Power, Output and Thrift: Powerful Trio
Maybe I’m just a cheap date. Don’t get me wrong I love power. I love horsepower, especially when I can hear and feel it permeate the entire vehicle. Torque does it for me. But I have a prudent side. And it was soundly trampled on by my fellow judges who refused to see the light when it comes to the Dodge SRT-4 and its wonderful, lively 2.4L turbocharged DOHC inline 4-cyl. engine. This little baby
December 30, 2003
![WardsAuto logo WardsAuto logo](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt7121b6ec5c11097b/blt45f10b537a75bb26/65d72d47647c28040affd46b/Generic_image_WA.png?width=1280&auto=webp&quality=95&format=jpg&disable=upscale)
Maybe I’m just a cheap date.
Don’t get me wrong – I love power. I love horsepower, especially when I can hear and feel it permeate the entire vehicle. Torque does it for me.
But I have a prudent side. And it was soundly trampled on by my fellow judges who refused to see the light when it comes to the Dodge SRT-4 and its wonderful, lively 2.4L turbocharged DOHC inline 4-cyl. engine.
This little baby thrilled me at all speeds and in all gears. Turn off the radio and sing along as the burble builds to a rumble and intersperses a few crescendos.
Judge Alisa Priddle |
This is no ordinary Neon. It has horsepower: 230 at 5,300 rpm. It has torque: 250 lb.-ft. (339 Nm) in the 2,200-4,400 range. And, it has serious output: 96 hp/L for a vehicle that bases at $19,450. It delivers as much pleasure in city driving as running down the highway.
Sure, the numbers don’t quite stack up against the cult-like Subaru WRX STi. That high-performance machine with the turbocharged horizontally opposed boxer 4-cyl. pumps out 103 hp/L. Its slightly larger 2.5L DOHC H-4 delivers 300 hp at 6,000 rpm and 300 lb.-ft. (235 Nm) of torque. Most impressive is the 120 hp/L and 120 lb.-ft. (163 Nm) of torque per liter.
But I can almost get a matching pair of Dodge SRT-4s for the $30,995 starting price of the Subie.
Dodge deserves bonus marks for offering so much bang for the buck – and encasing it in a killer package that is within reach of the modest-income buyer.
It’s much more than a tuner car. It’s my dream date: powerful yet frugal, but definitely fun.
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2004 10 Best EnginesAbout the Author
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