Test drove the SRT-4...thorougly NOT IMPRESSED

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BoostJunkie

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MazdaSpeed Protege 2003.5
Yeah, so after my Speed got stolen over the weekend, I figured I need to start shopping for another car. I would still like to get another Speed - if I can find one - but I also take this as an oportunity to check out some other hot cars on the market right now. So I head over to my local Dodge dealer to try out a red SRT-4 I saw sitting on their lot. Now, not sure I even like this car, but I just wanted to see what all the fuss over it was about.

On paper, this car sounds like one helluva rocket ship: 230HP in a Neon!, 5.6sec. 0-60, second fastest car in the Dodge line-up after the VIPER - no
less. So I was expecting some serious thrills.(crazy)

But then I drove it......I liked the engine sound....and the
seats.....and oh yeah, the WARRANTY (3yr bumper-bumper, 7yr
powertrain!!!!!) That's about it!

Even though it's got power, you just don't FEEL it through the seat-of-the pants quite like you do in the Speed.

I dunno.....it's weird.

Maybe I was doing something wrong, or that one wasn't prepped or tuned right - or maybe it had been sitting idle on the lot too long. Some will say that I'm on crack..... but I honestly think my Speed FELT like it pulled MORE than this thing! (Totally STOCK, no mods whatsoever BTW!(yes) ) It just didn't have that same "snap" and rush when the turbo kicked in.

I even tried a hard 5-3 downshift launch on the highway - wound it all the way to 5,000 RPM, the boost gauge said the turbo was boostin around 11-12 ......but I wasn't feeling it - no shove in the back, but a more muted response. I said to myself, "This is supposed to be 230 horses, and 15 PSI boost?????? WTF?????" (scratch)

I'm sure that if you timed both cars, the stopwatch would in fact confirm that the SRT-4 IS faster....It's just not as much fun.

Disappointing really.(notcool)

Anyone else concur with this? Or did I just happen upon a bad SRT?

Anyway, might check out the WRX tonight!
 
i concur.
me and Notorious test drove an SRT.
personally the stock SRT is no faster than MY msp.....but my msp hasnt been stock in a long time ;).

my main thing was that i got it to hop sideways on a 25 mph turn........my speed could take that turn at 45 without a squeel.
 
i totally agree, i test drove today and i was expecting it to be fast, but well, it didn't feel like it was. the salesman tried to tell me it had stage 1 on it which added 50hp (i didn't feel like arguing so i let it go, i assume it didn't have stage 1 and he didn't even know what stage 1 is). if it had impressed me more i definitely would have bought today, but i was quite unimpressed in stock form and had to walk out after they "bent over backwards" to give me 14.2k on my trade and "invoice" price of 21800 or something, when real invoice is 21000 on the one i was looking at. plus the ride felt really soft, i'm used to feeling bumps at least and this thing just plowed over them without really noticing. i'm pretty sure i'm gonna pass on the srt, just isn't worth what it would have cost me extra. the used s4 i found on the other hand, i'm considering :) it costs a bit more though, so i'll probably just wait on that one
 
The dodge dealer here got one in back in January. It's the only one they have ever got in. Yes, it's still there. Nobody wants it. Blue too. I might just go down and see if i can take it out....ifI can get away from work that is. I want to make my own opinion. My damn car is hesitating again, and it's driving me nuts.
 
How'd you decide that, since the SC isn't out for the Tc yet?

I think you got a bad SRT, or you are over romanticizing the MSP since you miss it. The rush you felt was hesitation. You just don't feel it with the SRT, it just pulls. I went and test drove a Tc, I wasn't impressed with the car in general.

My SRT boosts 14-15 stock. I haven't heard of any boosting that low unless the IC connectors are loose which has happened off the lot.

Yes the suspension is soft, but this has already been covered in several "MSP vs SRT" threads.

I don't think you'll have a problem finding another MSP, since like ten came up for sale over the last two days here.

Britt
 
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seems lots of msp owners are selling to upgrade to a evo or sti or other car, yet i rarely see an srt-4 owner selling to "upgrade" =)
 
i have no doubt whatsoever that they respond well to mods and can take them, but if i changed i'd be too poor to afford them (rofl)
 
I owned a neon pushing 200whp(AND IT WAS A SECOND GEN SOHC)so when I wrecked it naturaly my choice would be the SRT-4 it has what I could never have in a neon.but after driving it 6 or so times I just couldn't do it.the thing handled like s***!thats when I found the MSP and thought to myself "this car is in some need of horsepower".and horespower is easy to get,but handleing isn't.every car has limits to it's design.

my next choice will be a 1994 silvia K
but if new it would be a lexus IS 300(something about a small 4door that RWD)plus the supra 2JZ practicly bolts in.
 
i'm sure SRT could be made a monster, and msp will never be on par.........but.....
 
I don't care if it runs 10's, the sht-4 still a pos with vinyl seats, crappy interior and that bug-eyed, smiley face front-end.(pukey) No thanks.
 
wicked said:
I owned a neon pushing 200whp(AND IT WAS A SECOND GEN SOHC)so when I wrecked it naturaly my choice would be the SRT-4 it has what I could never have in a neon.but after driving it 6 or so times I just couldn't do it.the thing handled like s***!thats when I found the MSP and thought to myself "this car is in some need of horsepower".and horespower is easy to get,but handleing isn't.every car has limits to it's design.

my next choice will be a 1994 silvia K
but if new it would be a lexus IS 300(something about a small 4door that RWD)plus the supra 2JZ practicly bolts in.
Click to expand...
to make a car handle good is alot cheaper then making it fast...HP is not "easy" to get unless you mean like 30(the msp will still be slower anyhow)...also the is300 already has basically a 2jz in it...
 
back on topic, when dr sound and i test drove the thing. Neither of us were terribly impressed.
 
i drive my friend's SRT all the time, and i guess i am going to have to disagree with most of you and say i love it, i mean i'm more for fun factor than sheer speed, so of corsei like myc ar more, but it's fun to feel the rish of boost kicking in, than again if you put a FMIC and 15 lbs of boost on an MSP (stock on srt-4) we wouldn't be having this convo... needless to say my friend that i was talking aobut drove my car, his SRT-4 will be up for sale shortly to make way for a new MSP (first)
 
Drove one too. . .my car is better! (But what did you expect me to say?) Power was nice (I did not think it was slow. . .pulls well and was very smooth. . .not the power rush because it was much more linear than some cars.) The MSP (or otherwise) can compete. Suspension and handling. . .we know the answer. Looks (important to me) - know that answer on that one too. Interior. . .ditto. Shifter - Mazda didn't make a good one, but the SRT-4 I drove had an awful stick, I hated it. The sound of the SRT-4 idling in the parking lot = priceless. . .at least it has that! :D NO, it's a car I could be happy to own, but it wouldn't be a trade up in my opinion.
 
I never go racing or autocrossing with my MSP... although I DO love to drive fast. And that surge of boost that I feel in the MSP is just priceless.

I haven't driven a SRT-4 yet (the dealer here only had one and they were dicks about letting anyone drive it unless they pretty much put a down payment on it). So I went down the street and test drove a 2004 WRX. I'm sure that if I raced the car side-by-side, the WRX would win. But it just FELT like it was hard-core lagging... this is probably what most people felt about the SRT-4... and not to mention that the suspension felt like it used water balloons for springs.

Call me biased, but I love the MSP. Engine may not deliver power quite as smoothly as the WRX (or SRT-4)... but I love the feisty-ness of it.
 
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