TimmyT

Piston Rings....
The weak part of the 2az is the piston rings.

As for the caliber. I would rather get the AWD R/T caliber and turbocharge that than get the srt-4 model.

BreakTheStatic

I've owned several dodges, and completely agree about the transmissions and control arm problems. However, the srt-4 tranny is made by New Venture Gear, not Chrysler.

sponger_pr

I wish I knew a SRT-4 engineer to tell me the ins and outs of the engine and tranny. Another fear is that I don't see many TC engines available like those found for your Honda fans. They can pretty much blow an engine every 3 months and find a vast selection of replacements. Some companies go a step further and reinforce the engines, leaving the customer with just one decission "What size turbo to go with". Is pretty easy for those guys to trial-and-error their way to success. Where are the TC enginges?

Kilo6_one

its still a neon.......
buy a used evo, or Sti......

sponger_pr

thought about that too......would be nice to score one with low miles and under $22,000

hayalex6

It's a Dodge, and it's also just a neon with a bigger motor, and sportier seats.

Go japanese.

Kilo6_one

its possible.......a wrx is better then a neon.

sponger_pr

Where are the TC motors made? Scion is an American brand with no sells in Japan with the Camry engine? Where is it built?

ReverseGTR

I have kept on hearing that the CVT can't take that much power or better phrased torque from a FI setup which is rumored by some why the new SRT4 doesn't have this tranny. But then again there is no solid proof that any indivisual has tried this so who knows.

And what does that make a Civic Si or better yet a Corolla XRS? Give me a break, with the exception of rally based homogenizations sporty economy based cars are just that, they still can be great performers but make no exceptions without performance and price as proof.

engifineer

^^ what he means is that it is still a dodge... they have had a million issues for the last 40 years, and always will it seems. At least the toyota and honda are versions of cars that actually stay on the road more than in the shop. Dodge is even at the VERY bottom of the list of american cars in my book.

BreakTheStatic

If ya wanna go the dodge route, hold off buying a car for a couple years and wait for the challenger to be built. Beautiful car with tons of power.

scionofPCFL

In the states. The same place they've been made for about the past 12 years or so. The Camry is built in Georgetown, KY. And guess what, it's arguably the most reliable sedan money can buy, with among the best resale value on the market (in otherwords, you lose less money when you sell it a few years from now)

Why do people only focus on the engine? There's 1000 other parts on the car. Drive a 100k mi Camry and then a 100k mi Accord and then 100k mi anything else. If you don't see the difference then have mercy!

You asked what we thought, and we're giving you our opinion. It's a stupidly fast car built by a company that has a reputation for cars that pure junk after 3 years, and their resale value shows that.

If you want a stupidly fast car for the same money as the Neon, your best bet is a used WRX.

engifineer

It is absolutely beautiful, but still a dodge. But, it will be around 50k when it does come out, not quite in the range he is looking at

engifineer

One thing to note is that the 2AZ in the tC is NOT identical to the 2AZ in the camry (atleast not through 05 I believe). There are some changes in the bottom end. I would have assumed that if they were tooled up for it they would build the engines in Japan where the rest of the car is made, but that may not be the case.

I am not an american car hater either. If I could find a good reliable car that I liked here I would buy it hands down and support our own economy more than buying something made either totally or partially in Japan. But, this is the car I liked, and there are too many issues with the american auto makers right now. Dodges are ALL ugly (other than the challenger, but it is a concept) and unreliable, fords are all ugly to me and have too many electrical issues that are a bi@tch to fix, and GM is having too many financial issues right now.

But back on topic, yes, he did ask the question so we are giving the straight answers. I am basing my opinion of their reliability off of all the ones I know, have worked on and that I hear horror stories from that come through my dads shop. Honestly I think out of all the most pain in the @$$ issues and issues that should not be happening on lower mileage cars I see there, the most come from Dodge and Mitusbishi. So I would stay away from any dodge to be honest. If it were me and absolutely wanting american, I would get a chevy or ford, besides that, toyota and honda.

SilverRSXJezus

Well, going by what I know...


It all depends on what you're looking for. I'm sure it's been stated before, but I"ll reiterate again: If you're looking for the better bargain for a performance car, the SRT-4 wins hands down.

From my own research on srtforums and other srt owners, they're reliable enough. At least..the important parts. There may be the occasional interior/shifter tidbits that fall off, but who cares. They're the very definition of pocket rockets, really.

If you're looking for a more well rounded vehicle, that'll have to be the tC.

mandangalo

i have a friend (hes not some dumb kid either, hes 34) with an srt4, he has had the syncros replaced twice, but other than that it runs perfectly. he has 50k miles on it, takes it to the track a lot.

i would personally look into an rsx-s. the honda k-series motors are freaking insane.

hayalex6

We're talking about the entire car her, not just the motor.

If you do a side my side comparison of a Corolla or Civic with 100k miles, next to a Neon with 100k miles, there will be a world of difference.

American cars just don't last long.

sponger_pr

You all have good points and I appreciate your honesty. As you can see there are post going both ways and that has been my story for quite some time. A nieghbor told me yerstoday he would rather drive a turbo TC before a SRT-4 and believes the TC would handle boost as good or if not better than the SRT. I hightly doubt that. Thoughts?

scionofPCFL

considering that the srt engine was built from the ground up to handle boost, I would think that it is better suited for higher boosts.

YourNameHere

if anyone had a pulse over at dodge they would have put this wonder engine into a small 2 door drop top. give it viper like stlying and wait for the car of the year awards to roll in...but no....lets put it into an economy car and the PT cruiser....greeeeat