New Car Profile 2004 Dodge SRT-4 Compact Sport Sedan.

Description: Compact Sports Sedan
Base MSRP Range: $20,450
Invoice Price Range: $18,970

Dodge's new SRT-4 performance sedan, sized in the compact class and fitted with street-legal mechanical gear to run fast and furious, has a turbo-charger and inter-cooler attached to a dual-cam 2.4-liter four-in-line tuned for high output with a large-hole throttle body and high-flow intake manifold. It's rated up to 230 hp and comes with a heavy-duty five-speed manual shifter and high-capacity clutch. Stopwatch times for a romp from zero to 60 in SRT-4 easily clip below six seconds. Now tie the car's performance figures to some competitive price points and you end up with the swiftest production car in the American market priced below $20,000. Think of it as a factory-sanctioned and affordable route into the world of street racers customized off compact-class front-wheel-drive (FWD) sedans.

Aggressive styling at the prow reflects cues of street performance machines with a deep fascia etched with multiple air intake ports and cross-hair grille plus a horizontal port carved into the shapely hood. At the tail a tall basket-handle spoiler flies off the deck and works at speed to exert force on rear wheels and pin them to the pavement. The cockpit has the look of a customized car. Front seats, patterned after a wrap-around design for buckets in the SRT-10 Viper, contain reinforcements in lateral and lumbar segments to support the torso when this car runs through a wiggly chute. Gauges with silver rims reflect easy-to-read silver faces, and similar satin metal trim shows up on door handles and the center stack with rotary knobs for climate control. The theme continues in the foot well with all three pedals made of cast aluminum with dimple surfaces, while the short-throw stick extending off the console has a cue ball shift knob also in satin silver.