(06-16-2015, 06:22 AM)Fire Wrote: I finally decided 100% that I am going to modify my 2003 Dodge Neon SXT. Yes its the 2.0 but oh well everybody has the 2.4 so it will be different.
Anyways I will not be able to hit my goal of 400hp by 2016, probably won't hit 400 at all but I will start out with some simple mods in the upcoming months. I am doing the timing belt, tensioner and water pump around the 3rd as its 40,000 miles past due.
Upcoming mods
Eibach performance springs (1.5" front/rear drop)
Speed Daddy Racing header
Cat Delete
CAI
Weight Reduction
Transmission cooler
Cooling fans upgrade
Mickey Thompson Street Comp Wheels
Cherrybomb Vortex muffler
It won't give me much probably will put me to 150 to 155hp but hey its better then nothing.
Future Mods
Eagle Rods
Forged pistons
Hanh Racecraft turbo
Megasquirt
OBX LSD
Upgraded injectors
Upgraded fuel pump
Future Cosmetics
Fresh paint job
Duraflex Viper body kit
Alright, let's go down the list....
Eibach performance springs - Don't bother, you aren't going to be able to hold it down anyways. Neon's are extremely top heavy, so unless you replace the steel top with honeycombed aluminum, it will make no difference.
Speed Daddy Racing header - Plan on running a turbo? If you don't, then your unmodified 2.0 won't be pushing enough exhaust out to create the needed backpressure and your performance will actually drop from this. If you do run turbo, then you will want stainless 4-1 headers.
Cat Delete - I wouldn't suggest it, depending on where you live it could be highly illegal. If you do choose this, make sure you wire your downstream post-cat O2 so that you pass emissions checks and ensure you are holding the required backpressure.
CAI - Will only "reclaim" horsepower, not gain it. Even then, the air has to travel through more tubing which will reduce your VE. I would suggest pulling the piece of shit plastic air box out and putting a SRI in instead. The cold air would only give back 0.1-0.5hp anyways, not noticeable, but a SRI will bump your VE by 1-2%, which will reclaim 0.7-1.5hp. Still not a big difference but at least it's running better and will help you if you choose other forced induction mods.
Weight Reduction -
ALWAYS. The sad thing is there isn't a lot of it you can do. I always pulled the rear seats from my cars, removed the carpeting and stripped the tar from under them (replacing the carpet is optional, i didn't). Headliner weighs like 5 pounds, remove that. Honeycomb all the non-structural metal in the car, remove the spare tire, etc.
Transmission cooler - Completely useless. Change the gear oil you are using. for a 5 speed I used 90W10, for a 6 you will want 80W15
Cooling fans upgrade - If you have a mechanical fan, replace it with an electric fan, other than that you don't want to change how much they cool your engine.
Mickey Thompson Street Comp Wheels - RICER! no. Use aluminum rims if you don't already have them, low profile tires help with weight reduction (steel belts in tires weigh a lot).
Cherrybomb Vortex muffler - NO! Don't fuck with the exhaust on a stock setup.... My neon never had a muffler (I ran 204hp on a 1997 Neon base model 5 speed), but I could tell I was losing power from it.
Eagle Rods - If you plan to bore the engine or stroke it, yes. Otherwise you get 0 gain from them (the stock engine can't snap the rods unless you somehow manage to put it in reverse going 50mph)
Forged pistons - ONLY if you bore over .040mm, other than that, its useless.
Hanh Racecraft turbo - T04E. The neon engines can't handle more than 7psi, any more than that and expect to blow out some valves.
Megasquirt - What the fuck is that? Fuel injectors I assume. If so, don't bother. There is no MAF on a neon, turbo kits will need to be tuned perfectly or use a wet system.
OBX LSD - Useful, but heavy. The only time I have ever had one of these was on my integra, and it was nice to have it, but I couldn't say I was ever happy I had it.
Upgraded injectors - Then I have absolutely no fucking clue what a Megasquirt is.... See what I wrote on that.
Upgraded fuel pump - No need, unless you plan on charging it with N02 (or another chem charger), then the stock one will work better than fine (they can pump fuel in to keep the engine running at 9k, but the air becomes too sparse around 7.5k)
Fresh paint job - can always use that Dodge metallic paint

Duraflex Viper body kit - NEVER! DO NOT RICE A CAR LIKE THAT
Basically, I would upgrade the clutch (stage 2 is fine, if you want more, stage 3 is high enough for your build), add a small turbocharger (T04E or K08) WITH AN INTERCOOLER!, Cut like 8 inches off of the shifter, neon's were known for having shifters bigger than the average black pornstar's dick, do at least 100lbs of weight reduction (may include removing a passenger seat, be careful not to fuck up the weight ratio), remove the power steering belt (will reclaim 10-12hp, steering will be more racecarlike too), SRI (short ram intake) with a washable filter (not K&N).
Basically, there isn't a whole lot you can even do to it, but don't fuck it up... Make sure you are running water for coolant (unless it is below 35 outside) (water is the best coolant), run a slightly lighter oil (10W20), and remove any components that you don't need (A/C is heavy).