Guys, I know people on the PVO development team, I'm a retired admin at
www.neons.org, and trust me,
it's a Neon.
It uses most of the chassis, sheet metal, suspension components, most interior parts and incidental engine accessories/components. The hood and fascia are different, obviously.
It's got the corporate 2.4 instead of the Neon's 2.0; however, they are fundamentally the same engine. The long block is identical between the two except the 2.4 has an inch longer stroke for the increased displacement. I put one in my wife's old Neon; I know the differences and they are negligible. The 2.0 DOHC from the old Neon shares the head with the previous 2.4 DOHC; the new head will bolt on an old block but the porting and passages were massaged for the PT Cruiser application and that head was adopted across the line in 2001. The SRT has a redesigned transmission with a 3-pack clutch instead of a 2-pack to handle the increased torque, and the rest of the internals were beefed slightly.
But really, other than the changes required to fit the engine in and deal with the output,
it's a Neon. Daimler management would not greenlight the project unless it could initially be sold at a profit for under $20,000. They also were extremely grudging with the engineering budget. Daimler management did
not want this car to exist, and they placed so many restrictions on it that most of it had to be kept in place from the Neon.
In fact, we owe it's existence to a bunch of volunteer assembly line workers and PVO guys who firgured out, on their own time, a different way to install the 2.4 turbo powertrain that simplified the process. This is what finally allowed the car to slip under the $20,000 price ceiling.
So a big 'bite me!' goes out from Belvidere Assembly plant to Germany.
VIPFREAK
I'd really just be worried about the thing falling appart on me.
I've flogged the living daylights out of my 1995 Neon ACR since the day I bought it in 1999. The previous owner used it as a daily driver, track day car, and autocrosser. I've driven it hard every day, and autocrossed it occasionally to boot.
At 100,000 miles it's never suffered a mechanical failure except the headgasket, which was fixed out of warranty by Chrysler. The original clutch is strong and tight; it's only had one set of replacement brake pads despite turning scores of laps at Road Atlanta. It passes emissions even with a Mopar Performance computer installed. It's never stranded me, ever.
I'm not worried about it falling apart. I know it won't.
Just like Mazda did (or was thinking) about dropping the Miata name.
And the advantage of rear-wheel drive is not in acceleration, it's in handling. Front wheel drive cars have better weight distribution than rear-wheel drivers for acceleration. Why do you think old Porsche 911's were so fast before 4WD?
