Another Blown Opportunity

[Kirby]

At the introduction of the PT Cruiser their was so much excitement there were litterally no limits to the marketing directions the PT could take. As usual, though, the add guys thought that we would like to see a silver PT driving acrosss the desert in the same fashion that 10 other manifacturers were doing.....Had anyone heard that COLOR was available on that new invention called television?
The powers that be chose to hang on so tightly to the PT that none were released to the customizers. Water was spread so evenly on the flames of interest, that they (DC) didn't even realize that they had lost momentum till mid '03 when the dealers still had some of the original order rotting little holes on their lot!

Now the calvary to the rescue: hot parts to revive the excitement PT once had. But, NO, DC in it's wisdom, shackled its Mopar Performance so badly that they couldn't even release a product that could be legally street driven in this country. Excuses of: that's how we always did it, on and on and on..........! No matter, it has come to a point that stage one or two or whatever.... there is no momentum.

A defeatest projection fulfilled, by lack of support!

With oil at $50 per barrel (and probably there to stay)DC is betting the farm on 4,000 pound beauties that sport Hemi V8s. Beautiful as they might be, the 60s are not about to return and gas will NEVER be .35 a gallon again.

Lament the squander of a very real classic automobile with true value and style![8)]

[mvandale]

Kirby, how do you get through doorways with such a big chip on your shoulder?

[Dragula]

Did you notice that those Hemi V8 powered vehicles get about the same mileage as the PT? I agree with a lot of what you said, but mileage isn't a valid argument in this case.

[macster]

Kirby

I have to agree with you. I'm doubtful about the S2 release for the autostick mainly because of the tranny limitations. 3bar told us what the limits were. S2 will put us dangerously close to that. There are problems with the tranny holding up peroid. (if anyone wants to know, just search the PT sites) I was all fired up for S2 and beyond. I really wanted to get into the PT and go wild. I have more than $500.00 of parts (about 60HP) sitting in boxes, due to the fact that if I installed them, I would exceed the limitations of the tranny. DCX has refused to fix this tranny enmassed. Instead it is taken care of under warranty. The next gen PT will probably use one of the Mercedes transmissons. But that will be too late for me, I will either be driving a STI or EVO MR8. Either way I won't be purchasing a DCX product.

I've found out that the PT can produce gobs of power just by doing simple things such as, adding the Hyperground wires, Ignition wires etc. Right now, I'm sitting at 266 ftlbs of torque with my current setup which includes the Sun Hyperground wires. S2 would probably put me over the limits and I haven't even tweaked the exhaust, added an up-pipe or fine tuned the car. My point is, why should I continue to spend money on this car with its inherent limitations? Did I mention the rapidly plunging resale value of the PT? The only that I can be happy about was that I learned a lot by doing my own work and then dynoing my PT. I have a good idea as to what my car is doing at the various RPM ranges. One thing for sure if a PT autostick is running 13's, it won't do them long without rebuilding the tranny.

See you around Kirby, it's been fun!

m~

[tallypt]

quote:Originally posted by macster

Kirby

...I'm doubtful about the S2 release for the autostick mainly because of the tranny limitations. 3bar told us what the limits were. S2 will put us dangerously close to that. There are problems with the tranny holding up peroid...
m~

This has me worried. Have I wasted my time and nerves waiting for this stage two thing?

Hubert

[Kirby]

I think that anyone who takes the time to respond, deserves an answer.

I don't feel like I have a chip or grudge, since I have owned Chrysler products for almost 30 years. Caring is a good setup for disappointment.

The numbers on the window and the actual miles will always be different. Since the new rigs ARE quite heavy, it will be interesting to see how the new 300s and Magnums fare at the pump.

I don't see this issue as a Stage 2 release issue, I see it as a PT support issue. The PT was a hold over from the "old" team, and as such probably never had a chance. I, as many on this site, just felt that the PT had potential.

Now our resale is in the dirt, and DC doesn't even feign caring for the future of the little retro rocket, sooooo........it's on to the next project. I might be duped again.

Hope springs eternal.[8)]

[PTGT_Boy]

September 25th is comming up, and I'm sure there is alot of questions going to be bombarded on the engineers when Stage 2 will be available/or scraped.

The new generation PT's will be a question mark. I'm sure all the true peformers will be able to see the technical specs and decide whether to move on to a new car company or stay with DCX.

By the time 2005 hits and 2007 changes come in effect, I'll have my 04 GT paid-off (well, actually I can pay it off now [])and see whether to stay with DCX or move on to the new STI's and Evo's.

GT's still have their worth, Stage 1 GT's are pretty quick and can catch alot of people off guard. If a Stage 2 PT 5-Speed can actually put down 250 hp down to the wheels, they can be on par with a stock SRT-4. For the Stage 2 autos, I can only wonder how much that tranny can take.

[JohnM]

Kirby,

I think you're wrong about the success of the PT for Chrysler. By all accounts it's been a huge hit, and sales momentum has been maintained (albeit with incentives like all of the big 3). I saw an article recently in one of the major car mags with some stats and Chrysler sold something like 400+ thousand PTs in each of the last two years. The PT was pointed out as one in the top echelon for retaining sales volume year over year.

Stage 1 is really all the PT needs in my opinion. It sounds like you'd be happier with something else -- that's your choice. Best wishes.

[Mean Green]

quote:Originally posted by JohnM

Kirby,


Stage 1 is really all the PT needs in my opinion. It sounds like you'd be happier with something else -- that's your choice. Best wishes.

Kirby's wrath about Mopar Performance dragging their feet with performance parts for our PT's is well justified. A lot of us feel that way. They promised us parts for our cars and have let us totally down. Early on when we got upset about it and questioned 3BarBoost about it they jerked him out from under us by threatening him with his job. A lot of us want stage 2. We aren't satisfied with stage 1. We are waiting for the block party this weekend to get some info about stage 2. I wouldn't be surprised if they side step the issue again. At this point in time I'm ready to forget stage 2 and do it with aftermarket parts. I love my GT, but the next time I'll go with a company that warrants their performance parts and makes them available.

[Cal Cruzer]

Word.