insufficient grade of a crappy oil, and never check the level. I personally run 0w40 Mobil 1 synthetic, frequently check the level, am aware of the pressure, use an OEM filter (the new part number increases pressure too), and keep the oil a little above full (some for lateral G's, and some to fill the turbo and it's oil lines). If I only had an oil pressure gauge a few months ago when my oil pump went out, I would have had fair warning and a good idea of what was wrong before my NA Honda motor left me on the side of the road because it blew up. If I had my turbo when that happened, everyone (including myself) probably would have blamed it on being boosted, when it was really an oil pump problem.

Then there's the ones who run untuned and beat on it for extended periods, turn the boost up like crazy, don't turn down the timing, turbo an already high mileage motor, and so on. All it takes is for a few of them to have problems, and now all turbo Hondas are labelled as the most unreliable POS'es on Earth. Once again, I'm not saying that boost on stock Honda motors has reliability of NA, but they certainly don't get as much credit as they should. I strongly suspect that neglect, bad decisions, and problem scapegoating, are no small part of their bad reputation.

Admittedly, I've had several turbo related issues, but they were all just annoying initial problems that were minor and don't come back once properly fixed. I have had no reliability problems with the stock block, and I don't expect anything other than worn out rings unless I decide to turn the boost up without doing the proper build up first. My oil situation is good, and I'm currently working on improving cooling of both the oil and especially the coolant, but it's not really much of a problem at this point, just a preventative measure. I plan to properly build up my old B18B that I have in my garage so that I can run more boost reliably. But for the time being, the stock engine is doing fine with good tuning and a reasonable amount of boost, and I don't expect problems other than increased wear.

[Weston-work]

just for the records, neons are stolen in high number too, we just don't hear about them as much because we're primary import focused, and please, a neon is NOT an import.

And think about how much it will go up now that SRT-4 parts are out there. I actually was aware of the Neon theft rate before, but I thought I was pretty much the only one.

[Skaterkid]

It's FWD, the WRX is AWD. I know which one I'm gonna prefer for moutain roads, road courses and the winter time. The neon guys can brag all they want about straight line speed. Despite what a big movie star says on the screen, life isn't lived a quater mile at a time.

[LeonZ]

i think srt-4s are cool cars. im not sure how reliable they are because they are just now coming out. and the guy didnt even ask about reliability, he asked about the car in general. overall, its one of the better values - fun car for pretty cheap. one thing for sure, if you are buying a quick car that is cheap, it would be more of a beater than a super reliable car and most buyers have this in mind.

[gjcivic]

hey, I'm the last guy to hate on honda... I really love my car... I just don't know if I would really want to load my family up in it and take a long drive across country in the middle of summer... If I had the neon, I wouldn't sweat it at all... (of course, I would be bitching everytime I stopped for gas, and remembered that I could have gone a lot further on a tank of gas in the civic..... :) )

there are a lot of cars I would like to have right now, WRX, STI, EVO, S2000, Supra, IS300, and SRT-4 are all at the top of the list... but with a kid due in a week (yah, no shit, I'm freaking out), I would really have to take a 4-door... and the IS300 would require a little too much cash to go fast... so I'd have to rank them STI, EVO, WRX (still thinking I would love to hand some local Vette owners their ass in a wagon, I'd have to teach the little one to give them the bird as we pulled away :gapteeth: ), and the SRT-4... now, cost being a factor, the SRT-4 pretty much wins................ sure, I could buy a used WRX, but its really hard for me to trust a used boosted car (people tend to abuse them IMNSHO... I know I do :) ) so if I could find some old couple that wanted to get rid of theirs for cheap...........................I'd love to drive my family in the comfort and saftey of AWD :D (sounds like a good excuse to me, but my wife is too smart to fall for that :( )

[wrxnate]

I have a modded WRX x2 and a 20th anniversary GTI.....I drove an 04 SRT-4 and was very dissappointed, I would rather have the GTI any day of the week, the GTI has no lag and tons of potential + the 20th is underrated at 180hp from what I have read.......not to metion 6 spd/style/18" wheels/lowered 1 1/2"/sunroof/etc....power curve is much more gratifying!

Well, just my $0.02

[Jai SI]

You guys are right in saying cost is a definite factor. Let's just say the Neon goes for 20k. Well, take out the dealership markup, R&D costs and production costs and all that shit, Dodge wouldn't make it that fast that cheap with high quality dependable parts. If they did, and sold the car that cheap, they would be losing money, or gaining very little of it.

[gjcivic]

A boosted Honda can be reliable. There's nothing magic about a factory turbo'ed car, so it's entirely possible to make a boosted Honda just as good, if not better. And even the stock block will last longer with boost than most people claim it will, if you have some common sense...


I couldn't agree with you more... but there is always going to be that nagging issue of reliablity in the back of my mind...

I still think that a 14 second SRT-4 will prob. last longer then a 14 sec. honda with a bolt on turbo kit... and the srt-4 will have more potential on its stock block then a boosted honda...

I actually test drove one of the old RT neons in 1995 when I was looking at buying a car... what a rattle trap piece of garbage... the build quallity is WAY higher for honda... It is really hard for me to defend a neon, but untill I get a chance to drive one, and talk myself out of it, I do think that dodge has a VERY good thing going here...

[gjcivic]

You guys are right in saying cost is a definite factor. Let's just say the Neon goes for 20k. Well, take out the dealership markup, R&D costs and production costs and all that shit, Dodge wouldn't make it that fast that cheap with high quality dependable parts. If they did, and sold the car that cheap, they would be losing money, or gaining very little of it.

they didn't spend any extra R&D on the drivetrain, its been around for quite a while... kind like if honda would pull thier head out and put the good motors they already have into the cars we REALLY want... how much more would it cost for honda to drop the type R motor into a base civic? what does a base civic run these days, around 12K? even if the Type R motor cost 2K more then the base motor to manufacture (doubtful, its a lot of the same materials, just different molds) so now they sell it for $14K, and still make the same profit... or they can sell it for $20K, have people lined up to buy them, and make an additional $6K profit on each......

dodge already has the car and the drivetrain, just a few sheetmetal changes and they have the SRT-4.....

[gjcivic]

here, read this...
http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/projectcars/0310scc_projneon/

then tell me where the week point is.....

[Mario]

I am not really too big a fan of the SRT-4's... IMO, I would buy a 1 year old WRX for ~$18k and enjoy that. AWD, turbo, nice design, good aftermarket support... seems good to me. :)

[jojo]

Well I'm not going to defend Dodge as I've had terrible luck with their products, but before we go holding up Subaru as a gold standard of quality let me remind you of the 2003 JD Power results:

Out of 35 manufacturers Dodge came in 19th while Subaru came in 28th. Ugh.

[JeepsterGirl]

:)

[djet820]

You really like the rainbow colors..

and jojo, where did you find the results

[JeepsterGirl]

You really like the rainbow colors..

and jojo, where did you find the results

Thats not rainbow; it is blue, yellow and red. I could make a rainbow one if you would like me to. :)

[Tra2xx]

:D ^while that picture is pretty funny, I don't think a 'neon' with a nice turbo, FMIC, and sounds badass can be considered gay.

Like I said before - many of the people who rip on it own slower smaller cars.


edit: wait i thought it was rainbow implying they are gay...? im lost ;UgH:

[Weston]

Well I'm not going to defend Dodge as I've had terrible luck with their products, but before we go holding up Subaru as a gold standard of quality let me remind you of the 2003 JD Power results:

Out of 35 manufacturers Dodge came in 19th while Subaru came in 28th. Ugh.

There was a thread about those numbers... The problem with that is they it's just based on number of problems, without defining what a "problem" is... could be a rattling heatshield, could be the engine falling out of the car; we don't know. So it's hard to base anything on those numbers.

I know the turbo Subaru's have tranny problems, but Dodge has some common problems too, and they have a much much worse reputation in the minds of people I've talked to.

[RiceBurner00]

I would take a stock turbo any day, my 86 regal runs very strong and has about 100k on it

once you mod a car heavily (turbo) the reliability of the car changes no matter what you say. I would easily take a srt-4 over a turbo civic or whatever, not because its domestic. If it was a turbo honda over a modded neon, I would choose a stock turbo honda.

Dodge is not losing any money at all, the car is basically for speed. compact cars arnt too much to make because anything but under the hood is pretty cheap.

[GimPin]

I dont know why every body says Dodge + Turbo = unreliable .... its not like this is dodge's first time around the block with a turbo 4 cylinder.... If you all rememeber the turbo Daytonas ... I wouldnt call it a flag ship car but they were pretty quick for their day.

[V8SpankR]

There are plenty of Honda owners on this board with boost and NO2 that have zero reliability issues whatsoever. As I said before, don't expect that thing to be worth a shit after 80k. Just you watch.
B]

I'd like to see how reliable a Honda is turboed from day 1 with 0 miles on it and over the last two years this board has been witness to more than a few Hondas blowing up and all were turboed.

[CT9A]

If I recall correctly, the motor is the same base turbo motor that is in the turbo PT Cruiser. So it's not like it's a brand new motor that has never seen production before.

Also, aren't Chrysler and Dodge basically the same company now? I forget who owns who and what. And, wasn't Mitsubishi and Chrysler partnered up with the DSM projects?

[albsjdm03]

Yes chrysler and mitsu are dsm. I wanted an srt-4 but I drove the mazdaspeed protege and love it its not as fast but the handling is great. I also have a red civic b16A with a greddy kit and its sitting right now the head gasket and water pump are out on it I have had nothing but problems with it but its not because of the boost totally its because I trust the wrong people to help me out with my ride I had a guy from honda help me out I was and still am in the learning process but the mother fucker didnt hook up the vaccum right infact he didnt hook it up at all he didnt tell me I needed fmu vafc to have it run right. so it ran like shit and then I hooked up the vaccum and the head gasket went on it I had no boost controller because it was set at 5lbs boost on the wastegate and thats what the gauge read. it was a mess so I bought a factory turbod car and I am keeping the civ to learn on. So boosting a honda is fun only if done right I know a few people with hondas boosting with no problems.

[saabracr]

here, read this...then tell me where the week point is.....

The weak point is the turbine housing cast into the exhaust manifold. That is the biggest crock of shit I have ever seen.

Looks like fun, but I don't ever want a Neon. Not even a fast one.


Andy

[V8SpankR]

Who cares if the mani and turbo are one;if you replace the turbo you usually upgrade the manifold also just like on 1st gen DSMs. It's a minor issue.

[Weston-work]

I'd like to see how reliable a Honda is turboed from day 1 with 0 miles on it and over the last two years this board has been witness to more than a few Hondas blowing up and all were turboed.

Uh, what? All were turboed? I blew a B18B up and it was NA. Dintegra97 just threw a rod through the side of his block, and he's NA too. And there's countless others on the Honda boards who have blown NA motors in various ways. So, when the same thing happens to a turbo'ed Honda, you can't just say that it was because of boost.

[exciv2000]

Looks like fun, but I don't ever want a Neon. Not even a fast one.


Andy

:werd:

[chris_venturini]

:werd:
;gay;

[gjcivic]

The weak point is the turbine housing cast into the exhaust manifold. That is the biggest crock of shit I have ever seen.

Looks like fun, but I don't ever want a Neon. Not even a fast one.


Andy

thats about the only weak point... if you really want to call it that. I'm betting that that turbo will be good for quite a bit of HP, then, as someone else pointed out, you just replace the manifold anyways... still ends up cheaper, more powerfull, and more reliable then a factory NA car (honda, nissan, kia, hyundai, mitsu, subaru, what ever) with a turbo added....... anytime you take a car that comes from the factory with boost, there are always internal mods to help with reliablity...

[saabracr]

Well of course you replace the manifold, but why should you have to?

It is more $$$ to upgrade turbos, and more $$$ in the long run should the turbo die after a long happy life in the hands of Joe consumer. I am currently searching for a used, non-cracked T3 (.48 A/R) turbine housing. They seem pretty few and far between. What happens when the cracks run up the mani? $$$$

Hell just seam weld the mani/turbine housing to the head while you're at it. One piece car, here we come!

I do agree that Dodge did its homework on the engine though. It looks strong, with proper attention to detail.

Andy

[saabracr]

anytime you take a car that comes from the factory with boost, there are always internal mods to help with reliablity...

Heh- all turbo SAABs have an 800hp bottom end. No shit. No one ever uses aftermarket pistons. Copper head gaskets take a back seat to the stock unit. Factory fortitude indeed.

Andy

[V8SpankR]

You gotta remember that nearly all car manufacturers don't make the car with the intentions to be modded and they don't care what you do with it once it's your's,they make their $$$ and then wait for you to buy another one.

[saabracr]

Some of them snag a little extra cash in the Mopar catalog.

I don't claim its without its reasons, I mainly object to the hassle of buying and replacing a rather expensive piece when no other car requires you do so.

I look at cars with the intention of modding them. IMHO this is a low blow, and totally unnecessary on a car marketed to be so tweakable.

Andy

[THRICE]

Speed, fastest boosted car, fastest SOHC car, fastest awd car, it seems like everyone here competes to have the fastest most kickass something. Me on the other hand, after my Del Sol was stolen I just said fuck it and I just drive my car, treat her well, and do little minor adjustments as I see fit. Just drive your car and love it. Who cares if you drive a Honda, Dodge, or whatever. Let the manufacturers do what they are going to do and just support other drivers no matter what they drive. I think it's pretty cool how all of the members are sticking to their favored manufacturers though and not attacking anyone else in the process... :) (jojo, saabrcr, weston)

[gjcivic]

Well of course you replace the manifold, but why should you have to?

It is more $$$ to upgrade turbos, and more $$$ in the long run should the turbo die after a long happy life in the hands of Joe consumer. I am currently searching for a used, non-cracked T3 (.48 A/R) turbine housing. They seem pretty few and far between. What happens when the cracks run up the mani? $$$$

Hell just seam weld the mani/turbine housing to the head while you're at it. One piece car, here we come!

I do agree that Dodge did its homework on the engine though. It looks strong, with proper attention to detail.

Andy

I'm sure that somewhere down the line, someone is going to come up with a way better manifold...yes, it will cost money, but if that is the weekest point in the engine, it is easily fixed, and doesn't require tearing the engine apart to fix it...

[Tra2xx]

When you have come down to complaining about the fact that the turbo and exhaust manifold are one peice, something tells me the car has it made. If you can't find much more than that to hold against the car they have done something right. That is SUCH a minor detail compared to the tons of other things that could go wrong in everyday driving/modding/ect.

[stu]

Maybe they did it so you wouldn't have an exhuast leak there.

[V8SpankR]

When you have come down to complaining about the fact that the turbo and exhaust manifold are one peice, something tells me the car has it made. If you can't find much more than that to hold against the car they have done something right. That is SUCH a minor detail compared to the tons of other things that could go wrong in everyday driving/modding/ect.


Good posting. :cool:

[gjcivic]

exactly my point :) :) :)