2003 Dodge SX 2.0 R/T - A Factory Direct Tuner Car
The 2003 Dodge SX 2.0 R/T reminds me of the TV show "Extreme Makeover." For those of you unfamiliar with the new reality program, it conceptually revolves around personal change via plastic surgery, i.e. a nip or a tuck, perhaps a new nose or mouth, resulting in an aesthetically different and hopefully more attractive person. With that in mind it should be easy for you to recognize the 2003 Dodge SX 2.0 as little more than a massaged 2002 Chrysler Neon, so why the analogy? Well, at the end of the day, both the people on the show and the 2.0 are changed for the better.
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| The Blaze Red Crystal Pearl Coat Dodge SX 2.0 R/T test car in action. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
To be completely honest I had a love/hate relationship with the sporty four-door. At first, I fell in love with the Blaze Red Crystal Pearl Coat exterior (red being my favourite colour), its dual exhaust tips, and 16-inch tires stretched around cast aluminum wheels, but I wasn't too impressed that there was no CD player. I thought to myself, "There's no way that there wouldn't be a CD player in this totally revamped machine". And I was right. After about a minute of frantic despair, I found the standard 6-disc in-dash system almost hidden underneath the AM/FM cassette player. As I'm sure you can imagine, a big sigh of relief.
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| This photo shows last year's 2002 Dodge Neon R/T, which was given the winged logo and dubbed a Chrysler in Canada. (Photo: DaimlerChrysler) |
Weather-wise, it was a great week in Vancouver. Being warm and sunny all who passed by could hear my tunes blaring with the standard front power windows rolled down, and the optional $575 power sunroof open wide. The window buttons are located on the driver and passenger side doors, not mounted on the middle console like the PT Cruiser and Jeep Liberty I drove recently - a personal preference. Talking about preferences I am not a huge fan of air conditioning, but if you happen to like it, good news, it's a standard feature.