But as pocket rockets go, this subcompact four-door hatchback is a cheap date. It keeps company in the hot-hatch bargain basement with the likes of the Mazdaspeed 3 and the base Subaru WRX, which is to say it is more than $10,000 cheaper than a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and more than $12,000 less than a WRX STI.

This 285-horsepower beastie boy is the second-generation SRT4. Like the first, the 230-horse, Neon-based SRT4, the current ride is essentially a garden-variety, front-drive econo-car whose drivetrain and suspension have been extensively reworked to profoundly improve acceleration and handling.

It gets the "SRT" in its name from Street Racing and Technology, a Chrysler department composed of car crazies who hotrod production vehicles such as the Caliber and Neon. The "4" at the end is a reference to its four-cylinder engine.

The engine in this case is a 2.4-liter four developed jointly by Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Hyundai. It develops 172 horses in the regular Caliber. But when the mad scientists at SRT placed the mild-mannered power plant in a phone booth and attached a Mitsubishi turbocharger and intercooler, it emerged frothing at the air intake and developing 285 horses.

That kind of power engenders a top speed of 155 m.p.h. and 0-to-60 times of six seconds. (While getting to 60 in six is certainly rapid transit, the Caliber SRT4 is actually not quite as rapid as its predecessor. The Neon-based SRT4 managed 0-to-60 times of 5.3, even though its smaller engine developed 55 less horsepower. The reason? The original SRT4 was 250 pounds lighter.)

If the SRT4's engine is a quantum leap past the one in the standard Caliber, so is its gearbox. The new Getrag manual in the SRT4 is a slick operator that affords relatively short throws during a tour of its six forward gears.

Like its engine, the SRT4's suspension was heavily modified to enhance performance. The car was lowered about an inch, fitted with stiffer springs and shock absorbers, and given wide, sticky, 19-inch performance tires.

The result is a very adroit cornering machine that stays flat and feels poised and planted during ambitious turns. Like most front-drivers, the SRT4 understeers in a fast corner, and the faster you come in, the more it understeers.

Understeer, however, isn't really a problem. It's a condition of doing business in a front-drive car. It simply means you must steer more in a turn.

What are problems for powerful front-drivers such as the SRT4 is torque steer and wheel spin, and the SRT folks have done a pretty good job of dealing with them.

Torque steer is that distracting steering-wheel pull to the right or left when you accelerate hard. SRT engineers tried to minimize this by employing equal-length driveshafts, dialing down engine torque in the lower gears, and taking advantage of the car's lowering. The latter diminishes torque steer by flattening the angle of the driveshafts between the wheels and the differential.

The net result in the SRT4 is torque steer that is noticeable but not disturbing. It doesn't feel as though it's going to jerk the wheel out of your hands.

The SRT4's excessive wheel spin, or hop, is tamed nicely by the car's brake system. When the system's sensors discern a loss of traction in one of the drive wheels, it applies the brake on that wheel, sending power to the non-spinner.

The SRT4 looks as sporty as it acts. Its body, like its interior, has a muscular, almost chunky, heft to it, as well as a plethora of sporting features. The latter include a functional engine air scoop and cooling vents for the disc brakes.

A nifty note about the SRT4: With EPA ratings of 19 city and 27 highway, you can have fun without being accused of gas guzzling.

Good

2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4

As tested: $26,175 (including shipping).

Standard gear: A full range of power assists, electronic stability control, cruise control, air-conditioning, alloy wheels and performance rubber.

Options: Mucho hedonism, including a navigation system and pearl coat paint.

Handling: Athletic.

Fuel economy: 19 m.p.g. city and 27 highway.

Engine performance: Exhilarating.

Styling: Chunky/sporty.

Warranty: Three years/36,000 miles.