2003 Dodge Neon SRT-4

If Plymouth's Road Runner had survived the Volare years, it might look like an '03 Dodge SRT-4. The formula is just like the '68 bird, but minus the cubes, plus the turbo, and with the drive wheels on the wrong end. Mopar's PVO factory power tweakers took the base Neon four-door sedan, added the critical speed goodies to the suspension and interior, tossed in a Viper Jr. nose and a new-millennium- Super-Bird wing, and hit the little 2.4L four-cylinder with an intercooled turbo for 215 hp and 245 lb-ft. With weight in the zip code of 2,870, the SRT-4 packs 13.35 ponies per pound--smokin' the '68 Road Runner 383's 10:1, and running right alongside it with bone-stock 14.20s at the dragstrip.

Enough with the sales pitch. It's clear that the SRT-4 will be the Omni GLH of the 2000s, and plenty of guys hungry to flip the bird to the import compacts will happily pay the sub-20-Gs sticker price, then hose the car down with speed goodies. This story may also be of interest to those without an SRT-4, as the 2.4L was introduced in '94 in the Stratus, Cirrus, and the minivans, and it still appears in those applications. The base 2.4L is also current in the PT Cruiser, and it's called Power Tech in the new Jeep Wrangler SE and Liberty. The Jeep applications mean that rear-drive bellhousings are available for the 2.4, and it's rumored that the Dodge Razor concept car may see production as a turbo-2.4L-powered, rear-drive two-seater. The 2.4 is also similar to the SOHC and DOHC 2.0L engines used in various Neons, Breezes, Stratuses, Avengers, and Sebrings since '93, but the 2.0L block has a lower deck height (8.35 versus 9.38 inches), does not have balance shafts, and may have other interchangeability issues we can't vouch for (though the 2.0L DOHC does use the same cylinder head as the 2.4L).

To get a leg up on the workings of the boosted 2.4L powerplant and its performance potential, we had the rare treat of spending a day at DaimlerChrysler's Tech Center in Auburn Hills, Michigan, with the guys who designed the turbo version of the 2.4L engine--and there's a lot more to it than just the hairdryer.