There's no way the rumor this thing doesn't have a LSD is true... is it? The 04 SRT didn't have one and the MSP kicked its ass all over the place in the handling dept. Dodge quickly addressed that with a LSD in the future versions and, suddenly, that gap was narrowed quite a bit. It would be hard to imagine them making the same mistake again.
Obviously the looks are a love it or hate it type of thing. The comparrison above doesn't exactly, in my book anyway, prove a thing. I never really liked the styling of the Mazda 3 5 door. As crazy as it might sound, I think I actually prefer the Cal-SRT (from the outside). EVeryone is making a big deal about fender flares... Yeah they're over the top but so what? It's an aggressive looking vehicle. What everyone loved about the previous gen WRX everyone seems to hate about this thing.
Naturally, I'm a bit biased... Afterall, I own an Element too so I guess I have a soft spot for 'ugly' cars.
Seeing that the 1st gen SRT had a chintzy interior as well, I guess we can't be too surprised. Those things sold incredibely well so, perhaps Dodge knows something we don't. Even still, the last gen at least had a 3 spoke steering wheel. Granted, it was the ugliest steering wheel ever (well, next to this one) but it at least had 3 spokes. Why dodge elected to keep the same truck/minivan-esque steering wheel found in the base caliber is beyond me. I can understand them not swapping the pos interior out for something better. That would significantly raise costs. But putting in a different steering wheel? One that at least looks sporty... That's just inexcuseable.
Tough to predict whether this thing will sell. Even though it's only a couple inches taller than the MS3, it LOOKS much bigger. Until you see it in person (any caliber that is) you feel (based on the pictures you see online) that it's the size of a truck. In reality it's very similar to the MS3.
In short, I could almost live with the chintzy interior (if the peformance is THAT good) but not the steering wheel. That's a deal breaker.
The radio is irrelevant. Virtually any car I buy today will see its stock radio go bye-bye so I could care less what they offer.
The last thing I'll mention are the gauges... though it's hard to say for sure, it looks like they have that s*** ass blue-ish green glow that Chrysler is so well known for. If so... the interior just went from a -10 on a scale of 1-10 to a -billion. After having redish-orange gauge lighting (MSP) I could never go back. Everything from the ugly ass pea soup green s*** they put in the last gen WRX to even the sort've cool... but not for me blue/red lighting in the VWs falls short in comparrison.
Clearly the MS3 is the superior choice.
Obviously the looks are a love it or hate it type of thing. The comparrison above doesn't exactly, in my book anyway, prove a thing. I never really liked the styling of the Mazda 3 5 door. As crazy as it might sound, I think I actually prefer the Cal-SRT (from the outside). EVeryone is making a big deal about fender flares... Yeah they're over the top but so what? It's an aggressive looking vehicle. What everyone loved about the previous gen WRX everyone seems to hate about this thing.
Naturally, I'm a bit biased... Afterall, I own an Element too so I guess I have a soft spot for 'ugly' cars.
Seeing that the 1st gen SRT had a chintzy interior as well, I guess we can't be too surprised. Those things sold incredibely well so, perhaps Dodge knows something we don't. Even still, the last gen at least had a 3 spoke steering wheel. Granted, it was the ugliest steering wheel ever (well, next to this one) but it at least had 3 spokes. Why dodge elected to keep the same truck/minivan-esque steering wheel found in the base caliber is beyond me. I can understand them not swapping the pos interior out for something better. That would significantly raise costs. But putting in a different steering wheel? One that at least looks sporty... That's just inexcuseable.
Tough to predict whether this thing will sell. Even though it's only a couple inches taller than the MS3, it LOOKS much bigger. Until you see it in person (any caliber that is) you feel (based on the pictures you see online) that it's the size of a truck. In reality it's very similar to the MS3.
In short, I could almost live with the chintzy interior (if the peformance is THAT good) but not the steering wheel. That's a deal breaker.
The radio is irrelevant. Virtually any car I buy today will see its stock radio go bye-bye so I could care less what they offer.
The last thing I'll mention are the gauges... though it's hard to say for sure, it looks like they have that s*** ass blue-ish green glow that Chrysler is so well known for. If so... the interior just went from a -10 on a scale of 1-10 to a -billion. After having redish-orange gauge lighting (MSP) I could never go back. Everything from the ugly ass pea soup green s*** they put in the last gen WRX to even the sort've cool... but not for me blue/red lighting in the VWs falls short in comparrison.
Clearly the MS3 is the superior choice.
