These posts kill me. :-) It is no secret that the Neon SRT-4 is one heck of a performance deal. They go fast in a straight-line and reasonably fast in turns. I have owned a number of cars like that and took great pleasure in beating 'superior' cars in drag races (my 200SX SE-R, NX2000, and WRX are similar examples). One thing I *hated* was FWD. Numb steering and tons of torque-steer are no fun. Those things are especially true of the new Neon but for around $20K what do you expect? :-) I won't even get into just how wretched the build quality and interior materials are. So, they are fast and wait until you see folks running even a little more boost (not to mention a bigger more efficient inter-cooler or larger turbo!). SCC Magazine recently dyno tested one that makes more HP to the wheels than is rated 'to the brochure'. It seems pretty obvious that Dodge has chosen to understate their HP (not new either -- VW did/does it with their 1.8t motors). Many companies do this so the stated HP doesn't interfere with the sales in something slightly 'up market' and cause competition within the make. If you insist on racing these creatures, do so from a light -- roll-ons in high-horsepower FWDs puts them in *THEIR* element. :-)

 

Would you have believed it if a Viper almost had you?

 

I was able to "shake" the one I raced, just barley.. See my tread on this in this forum if you want the details..

 

what kind of silver 350 you got?

 

The thing I find amusing is the 2nd fastest car offered from Dodge is the Neon.. LMAO... Neon to the Viper...huge difference... nice small jump

 

Didn't mean to be a 'bone head', but I couldn't resist. Besides, if it wasn't me then someone would have said it right?

 

I guess it depends how you 'got into trouble'. Going into a turn too hot in a FWD car, and you have to RELEASE the accelerator to get your line back (late/trail braking work too). That is about the only way to make many FWD cars rotate at all. Otherwise, it is all about TERMINAL UNDERSTEER. Some shining examples of steller FWD handlers: NX2000/SE-R (and almost any SR20DE powered car), RSX, Focus/Contour SVT, and Integras. But, all those cars push like a mother w/o some suspension work and careful driving. Healthy doses of torque / bump steer there too.

I loved my NX2000 and 200SX SE-R but would never describe them as sports cars though they were plenty fast. Enjoy your ride and don't sweat those guys.

 

It's no secret that I really like the neon. Yah. Take one from a light and unless he's good you're in luck. It's definately a tire shredder in the wrong hands. Sleepers are so awesome. A guy in my car club owns this monstrocity. Feast your eyes on HORANGE...... 12.5

 

Sorry about the super big pics. I guess Terry doesn't resize his pics.

 

I have yet to see an SRT 4 are they limited prodution?

 

Everyone I'm sure saw the SCC where they dyno'd a stock SRT4 that put 223 to the wheels. and it's rated at 215 at the fly wheel from the factory. Those things are monsters. I think I saw a 1/4 mile of a 14.0 @ something stupid like 105mph. Can we say traction limited. Fast as it may be I'd take the Mazdaspeed Protege over it any day of the week. (speaking in terms of similar cars)

 

Dont forget the Prelude espcially the 97-01 SH's very great handlers. I sometimes doubt some of these type posts "when someone honks the horn and say lets go from 30" etc. with my many years of driving and most of my buddies we have never ran across it. Heck I rarely get an challeng and I drive pretty aggressively some times.

 

Yes, the current generation Preludes handle very nicely (almost all Preludes did)! In fact, they won C&D's best handing car for under $30K last year. In that test, the SH's special function failed and performed as a 'regular' model - but rather nicely. I didn't mention it because it costs WAY more than the other examples for the most part (esp consider used after-market). Anyhow, that was (is) Honda's flag-ship FWD sports coupe. If you insist on a FWD car for the sake of having one, then many import cars will do nicely. For me all the Honda technology doesn't make up for it's weight (deserves the "Qualude" nick IMO). I've seen those cars respond really well to mods but at the end of the day, it is still FWD and not a 'real' sports car. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this recently and realized how little of the subjective feeling makes it into a post like this. I mean the 'texture' of driving a Z is incredible. I have to remember that I should drive my WRX and ride my motorcyle more often, but don't. :-) Anyhow a number of cars give me the same kind of driving pleasure but at costs more than I was willing to pay. Some examples are the new M3 (M Coupes), the 996 Porsche, Z06 'Vette, and the Acura NSX.

 

Re-read my post -- I never said every RWD car is a sports car. I also didn't say a FWD could not be fast. :-P But, this much is true: A FWD car will never be considerd a 'true' sports car. Up to around 300HP most FWDs are the equal to a RWD counter-part. Beyond that, time and again it has been shown they can't hang. From experience I can tell you my 200SX SE-R that made over 400HP to the wheels was NOT fun to drive most of time. Even with the best NISMO LSD, it would spin like mad and produce monstrous torque-steer. BTW I took enormous pleasure in stomping Corvette's, Mustangs, Porsches, and almost anything I could get my hands on! Once I even out-dragged a Ferrari 355F1! That was so much fun!

Anyhow, I did say that subjective feelings play a lot here -- and it is dang hard to quantify how terrible torque/bump steer are on most FWDs. BTW I drove the current generation B15 SE-R Spec-Vs -- nice torquey car and handles well. That sucker is NO sports car. The transmission is among the 10 worst (in terms of feel) in the free-world (other nine held by GM cars). :-P

Searl's 200 SX SE-R

I've run faster than 12.34 FYI -- that was on DOT rubber.

-Searl

 

Just a quick prophylactic message -- the times were you see a 1"+ reaction time were not in an actual race -- either single car or pure test event. :-) I tied for 1st place a few years ago in bracket racing in a sanctioned IDRA event. I ran three near perfect runs (.502, .505, .530) on a 'sports man tree' until my crew chief, Mike Kojima, got us disqualified.