The neon was designed to be a comfortable, inexpensive people mover...just because they tuned the suspension and added a turbo doesn't change that fact. Not saying I wouldn't drive one, just that the WRX was purpose-built for performance, while the neon was not.

 

I believe when you take a platform, add an engine soley for the reason of speed and power, then tune the suspension and braking and add other things for performance oriented means you can then say it was purpose built for performance. The SRT-4 is not just a "people mover".

 

If you don't think the Neon has any history in handling, you need to read up on the 1st gen ACR. They all but dominated their class in SCCA events until the SCCA moved them out of that class (the class they were in escapes me @ the moment).

The Neon (non ACR or SRT4) was basically a cheap econobox that could be modded fairly easy, but the ACR and SRT4 had a performance purpose and they served that purpose well.

 

go weavil! this is where you shine!

 

kinda like what they did with the Dc2 platform and the Type R?

 

Or the WRX and the WRX STi....

 

Nothing says handling like putting all that power down to 1 wheel. Sure it's fast, but if you can legitmately tell me that as far as handling goes you'd rather take a FWD car running on an open differential, vs an AWD car you've gotta have some good stuff in your pipe.

I can also almost guarantee that car will get a bad reputation. Why? Every kid is going to go out and buy one, not bother breaking it in, and seeing how fast it goes when they're driving it home from the dealership. Plus its a new motor, and nobody gets things right the first time.

The WRX on the otherhand is running off an engine that is tried and true for close to 10 years.

/me wants a V6 WRX...

 

Yeah, the Neon not having an LSD is a terrible decision. I hope for their sake they make it an option soon. otherwise we are gonna have lots of punk kids burning out all over the place. Actually, we will probably have that anyway....but even more so.

 

WRONG. all the gc, and gd platforms were made FROM SCRATCH, to compete in the world rally circuit. they just offered a consumer version too. nothing like the dc2, where they just adapted a type r version from a car they already had carrying people around in japan.

 

I wasnt arguing that they werent made from scratch was i? I simply stated that the WRX STi is to the WRX like the Type R is to a GS-R, or a SRT-4 is to a RT neon. Which all goes back to silver sube saying the Neon wasnt designed for handling. AND, if we are arguing about the current WRX, we might want to include the current ITR, which was built from the ground up to be a type R and not based off any car already carrying people around. And you cant "just offer a consumer version too" for the heck of it. A vehicle must be homologated before it can compete in the WRC.