The SE coupe comes with a 2.4-liter single overhead-cam four-cylinder engine that generates 147 hp at 5500 rpm and 158 lb.-ft. of torque at 4500 rpm. It's rated 21/28 mpg, not quite as good as the sedan. The coupe's four-cylinder engine sounds sporty and delivers good acceleration performance.
The SE coupe handles well, is fun to drive and offers a sporty experience. It's relatively quiet on nasty, rough roads. Dodge made improvements to the coupe for 2003 to reduce noise, vibration and harshness. The coupe's suspension seems to manage bumps better than the sedan's suspension and there's less cowl shake (the tendency of the dash to vibrate on rough roads).
The R/T coupe comes with a 3.0-liter V6. That's more displacement than the sedan's V6, but the coupe engine features single overhead cams. The coupe's V6 is rated 200 hp at 5500 rpm and 205 lb.-ft. of torque at 4500 rpm. It generates brisk acceleration performance.
The R/T sedan seems most in its element on a winding road with your foot to the floor. Pedals are placed well in models with the manual gearbox, making it easy to heal and toe when braking and downshifting at the same time. The R/T sedan's chassis does not feel as rigid as other cars in this class. Handling is not as crisp, it doesn't feel as tight, and transient response is a bit ponderous. It goes where you want it, but it sometimes uses up more road in the process. Still, it's fun. It's easy to rotate the car on its suspension by lifting off throttle in the middle of a corner, making for sporty handling response.
Brakes on the Stratus work reasonably well, though there is some nose dive. Next Page