LoWPRoFiLE

Well I finally got around to driving the Neon today and now I can compare the two in full. I alot of people on these boards are interested in these two cars. I'm going to give a quick report on my findings.

Power: SRT-4 wins. This thing is just about as fast as my Z28. It has nice pickup and does not need to rev that high to gain power. Boost was kicking in early and it was a smooth powerful ride. The RSX-S was unimpressive, and didn't offer much in this department. The way it's built you have to go to 6-8K RPM to get any kind of real power, and driving around the city it makes absolutely no sense to take it that high. SRT-4 is over a full second faster than RSX-S in the 1/4

Sound: SRT-4 wins. This thing sounded damn good. Again, like a V-8 with 3" exhaust. No ricey tone at all, while your in a low gear going down a hill and let off the gas the thing rumbles like the beast it is. RSX-S makes no sound. When exhaust is attached it makes the high-pitched V-Tec scream which is utterly annoying and laughable.

Looks: SRT-4 wins. It comes with a vented hood & high spoiler, 4 doors. RSX-S comes with optional high spoiler or low spoiler, 2 doors. The wheels on the RSX-S are nicer. The color options that you can get on the SRT-4 put Acura to shame. The Sunset Orange for 05' is gorgeous, and the Viper Yellow they had in 04' is very nice and stands out. The fact that it was a 4 door didn't matter, it looked damn good. The interiors are a throw up, I didn't see much difference in the dashes, RSX-S has a slightly nicer setup, but it is not really something that could set the two apart.

Comfort: SRT-4 wins. SRT-4 has one of the worst clutches I have ever seen, or so I thought, it sticks out far but it took me a whole 5 minutes to get comfortable with it. The racing seats in the front hold you in VERY nicely where properly adjusted. I like them better than the smooth leather ones in my Z, and they were almost on par with Charger/Magnum's seat comfort. RSX-S has more space for your legs, but it's still a Japanese car whcih means it was extremely hard for me to get in and out of. Me being 6'2" I found it horribly diffuclt to manuever in it.

Credibility: SRT-4 wins. SRT-4 has Mopar upgrade packages that add a lot of power. The Neon is more practical because it has two more doors and a trunk. RSX-S is cramped and offers no power upgrades. It truely is a luxury Civic, just like the Integra was. The SRT-4 was built to compete with the FWD import tuner cars, it goes beyond that and blows them away. Easy power upgrades will put you into the low 13s with ease. RSX-S can't keep up with the SRT-4 and neither can the other FWD compacts.

Everything I had hoped about the SRT-4 came true, it was a very nice ride for what it was. I recommend it if you're looking into this kind of car.

GTItillIdie

yea, but its still a neon.......

DC5R

for 20k the neon is alot better...the srt4 beat alot of cars when it came to performance. does the srt4 come with a 6 disc cd changer and a subwoofer? does it have leather?...its true it is the fastest fwd for a good price but heres a quote for you.

Znypar

cobalt ss is nicer than the srt-4 imo

blacksrt

cool, and the evo is still a lancer, and the sti is just an impreza blah blah blah. i still dont get it. are people that threatend by a "neon" that they try an down a srt-4 every chance they get?

blacksrt

maybe, but its still slower.

LoWPRoFiLE

DCX is going to become #1 in quality soon. I have been a Chevy fan for quite some time, but Dodge is putting out a lot better vehicles. I drove the Magnum R/T and it was incredible, I wish they had the 425HP SRT-8 edition, along with that they have the 300C,Charger,and Grand Cherokee SRT-8, I was very impressed. All Chevy has is the Corvette

No it's not just a Neon, thats a stupid comment.

BKS_SC2

No

Whistler

Just curious. Did you drive the 06 eclipse, if so what was your impression. My better half is looking for a car and planned on looking at one.

LoWPRoFiLE

No, and I don't plan to. I hear it's rather on the quick side with that new Mivec engine, but Mitsubishi is notorious for poor quality. I am not interested in two door cars anymore either.