The Fast & Furious of 2003

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Just as battleships and overwhelming firepower have been replaced by stealth and precision munitions, today’s fast and furious street machines rely on light weight, low price and technology — not big V-8s — to gut and fillet the opposition. If you’re in the mood and the market for one, check out five of ’03s leanest and meanest compact street machines:

Honda Civic Si

Honda’s Civic is the ’55 Chevy of the late 1990s: produced in large numbers, relatively inexpensive, and easy to modify for improved performance. The Civic Si remains among the most popular compact rice rockets out there. The ’03 model carries a sticker price of $19,000 and features a standard 160-hp, 2.0-liter engine with VTEC variable cam timing and five-speed manual gearbox, with a “shorty” shifter mounted not between the seats on a floor-mounted console, but plugged into a dashboard overhang. It looks like a video-game joystick or controller for the Lunar Lander at first glance, but the positioning is ideal for snapping off quick shifts. Stone stock, the Civic Si is middling quick — capable of making it to 60 mph in about 7.8 seconds. But leaving it stock is the opposite of what this car is all about.

Like the ’55 Chevy “back in the day,” the Civic Si benefits from a massive support system of aftermarket speed and custom parts suppliers, technical support and enthusiasts’ clubs. And like its ’50s-era forbear, the Civic Si can easily be fitted with hot-shoe parts from its more expensive siblings — models like the Acura RSX and Integra. Just as rodders in the ’50s would swap Corvette parts into their Bel Airs and 210s and get Corvette-level performance for a third the price, today’s generation of gearheads knows it’s a weekend’s work to pull the 200-hp drivetrain from a wrecked Acura RSX Type-S and plug it right into their willing and ready Civic.

Who’ll know? Only the guido in the next lane who thinks his stock Mustang can take your “crummy little economy car.”

2002 Honda Civic Si by John Pearley Huffman (10/29/2001)

Dodge Neon SRT-4

Remember how unthreatening the little Neon was when it first appeared? The “Hi” commercials? Aw, isn’t it cute? Well, don’t dip your fingers in the water — this little piranha bites. The “SRT” acronym is short for Street Racing and Technology, and today’s 30-and-under crowd will learn to respect those three letters as much as their parents did “R/T” (for “Road and Track”) on the fenders of Hemi-powered ’69 Chargers and 440 Six Pak-equipped ’Cudas.

The ’03 Neon SRT-4 is actually quicker and faster than all but the most brutal ’60s-era V-8 muscle cars — capable of reaching 60 mph in a searing 5.6 seconds. It has a top speed in excess of 145 mph, according to DaimlerChrysler and can run the standing quarter mile in just a tick over 14 seconds. It’s quicker to 60 mph than the six-cylinder Nissan 350Z and Porsche Boxster S and costs about half as much.

The Neon SRT-4 delivers such amazing performance via the time-honored recipe of a high-horsepower engine and a lightweight chassis, about 2800 lb. The SRT’s 2.4-liter engine may have six fewer cylinders than the Dodge Viper’s massive 8.3-liter V-10, but with a rated peak output of 215 hp, the high-pressure turbocharged (11- to 14-psi) four-cylinder engine develops more output per liter of displacement. In addition to its turbocharger, the SRT’s engine features a high-flow intake manifold and 2.5-inch low-restriction dual-outlet exhaust. A heavy-duty five-speed manual gearbox, high-capacity clutch, 17-inch rims and 50-series ultra-performance speed-rated tires are among the other SRT-4 upgrades.

All this startling performance is stickered at just $19,995, making the SRT-4 cheaper by thousands than anything that can touch it. Say “Hi” as you blow on by!

2003 Dodge Neon SRT-4 by TCC Team (2/10/2003)

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

If you like overkill, you'll want to check out the ‘03 Lancer Evolution, the street-legal version of Mitsubishi's World Rally Championship race cars. The Evolution’s 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine develops an incredible 271 hp, almost 20 more than the Nissan Maxima SE’s 3.5-liter V-6, 50 more than a Lexus IS300 and 110 more than a Honda Civic Si.

Like the Subaru WRX, the $28,987 Lancer Evolution features standard all-wheel-drive (AWD), giving it superior traction in inclement weather. But with 50 more horsepower than the current 227-hp WRX (a 300-hp WRX Sti version is in the works), the Lancer Evolution is also one of the world's fastest production cars available with less than a V-8. The Evolution can make 60 mph in an incredible 4.8 seconds and assuming no electronic limiter, top speed should be an easy 150-plus. That is about as fast as it gets in a modern muscle car — no matter what's under the hood, or how high the price.

In addition to its three-position AWD system (pavement, gravel, or snow), the Evolution also has a driver-controlled mechanism to spray water on its air-to-air intercooler to keep the temperature down during hard driving. The water-sprayer is the latter-day equivalent of a hood tach on a ’67 Ram Air Firebird 400 or a pistol grip shifter in Hemi GTX. Like those classic-era muscle cars, this thing was born to fly and like them, and it doesn't try to hide it: Day-glo paint schemes, a huge wing, an air dam, pontoon fender bulges, 17-inch OZ Racing alloy rims, Recaro sport buckets and carbon fiber trim announce the game plan.

Don’t expect to go unnoticed. But do expect to win should any chump try and get the drop on you at the next traffic light! The Evolution goes on sale this February and will likely be the hottest thing on four wheels under $30,000.
2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution by Marc K. Stengel (2/28/2003)
The next wave in white-hot Japanese sports sedans.

Mazdaspeed Protégé

Last year’s Protégé MP3 was all there except for goods underhood, which were sorely lacking. The MP3 could walk the walk, but talking the talk, well, that was another matter. Now that’s been fixed by a double-scoop helping of horsepower. A toothless tiger no more, Mazda’s hot-shoe compact comes fitted with a muscled-up 170-hp version of the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine used in other Protégés. Like its cross-street competitor the Neon SRT-4, the centerpiece enhancement of the $19,980 Mazdaspeed Protégé is a turbocharger (as well as an air-to-air intercooler) that adds 40 hearty horsepower — or 30 more than last year’s 140-hp MP3. The car is now as powerful underhood as 2002’s segment-leading Honda Civic Si and Ford Focus SVT — and even more so in the eardrum-splitting department.

In addition to its go-fast goodies, the Mazdaspeed Protégé includes among its standard equipment a killer 450-watt Kenwood audio system with MP3-player, six-speakers and an auxiliary 250-watt amplifier that can blast Eminem like a thermonuclear pulse. Inside touches include custom floormats and carbon-fiber trim along with two-tone sport buckets, custom gauges and an attractive Nardi leather-stitched steering wheel.

Equal parts ‘zoom zoom zoom” and “boom boom boom,” the ’03 Mazdaspeed Protégé may not be the absolute fastest, but it's surely among the loudest.

Ford SVT Focus

The first “serious” performance compact from a U.S. automaker comes armed with a 170-hp engine, six-speed gearbox, and 17-inch rims, the SVT Focus remains a serious contender in ’03 despite being mostly a carryover model from 2002. Still, with a 0-to-60 capability that’s better than the Civic Si’s (about 7.6 seconds); more standard horsepower (170 vs. 160) a six-speed gearbox vs. a five; standard 17-inch rims vs. 15-inchers for the Civic Si; and a sticker price that’s only $85 higher ($19,085 vs. $19,000), the SVT Focus can still carry the flag with pride.

The downside is that Ford doesn’t yet have the huge range of aftermarket goodies that has made the Civic such a player among street racers. But if you want something different and don’t mind working a little harder to make it go faster, the SVT Focus should be on your short list.

2002 Ford SVT Focus by Marty Padgett (2/27/2002)