Overall the car felt HUGE especially compared to my Shelby. The power was blah and I didn't hesitate to tromp on it with the sales guy sitting next to me. I was decent but not impressive like I thought it would be. To be completely honest the best part about the car was the sound it made. The shifter was OK but the gears felt too long, handling was pretty good and the LSD worked nicely when I floored it in a corner.
I went and drove it as a project for one of my classes comparing leases vs financing the car. List on the car was $28,450 and a lease w/8K down was $400/mo taxes in and financing @ 6.25% (no incentives on SRT-4) 8K down would cost me $427/mo taxes in.
For a neon? To think of the mustang I could build for that. Shit with all the incentives on new mustangs right now I could get a new GT with leather for 30K.
We have a couple of diehard SRT4 owners at our dealership. We just got a stage 2 in, as soon as it's installed the owner is bringing it in to be dyno'd again to see results. Will post if anyone is interested.
I haven't driven one yet, but what an awesome value. Drop in the stage 3 upgrade and an exhaust and its a quick little machine.
It is a great value but at the same time it isn't. If you're looking for a brand new car with a warranty yeah it's hard to beat but 14's just ain't fast. The 2 biggest things I hate about it is that it's FWD and has 4 doors. The car really felt heavy and when I punched it in 2nd gear I think the sales guy saw the look of disappointment in my face.
On the other hand if you're looking to just go fast and don't care about warranty or anoy of that other BS you could build a faster neaon using an old shell with no engine and SRT drivetrain out of a wrecked GT cruiser. Could build all that for less than 10K That or just build a mustang.
The sales guy also told me they are getting rid of the 7 year warranty and going back to 5 years. Fixing these cars for 7 years is probably getting hella expensive.
They're really not that fast. The EVO and the WRX series is a much better platform for these type of rice rockets.
Looking for a project Craig?
MM
If only I had the $$!
If I were looking for a sleeper FWD car I would buy an older neon ACR and put the drivetrain from an SRT-4 into it. Much lighter car to begin with and a better handling car too.
$8K down on a lease on a $28K car is ridiculous. If im leasing a car I wont put $8K down on an $80K car. For a lease you want a high residual, low down, and low monthly.
They're really not that fast. The EVO and the WRX series is a much better platform for these type of rice rockets.
They should be for 2x the price. There are several srt-4s now that race with ViperDays, and with slicks those cars are turning impressive times. I think they make a great car to turn into a track car.
$8K down on a lease on a $28K car is ridiculous. If im leasing a car I wont put $8K down on an $80K car. For a lease you want a high residual, low down, and low monthly.
Yep he musta thought I was crazy. I didn't have any intentions of buying at all, just comparing a lease vs. financing for a class so I needed a figure that kept them on a level field. I worked out a lease that would have been 2K down @ $475/mo but 2K down financing would have made a lease look good and that's not the goal of my project [img]/images/graemlins/supergrin.gif[/img]
They're really not that fast. The EVO and the WRX series is a much better platform for these type of rice rockets.
They should be for 2x the price. There are several srt-4s now that race with ViperDays, and with slicks those cars are turning impressive times. I think they make a great car to turn into a track car.
....28K (avg) for a Neon vs WRX STi for 32K MSRP....
Hell, 21K MSRP vs WRX 18K
They're really not that fast. The EVO and the WRX series is a much better platform for these type of rice rockets.
They should be for 2x the price. There are several srt-4s now that race with ViperDays, and with slicks those cars are turning impressive times. I think they make a great car to turn into a track car.
....35K for a Neon vs WRX STi for 32K MSRP.
Yep, sounds like 2x the price to me!
MM
How is a neon 35K? They're 20. And where can you find an STi for 32k? closer to 40K here. That sounds like 2x to me.
I test drove one a few weeks back. Sticker was $21k and it was fully loaded. I don't know what more you could want for that kind of money. You can't get anything worth driving for under $20k anymore, and it isnt until you hit $30k that you get into anything considered "nice" by most peoples standards.
I liked it.
PS. Theres a reason why mustangs have $4000 rebates.
To think of the mustang I could build for that. Shit with all the incentives on new mustangs right now I could get a new GT with leather for 30K.
