October 05, 2004 - Day One
We were originally going to start this review off by making fun of Dodge's attempts to make the Neon "hip" when it first appeared. Giving the car neon-colored key and "Expresso" trim levels just doesn't do much for us.

This initial marketing effort initially soured us on the Neon name. It was a little too much of a trendy "chick car" for our liking, and its marketing team tried way too hard to be "hip". By the time the second generation of Neons rolled around, Dodge wised-up, dropped the fake effort to be cool and started focusing on making the Neon a solid compact car.

A couple of years into this new model cycle, Dodge decided it wanted to be cool within the sport compact (or "tuner")market. Thankfully, the company hired an amazing group of people for this latest effort. Dodge hired a team that knew that a body kit and stickers wouldn't appeal to the tuner market. To appeal to this demographic, the car would have to perform.

The Neon underwent a full cosmetic and mechanical makeover, and it truly became an awesome machine. This performance Neon - now called the SRT-4 - is the second-fastest car in Dodge's line up. Second-fastest may not sound that impressive, but when the "first-fastest" is the Viper, being relegated to second doesn't seem that bad.

Pricing
Given the fact that the Viper is a near-$100,000 car, one could easily assume that the SRT-4 is reserved only for those trust-fund kids. Well, this is still a Neon at heart, and the SRT-4's price reflects that. Our electric-blue test car carries a base price of only $20,450.

This $20,450 price tag includes the 230-horsepower motor, full body kit, 17-inch wheels wrapped in BF Goodrich KDW2 performance rubber, racing seats, 4-wheel disc brakes with ABS, air-conditioning, power everything and more.

Our test car also comes with the Kicker/SRT Livin' Loud audio package, which includes a 6-speaker stereo, amplified subwoofer and 6-disc in-dash changer. Adding this much stereo to the car only adds another $795 to the sticker. Add in the $545 destination charge, and our SRT-4 comes in at a budget-priced $21,790.

Styling
The current base-model Neon doesn't do much to excite us, but the SRT-4 looks good. The body kit is tastefully done, and adds a sense of purpose to the car. Look carefully, and you can see an intercooler peeking from behind the large front grill. The hood scoop is tastefully done and doesn't look like it was tacked on to look "cool". The oversized wing of the car honestly doesn't excite us, but it does suit the overall lines of the car.

Large 17-inch aluminum wheels compliment the sporting look of the SRT-4. The performance BF Goodrich tires look outright aggressive, and add to the overall menacing appearance of the Neon. We don't care for the red brake calipers - they look kind of cheap. As they are just stock Dodge brakes, we feel that keeping them hidden may be better. Overall though, the SRT-4 just looks cool. We feel ourselves getting cooler every time we get behind the wheel.

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