Interesting. Yeah, I see that U.S. light truck sales are up almost 250% since 2009.

Serious question: what happened to car sales in the past 20 years or so? I just looked up the stats, and even the Neon sold more than 100K units every single year it was available, and more than 200K units in some years. Now it seems like a car that sells 20K units a year is considered a success.

Thanks. It’s always been a really fun car to drive. I was 37 when I bought it, older than your typical SRT-4 driver. I’m beginning to get a few odd looks driving it now at 58, and people have asked if it’s my son’s car. :)

I’m a fan of 5-spoke wheels, especially clean designs like those. The absolute first thing I did to my SRT-4 when I bought it new in 2003 was get a set of forged aluminum Centerline Storm wheels, which I’m still running today. They’ve been powder coated a couple of times since then, and currently match the subtle strip…

That looks stunning! Do you have a very rough ballpark of what this kind of thing would cost? I really need to do something with seats in one of my cars. It’s very difficult around here to find somewhere that does auto upholstery at all, much less good custom upholstery.

Because of the points you bring up, probably the answer should be expressed as a ratio. I’d suggest maybe 7hp/100lb is “enough” for most people and situations.

Really slowly

Seat memory was one of the primary requirements the last time we bought a car. Our car isn’t fancy, just a Fusion with most of the available options, but it’s the nicest car I’ve ever had. Heated seats and seat memory have become a couple of those things I’ll never be able to feel we can do without from now on.

Once I had a cop radio in to verify my claim that the SRT-4 came from the factory without a muffler. “Huh. Never heard of anything like that,” he said when he came back. I started carrying in the glove compartment the page from the service manual that said it doesn’t have a traditional muffler.

Ooo, manual into a 3.0L. That’s a more interesting project than a turbo 2.5L, which is what I assumed. I’ve owned two 3.0L vans myself in the past, but they were both automatics.

Caravan that I’d just jammed a 5 speed into

I’ll have to give that a try. I have a decent scanner.

My Fusion has actual sensors, but it still won’t tell me what the pressures are, just if one is low. It won’t even tell me which one! One of my few gripes about that car, which I actually like a lot.

Illinois has a new digital ID law going into effect on January 1st. They’ve taken this into account, at least. The text of the law includes, “Provides that the display of a mobile identification card and driver’s license shall not serve as consent or authorization for a law enforcement officer, or any other person, to…

It seems possible. My SRT-4 had 2 miles on it when I first test drove it. Still driving it today, 21 years and 250K miles later!

I was thinking that. As I understand it, my daughter’s Yaris sedan is essentially a Mazda 2.

I always thought the one thing that could have made the male clones work is if they got Enver Gjokaj to play them. He would have been the perfect actor to pull it off, since he’d already essentially shown the ability to do it in Dollhouse.

Don’t forget the quiet one in the background who is possibly the most dangerous: Stephen Miller.

At almost 250K I am, of course, on my 3rd clutch, and I had to replace a shift fork at about 65K. I’ve replaced cam and crank seals and a couple of sensors, etc., but that’s almost just maintenance with this many miles. No other major drivetrain issues, even with running Stage 2 w/toys and a BWS turbo for years now. I…

That’s probably about the limit for a stock SRT-4 because of wind resistance. With a “boost” from Dodge’s Stage 2 or Stage 3 upgrade kits, it has enough power to get to its theoretical top speed of 177. There’s another post here today about 0-60 times not solely being a sign of a fun car. I bought my SRT-4 new in…