Comparison Tests
Picture some bland subcompact moving down the assembly line when- kablammo!-it is accidentally fueled with kryptonite, blasted with gamma-ray paint, or attacked by a radioactive torque wrench.
Suddenly, it has the power to bend speed limits with a single downshift, the suspension to leap tall mountains without falling off the road. A quick dash to the nearest tollbooth and- zing!-it emerges swathed in Technicolor plastic, a servant to the working classes with a price that won't break ordinary mortals.
Far-fetched? Meet four such schlepnick sedans that have had the ho-hum hacked right out of them. Whether it was from a gamma-ray beam or just an inspired pencil and slide rule, these cars deliver straight-line scamper and switchback agility all out of whack with their junior-petite dimensions and $20,000 price range.
Consider the newest American hero, the Dodge SRT-4. From exceedingly humble roots in the base Neon, DaimlerChrysler's year-old Performance Vehicle Operations has extracted a just-add-gasoline club racer. Step one was stripping the "Neon" badges and jettisoning the Neon's 150-hp, 2.0-liter four and strapping in the cast-aluminum DOHC 16-valve 2.4-liter in-line four from the PT Cruiser, along with a Mitsubishi turbocharger and an intercooler the size of Superman's cape.
The SRT-4's extra displacement and atmosphere put the five-speed manual on the hook for 215 horsepower and 245 pound-feet of torque. Springs, shocks, anti-roll bars, brakes, even the front knuckles, have been fortified. Dodge seeks $19,995 for the no-extras example pictured here. (Side airbags are the only option at $275.)
The Ford SVT Focus earned its propers by vanquishing its super-hatch competition in our "Desert Foxes" comparo (March 2002). That was a three-door model. Now Ford's speed division, the Special Vehicle Team, has issued a five-door version. No hulking up here-the five-door has the identical exterior and interior dimensions as the three-door and pressed the scale with just 60 more pounds.
Also the same is the excitement generated by the injection of an extra 40 horses and 10 pound-feet of torque in Ford's DOHC 16-valve 2.0-liter Zetec four from the ZX5. Enlarged intake ports and a compression bump from 9.6:1 to 10.2:1 are among the power tweaks. The SVT engine hitches its 170 horsepower and 145 pound-feet to a six-speed stick.
Enhanced with a six-CD-shooter stereo ($675), a power sunroof ($595), and xenon gas-discharge headlamps ($450), this one rolled out of the SVT lab at $21,350.
Like the Dodge, the Mazdaspeed Protegé gets its superpowers not from a glowing pinky ring but a glowing turbocharger. Mazda called in Callaway Cars of Old Lyme, Connecticut, to slip some more engine-room zoom into last year's Mazda Protegé MP3.
The order called for no changes to the engine internals, so the Garrett T25 turbo puffs just 6.9 psi of peak boost into the DOHC 16-valve 2.0-liter four. The gentle breeze pushes the MP3's 140 horsepower up to 170 and torque to 160 pound-feet. Longtime Mazda consultant Racing Beat gets credit for millstoning the Protegé's chassis to a razor's edge. Doused in metallic carrot-juice paint (Mazda calls it "Spicy Orange"), the no-options Mazdaspeed wants $20,500 for its boredom-fighting services.
Nissan's latest Sentra SE-R had Bigfoot's shoes to fill when it debuted in 2002. The original SE-Rs were a favorite of street and sports racers, and Nissan figured to squelch skepticism with a Spec V version buffed up by a DOHC 16-valve 2.5-liter four notable for its Hail Mary 100-millimeter stroke.
Good for 175 horsepower and 180 pound-feet of right-now torque, the engine pushes the asphalt through a six-speed manual and a helical limited-slip diff that gives it wall-crawler traction. Padded with a $699 sunroof and a $549 stereo belonging to someone with the unlikely name of Rockford Fosgate (see, he wrote his name on it), this Spec V will land on your driveway for $19,066.
Only one of these four minimarvels will still be standing after our California highway brawl. Readers, don't turn that page yet!
