If Only They'd Built It Back Then
Hey! Remember that great idea that Audi and BMW and Ford and Hyundai and Kia had about getting you to buy a turbocharged four-cylinder in a relatively expensive car instead of a V-6? Lee Iacocca had it first. But he never had it like this.
The Town&Country wagon is, rather amazingly to the modern mind, well under 3000 pounds. Say 2800 with the swap. That means that its power-to-weight ratio is pretty much exactly what you get with a new Chevrolet SS or BMW 550i. Road noise, center-stack telematics function, and offset-crash safety will likely lag behind the modern competition, however.
The 2.4L SRT-4 engine was, in many ways, the all-time hero of modern turbocharged fours. My ex-wife’s SRT-4 with the Stage 2 kit would walk away from my Porsche 993 on flat ground and with the dial-a-boost turned down you could get 35mpg on the freeway. None of the current crop of boosted quads match it, save perhaps for the pin-pulled grenade you can buy in a CLA45. The “world engine” found in the Caliber SRT-4 sucked and blew by contrast.
Wouldn’t it be great to have the option of a 300-horsepower turbo four in the Charger? Sure it would. But you still won’t be able to get a wagon, and you definitely can’t have fake wood trim. If you want that, you’d better make the call before someone else does.
More by Jack Baruth
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" The 2.4L SRT-4 engine was, in many ways, the all-time hero of modern turbocharged fours." I'm intrigued that you should say that, Jack, and on what basis you came to that conclusion. I remember at the time wondering what mechanical torture was going on with that 4 inch long stroke chuffer at over 7 grand. In NA form, it was an asthmatic little sneezer with a highly non-linear power band in the cloud cars - rental car favorites. The SRT-4 engine had only an 8.1 to 1 compression ratio - it was firmly of the old school of turbo design, so its major merit must be its ability to accept vast amounts of overboost without grenading. All these newer turbo engines seem strangled at high revs compared to the older ones. That's supposed to be due to the small turbos not flowing enough air at high rpm. They do seem to have less turbo lag but the initial softness is still there. I'm so used to it, my brain and right foot compensate and I don't notice. So, my question really boils down to: was the SRT4 engine really that great or was the Neon so light it just seemed like monster power? My nomination for best early turbo engine is the 4G63 in my Eagle Talon. It only won four WRC championships in a row instead of dominating club racing.
Now if it only came in a convertible... http://www.flix66.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Planes-Trains-and-Automobiles-3.jpg