The fire-breathing powerplant is never short of breath or unable to exceed expectations- it just keeps giving whether departing the line or coming out of a gentle sweeper in third gear at 120-kph. Nail the throttle and the car pulls furiously. Onto the brakes hard and speed evaporates like rain on a red-hot barbeque. The engineers bragged about the stopping ability of the SRT4- turns-out, they weren't bragging.

Perhaps more worthy of bragging is the predictable, forgiving handling of the rocket. With no time to acquaint myself with the outer reaches of this car's on-road ability, I pushed it to the brink through the wide array of Putnam's bends and curves. Like a true friend, the SRT4 hung in all the way, making me look far more polished on the track than I am. That's the stuff of balanced chassises and perfect suspension tuning.


Back to real world driving
Performance cars are often difficult to live with due to uncomfortable rides and high-strung personalities. Where does the SRT4 fit in? Well, its ride is definitely firmer than that of a conventional Caliber. For me though, it was an acceptable trade-off given the handling capability of the car. The engineers were driven not to sacrifice ride in favor of handling. I think they achieved their goal.

I found the SRT4's performance-oriented exhaust note a little overt for my age of near-50. I mentioned that to one of the engineers. He laughed and said most complain about not hearing enough exhaust growl- go figure. I guess the embrace of noise is a personal - and probably younger - thing. The last "real world" comment goes to octane. The SRT4 likes a rating of 93, which is sometimes difficult to locate and always difficult to pay for.

SRT4 delivers value in addition to sizzle
The really amazing aspect of the SRT4 is its price- just $24,995. That buys a lot of horsepower and performance, and sets the benchmark for all others to strive for. I'm not aware of any other offerings at 25-large that can outrun the SRT4 on the track or in the showroom.



SRT at $24,995- need I say more



Firm hand needed to counter torque steer on rutted road
93 Octane required
Noisy exhaust note (Apparently not noisy enough for many)



None


Photo Credit : Rob Rothwell