Big bad caliber srt4...not

[mazdaspeedjay]

ok i use to be a srt4 owner. up till mine got stolen. well i still keep in touch with all my srt4 friends that still have theirs. i was going to get the new caliber srt4 BUT. the dealership i work for got the first one in and one i was not that impressed with it comprared to the speed3 and two they wanted too much money for it and wouldn't give me my employee pricing on it and i kept going back to the speed3 and the fact that i work for mazda kind of helped to but i've driven both and all around i have to say the speed3 is a all around better car. yes the caliber comes with some nice features stock like a 3" exhaust and FMIC and stock boost gauge but to me it just wasn't worth it and not the same as the older SRT4.

so my buddy calls me up braggin that on the SRT forums someone with a caliber srt4 just hit the 400WHP mark. the car was a caliber srt4 with a uprgaded wastegate set to 18PSi , upgraded injectors , better 3" exhaust, intake and a 18psi tune. i think the car might have had a couple more things done. blah blah blah. i'm personally not that impressed. i told him a speed3 hit that mark about a week or two ago using meth injection and mod for mod i'm sure the speed3 would get some simuliar numbers or damn close to it and WE DON"T NEED NO STINKIN INJECTORS. a upgraded cam driven pump maybe but i'm sure they're alot cheaper then a set of 4 aftermarket injectors unless you get the cheap ones from some no name company. what do you guys think about the whole srt4 vs mazdaspeed3. I owned a 05' SRT4 and honestly i liked my srt4 when i had it but i love my speed 3 and it has alot alot more potential oh and i don't need 3 1/2 lanes to make a u turn like i did in my srt4.(cabpatch)

 

[numbnuts22715]

kind of off topic, but is the caliber srt4 direct injected?
if not, i bet 4 injectors will be cheaper than our cam driven fuel pump... for a whole new one its about 750bucks, ifyou want to give up your stock one, its 400, but still. quite expensive

Im glad you like the car though! welcome to the forums. As soon as we get a couple more choices for ems, we'll have all kinds of big number guys.

 

[Aaron2112]

...the new srt is faster once above 70mph, but it doesnt handle nearly as well or so ALL the magazines say.

 

[Je5ter]

And its UGLY as hell don't forget.

 

[Captain KRM P5]

it looks like they chiseled it from a block of granite and slapped tires on it. its tall, its ugly, they admitted there will never be an ACR version of it, it feels cheap inside and out, and a neon srt4 with basic bolt ons would destroy it. good friend of mine owns an R/T version with the CVT AWD and its as tall as my mazda5.

 

[jtom]

The decision between the dodge and the mazda is not hard for me. All you have to do is look at them both. The dodge is extremely ugly. Not only that, the cheapness of the overall vehicle is so obvious, just compare the interiors of both cars.

However I do wish the mazda had a boost gauge and while a FMIC would be nice, its not a huge deal to me.

 

[Je5ter]

What difference does a FMIC make anyways? Seriously I don't know if there is actually a good explanation for it..

 

[redspeed]

What difference does a FMIC make anyways? Seriously I don't know if there is actually a good explanation for it..

It doesn't sit on top of a hot azz engine!

 

[palerider]

I am seriously considering getting one as DD. I kind of like it. And the thought of having one of each makes me crack up.

 

[clos561]

ms3 got as much hp with less...the only reason that the caliber gets those number out of the box is the 3inch stock TBE. throw a 2.5 on there and see a great reduction in power, ms3 is way more conservative to keep the car classy for some, but the potential is DEFINITELY there and its been proven.

 

[Sacrilicious]

here's the bottom line: if you want balls-to-the-wall acceleration, we all picked the WRONG car! FF is NOT the way to get insane power down to the ground! 400whp is freakin wasted on our cars, because all we do is spin our tires like mad from 1st-4th gears. if you want to make it useful, you may as well drop it into a FR car like the rx-7 or yes, i'm going to say it: MUSTANG! shiet...given the choice between a caliber and a mustang, i would pick the mustang EVERY time!

the thing that makes our cars so nice is the happy compromise that they came to as far as price vs power vs handling vs style. let's not fool ourselves into thinking that we're something special in the power department, because we're trying to put it down in the WRONG place if we want to do something useful with it...^^; the important part for a FF wagon is to be able to balance things out so that it's not trying to be some weird 1-trick pony while wearing the wrong shoes on the wrong feet! (eek2)

 

[redspeed]

here's the bottom line: if you want balls-to-the-wall acceleration, we all picked the WRONG car! FF is NOT the way to get insane power down to the ground!

Yeah, for street use, you're right. But you can still make a fast drag fwd car. On the NHRA Sport FWD they have a srt4 running 9.68@151mph and a civic running 9.39@158mph. Pro FWD record is 7.18@200+ mph if I'm not mistaken and cars are running on the 7.22ish regularly.

http://www.nhrasportcompact.com/2007/events/race11/results/sfw.html

 

[Sacrilicious]

Yeah, for street use, you're right. But you can still make a fast drag fwd car. On the NHRA Sport FWD they have a srt4 running 9.68@151mph and a civic running 9.39@158mph. Pro FWD record is 7.18@200+ mph if I'm not mistaken and cars are running on the 7.22ish regularly.

http://www.nhrasportcompact.com/2007/events/race11/results/sfw.html

ya, i know this is all possible, but my point is simply that all things equal, if that same power were put to the rear wheels, they could do sooo much better...^^;

 

[Captain KRM P5]

What difference does a FMIC make anyways? Seriously I don't know if there is actually a good explanation for it..

if you look at the real science behind it, for all but the highest horsepower applications, there is no benefit to an FMIC over a well engineered top mount intercooler. subaru guys don't make an FMIC upgrade priority one for that reason. you can easily make a ton of power before even needing an FMIC and you'll find that people that switch to those and do nothing or little else first will actually be robbing themselves of power and pressure.

vendors like to sell FMIC kits because normally there are good margins and high prices. people like to buy FMIC kits because, lets face it, they look damn good in that grille. i roll my eyes every time i see someone bicker about an FMIC core not filling the entire grille. if you like blocking air flow to the radiator and condensor, by all means run that huge core. if your car pushes enough pressure and air flow to efficiently fill an oversized core (and stock boost, trust me, it doesn't) then by all means go for it.

most of the FMIC producers out there run smaller cores up front because of smart engineering. turboxs is the only one i can think of that presently doesn't. length of flow path, pressure loss and materials use is alot more important on any intercooler than a big mouth bling core up front.

end rant

 

[Young Roids]

Doesn't the engine heat up that top mount an awfull lot. Yesterday I opened the hood an hour after I turned off the engine in the middle of winter and that oil cap was freakin hot that heat has got to transfer to the intercooler.

 

[numbnuts22715]

Doesn't the engine heat up that top mount an awfull lot. Yesterday I opened the hood an hour after I turned off the engine in the middle of winter and that oil cap was freakin hot that heat has got to transfer to the intercooler.

Im sure it does also, but once you get moving,all the air going through the ducts cools it back down.
I really dont how it can help enough, but that's what everybody keeps saying.

 

[Texaco]

From the specs, it is only like 2 inches taller. Am I missing something?

 

[Sacrilicious]

From the specs, it is only like 2 inches taller. Am I missing something?

ya, but it's all about the way they shaped it...it LOOKS a lot worse than it should because it looks like they rolled a stone block down a hill and took a mold of what was left at the bottom...^^;

 

[mazdaspeedjay]

ok update HE LIED, i went over his house last night to see the video. the car is red shed is the name on the forums. it made 400whp with the mods above and a 30 shot of nitrous. with just the mods alone it made only 348 whp and 380ish ft torq to the wheels. turbo x's made 330whp and 360ft torque if i'm not mistaken with just a CAI exhaust and FMIC.. they have video of it at the track on BFG street drags radials not slicks and it went 12.9's 12.8's and i like the best was a 12.5. BUT driver311 on here went 12.7's on slicks with just a map clamp test pipe 18PSI boost controller on slicks. i think driver311 said he had spent maybe $600 in mods when he ran that. all the crap done to the srt4 i'm sure was well over $600. Plus this is my opinion the SRT4's the new ones that is are using plastic intake manifolds. i'm interested to see how they hold up cause most plastic intake manifold are two piece units and tend to blow out and leak after awhile where the seems are that connect to two pieces supposely it's better for heat but i'm really glad the speed3 still uses a good ol' aluminium one.

 

[allmotor95pgt]

Im sure it does also, but once you get moving,all the air going through the ducts cools it back down.
I really dont how it can help enough, but that's what everybody keeps saying.

i agree with u. our top mount ic and ram air is very well designed. when i dynoed my car we did a few runs with the hood open and some fans blowing in the front of the car and after a couple of back to back runs it was hot to the touch. but then when we closed the hood and set up the fans up by the ram air it was cold to the touch after about 4 or 5 runs. so yes after u gat moveing the tmic is very effective.