I just bought a California SRT-6 convertible that I found on the net. It's being trucked across country to me and with any luck should arrive in the next day or two. I kept debating between the SRT and a 2004 Vette convertible that a local dealer had been trying to sell for a while. To me the C5 Vette just felt kind of ponderous for a sports car, and a little dated from behind the wheel (plus a see a zillion of them on the road). The dollars weren't that much different -- hopefully I made the right choice. It's going to be joining my Evo VIII, a car that I'll likely hold onto until it disintegrates into a bag of parts. They're very different cars -- AWD turbo, manual trans 4 door sedan vs. a small rear drive S/C convertible, but given that they're both forced induction and similar performance stats I was curious if any of you have any hands on experience with how their performance compares? If driving the SRT-6 makes me smile near as much as the Evo (plus it's a ragtop) I'll probably hold onto it as well until it's a bag of parts -- or until I am. Whichever comes first.

 

If I where you I would'nt even drive the srt6 convertable, it belongs in storage or burried in a museum, I'm sure you got a killer deal on it too. the srt6 vert is worth atleast $40k with low miles, (IMO ofcourse) just because they are so damn rare. enjoy it!

 

Cars are like people. A little bit of regular exercise never seems to hurt either. Besides, what fun is there if you don't drive them.

 

Drive the crap out of that SRT - who gonna care when yer dead? (that's where we all end up)

You bury corpses - not cars!

 

You'll probably have to hold on to it until it's a bag of parts considering the recent decline in resale value poor selling trend. Fun to drive though, once you get over all the little quirks like the noisy valve train, seat heaters that have a mind of their own, transmission that seems to have a mind of its own sometimes, stiff suspension, and interior that scuffs easily. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the awesome suport by Chrysler dealers and the excellent mechanics that really know how to work on these cars!

But really, welcome to the forum and enjoy the SRT!

 

Much respect to the Evo.
I could drive one of those all year up here.
The SRT6 is a very under appreciated and overlooked car. It seems to be building somewhat of a cult following though.
Enjoy.

 

+1 on the cult following


Welcome to the forums man good choice.. of a car remmber it is just 1 out of 928

 

SRT's are a blast to drive! The only problem I have is watching out for the other idiot not watching where they are going. 1 out of 928 and losing them due to accidents all the time. Do a search, lots of them are already gone.(more than 2 is lots)

 

It'll turn a lot more heads than the vette, you'll see.

 

It's interesting getting up to speed on the car going through the different threads that have been posted. Some of the recurring issues people have had such as IC heat soak and some accessory problems is not too disimilar from what you'll find with Porsches, BMWs and Mercedes in general. I've always chalked it up to the complexity of some of the engineeering solutions on these cars.

Even the IC heat soak/aux pump problem that seems to be recurring is more a product of the electronic safeguards that the car has. Granted my turbo'd Evo has an air-to-air intercooler, not water, but as temperatures build and heat soak sets in you just gradually lose some kick. No limp-mode to dump the boost and pull back the ignition timing (if the Evo does have a limp mode, you probably have to bend a rod to invoke it). A SC'd vehicle will work even without an IC, just not as well nor long term as reliably. But all of the high-end German makes have a similarly complex engineering philosophy.

Hopefully I'll get lucky with the car and will avoid most of the gremlins. As near as I can tell they didn't stop building SRT's because either reliability problems or the initial sales disappointments. AMG was just overwhelmed with 4-5 new Merc engine projects and didn't have the people to continue building these 3.2 SC's and support all of those projects. The lowest margin vehicle, especially one being sold under a Chrysler badge, is always going to be the first to be cut. A new engine in the SRT would have required recertification in the US and re-engineering and Daimler mgmt wasn't going to pay for either.

I'll post once the car gets here.

 

I've had none of the gremlins with mine. Bought it with 275 miles on it and it now has 8,650. That was 2 years ago.

 

more than 2 roadsters are gone already? where did you find such information?

 

Yes...do tell.........