I have to say that the looks of this Neon don't really do anything for me... It still looks like a Neon, just with a carry handle on the back (or perhaps a gear loop!

)
Hmmm, I just realized that the SRT4 is NOT a "Neon". Neither is the "SX 2.0". Dodge just ditched the "Neon" moniker I guess.
The performance specs are impressive, but as others have said, it's the total package that you normally want in a car (performance, looks, feel, build quality, etc.). I can't speak for anything but the looks.
Then again, and please MSP owners don't kill me for saying this, the Mazdaspeed Protege is a Protege. An economy compact sedan. The fact that it has been spruced up and turbocharged does not make it substantially more than that. Now I happen to like the Protege (especially the rear view in fact) so the MSP is icing.
I find the "anger" at Dodge to be puzzling. I just don't get it. Is this a penis size issue? Is this related to "I bought a PS2 therefore the GameCube and Xbox
must be complete s***."? (And you can swap product names around to match your situation...)
Of course, I also don't understand the grief about "limited" production run issues and "exclusive color" issues either... If you want something actually limited or exclusive don't look for it in the economy car market! This also ties in with the dismay expressed at the lacklustre bluebook values of the MP3s. These were not 1250 hand-made Ferraris, they were 1250 tweaked economy compact sedans.
Enough of my drivel, I've probably pissed enough people off for one post anyway.
