flubyux2

So, i have family in mexico, Mexico city to be exact; the Distrito Federal. So i was staying with them for about 10 days, in december. i saw some unique cars down there. the ones that specfically caught my attention, and that i thought i might want, were the Dodge cars. They had Older style Strati, New Cirri, new Strati with "2.4L Turbo" badging. this caught me by surprise, because i have only seen the 2.4 turbo in the skittles... while my disgust of Neons of any sort have kept me away from even talking about the 2.4 turbo, the turbo powered Cirri and Strati renewed my interest. Ive found a few used dodges w/ the SRT4 motor, and they cost LESS than the equivalent USDM V6 powered Cirri and Strati. I found an 01 "Stratus R/T" 4-door for $8400 USD with 78000 kms. This would be way cheaper and way easier than buying a beat-down Stratus/Cirrus/Avenger and then a wrecked Skittle and doing a full swap. considering we already have DOT/NHSTA tested Strati, and the 2.4 turbo engines passing emissions, i cant see that itd be too hard to legalize a Skittle-powered Stratus R/T.

how bout it?

neondriver

well the 2.4 turbo has been around way longer than the srt's have been around...Its the notion that everyone had about dodge neons that they were p.o.s which kept many people away from them.....it only took dodge to take the 2.4 turbo and put it into a neon and bam..most people want them now..but anyway it sounds good, whatever you want to do. i definately dont think that those cars in mexico are the same power/speed as an srt because the srt was made and tuned for performance unlike the stratus...but a Skittle-powered Stratus R/T??????the 2.4 was way before the srt so its more like a srt powered by a mexican 2.4t stratus..

flubyux2

yeah, thats very true. the 2.4 turbo was conceinved, designed/engineered, built and implemented in mexico. the americans refined the design though. it does pretty well considering the altitude of mexico and Mexico cit D.F. (Where i was) is higher than DENVER! i got winded walking up a flight of steps or a city block. the mexican cars have lower boost levels and conservative ECU flashes. They were detuned to make insurance cheaper mainly. but less boost, better cooling and more conservative flashes would make the 2.4T far more durable.the way i see it, if i brought a ~200bhp/220tq Stratus R/T down to florida, itd might produce more power than a stock Skittle, with stock SRT-4 reflash and boost levels. Here is a mexican review of the Stratus R/T turbo.

SKITTLES, Taste the Beans!

722ish

whoa, i like the idea of this, i think. maybe a liberty diesel swap haha...

btw. TEH 505a's on a "supra" are nice thats pretty cute there

dsm_90

factors to concern yourself with is weight in the stratus and handling capability. There's no way the stratus with the SRT motor will be able to match the skittle pound for pound(it'll be like the PT cruiser turbo trying). It sounds like you're trying to work yourself around just getting a neon style body. I now own a 2005 SRT4 and absolutely love it plus I can get all my little ones in it, I had a 95 stratus with the 2.4 minus the turbo(light mods), 1 90 eclipse GSX(modded to hell-AGP 57 trim powered)and 1 92 NA talon and there's a big difference in styles. Just get the SRT(which you can get for really good prices-with or without mods)and call it a day-no emissions crap to worry about

ACR2NV

one thing you guys must keep in mind that all USDM Cloud cars with the V6/5 speed manual option use the NGV T-850

SRT setup in stratus = very do able but i'd start with a mexican car though

Josiah

well considering a first gen stratus weighs around 2800lbs, the same as an SRT, I dont think weight is an issue...the later strati may be heavier though

flubyux2

Yeah, thanks for the comment Mark. I guess good taste inherently runs in the Supra crowd.

Josiah beat me to it; the US Stratus R/T is only 40lbs different than the SRT-4 in curb weight. not a bad penalty for a car that doesnt look like a cross-eyed WRX. i will gladly take that 40lb penaly any day.

Im thinking a Mexican stratus R/T is the best bet, rather than trying to find a wrecked SRT-4 and a viable US Stratus recipient car as well as the labor to do the swap.

I could do a Liberty Diesel swap into the Stratus... no one will even know its NOT a 2.4T because they both sound like diesels.

I highly doubt im going to have to worry about emissions compliance when bringing a Mexican counterpart to the US... Mexico is really cracking down on the emissions of their cars.. So much so that cars OLDER than 3 years are only allowed to be operated 3 days out of the week. Plus, the gas stations down there ONLY car 89 octane and they have phased out Leaded fuels at the pump. so no more TEL pollution and reduced emissons output. however, the lingering smog is a bit hard to rid from city considering Mexico city D.F. sits in a basin surrounded by mountains.

Sourskittle

My 04' with sunroof and no kicker system and no spare tire stuff weighed 2945LBS. So if the other car TRUELY weighs 2800lbs. ( not some BS sticker in the door ), then you'd weigh less, and it ALSO has a lot more to "gut" than the SRT4...

SRT4 looses like 100 LBS. by FULLY gutting it ? hehe...

Also wonder if the 4-speed auto could be made to handle the power !! Almost all SRT4/turbo dodge guys agree the SRT4 would be much faster with the omni style 3-speed auto... A 4-speed would be all the better...