Regular 2.0 vs Magnum

r00 · Post by **r00** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:00 pm

Hey guys, I just recently stumbled upon this site since I've been looking into neons for my new car. Right now I have a 99 Mustang GT which I'm trying to get rid of for gas and insurance reasons.

I'm really looking for an R/T for performance and appearance reasons. My question is. If I can't find one with the money I have to work with, is a ES, SE, SXT neon just as good as an R/T? I do plan on doing modifications, I'm just saying it's not like an R/T or not situation is it? I'm sure there's plenty of SXT's and ES's on here that smoke R/T's and Mustangs for that matter.

Any input is much appreciated. Thanks.

OB · Post by OB » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:10 pm

nothin wrong with an sxt, but even ILL tell u that if you can net an RT id suggest grabbin it up. Little more HP to start with and some clean side skirts. The motor has magnum head, intake mani, exhaust mani, etc. No matter what you do there is PLENTY of mods that will make any neon blow doors off just about anything, if the money's right, that is. Stock, a mtx rt or sxt will be a fun drive with a few small mods. Good mileage and great car for the money. good luck and welcome to the world of neons. Hope you find what u are looking for.

PS Im sure you know about the SRT4 and already counted it out cuz its expensive, but if you didnt, then thats the way to go for performance. Insurance and gas arent great tho..

OB

r00 · Post by **r00** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:16 pm

Well yeah, I would love an SRT-4... but I don't have that kind of money haha.

I guess what im trying to say is it worth getting an ES, SXT as far as other cars go.

Many of my friends are bashing me because I'm looking at neons. Mind you they're driving around Subaru's, Cobalt SS's, and many Mustangs.

I come from a big motorhead family where my dad has a 56 Chevy with a LT1 sitting in it in the garage and even he is skeptical about me getting a neon. I've always hated "ricers", but I want that dropped, dark neon with wide tires that doesn't sound like a lawn mower... you know what I mean?

OB · Post by OB » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:23 pm

youre at the right place, i dont think anyone likes 'rice' here, but having said that, everyone has their own opinion of what the definition of rice is, so to each his own. some people might think im ricey cuz i have a straight thru apexi catback, but ill smoke any lawnmower you throw at me (lol).

anyways, neons are great cars and very fun to drive. parts are everywhere for em, and as you can see, theres lots of underground support/interest for em. Like i said, get the rt if u can, or an sxt or se will be 95% as good, just a hair less performance. Whatever u get im sure you'll like it, more than you think probably. and your friends will be surprised how quick it is for a cheao economy car. a stock sxt'll blow the doors of any stock civic or most other cars in our class. feel free to keep askin questions if u need more info, were all here for ya.

r00 · Post by **r00** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:31 pm

Well thanks very much for the info man. I think I'm going to shoot for this 02 R/T for $6,800 which is close to me, but I may not be able to sell my mustang in time. If not, I think I'm still going with an 02 ES 5 speed or 03 SXT 5 speed.

scneonchic · Post by **scneonchic** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:36 pm

Get the rt if you can...can you trade your mustang in on it? I have to say im partial to the 00-02 body style....so Id go w/ the 02 ES if you cant get the rt, but either way, they will have good potential, and neons really arent as bad as people make them out to be.

BTW, welcome to the site!

r00 · Post by **r00** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:38 pm

Thanks, yeah, I really like the 00-02 body style a lot more then the 03+. As for trading it in, it's a private owner. For some reason a small dealer keeps calling my house every week wanting me to drop the price on my car so he can buy it... Kind of weird.

neonpla · Post by **neonpla** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:40 pm

get an acr.

OB · Post by OB » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:43 pm

lol maybe he wants ac!

Post by **Diablo0** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:43 pm

You can get an ACR with A/C

Most of them had A/C in fact

r00 · Post by **r00** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:44 pm

I really only have 6500-7000$ if im lucky to work with. I really can't find R/T's and ACR's around this area for that.

Post by **Diablo0** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:44 pm

You can find them... just gotta look... I found my white car for 7K

OB · Post by OB » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:49 pm

Diablo0 wrote:You can get an ACR with A/C Most of them had A/C in fact

no kidding? they had to have it as an extra when it was purchased right? i thought an acr was just a stripped out, race version r/t? pretty sure thats how the 1gens were. hmm

r00 · Post by **r00** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:51 pm

Yeah, I'm hoping this 02 Silver R/T doesn't sell before I sell my stang.

Diablo, your car actually got me interested in neon's. I googled for 02 Neon's and and your black R/T showed up and I was just like damn, now that's a respectful neon. Anyway, what tire size do you have on yours? I really like it when the tires are flush with the side of the car.

Post by **Diablo0** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 11:57 pm

Haha... thanks!

They're 215/40/17 tires on 17x7.5" 35MM offset SSR Comp wheels. It's actually the wheels that give it that appearance more so than the tires. Putting on wider tires though woudn't look too good as it sits right now since then it'd really stick out past the fenders and not look very nice. This way it's pretty much flush and looks good. Though dropping it down any farther can't really be done since going around a hard corner the tires would come up and hit the edge of the fender... so the fenders would need to be rolled to help prevent that. Just gotta watch what wheels you buy and do some math to see how the wheels and tires will fit and look.

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 12:31 am

i wouldnt worry about it. i'd save the money from not buying an r/t and put that towards an srt4 turbo setup or spend that money on suspension and rims if that's more of your thing. think about it, if you're gonna mod the car anyways, those mods will help a lot more than the options available on the r/t

OB · Post by OB » Thu Feb 02, 2006 1:15 am

rice_eater wrote:i wouldnt worry about it. i'd save the money from not buying an r/t and put that towards an srt4 turbo setup or spend that money on suspension and rims if that's more of your thing. think about it, if you're gonna mod the car anyways, those mods will help a lot more than the options available on the r/t

good point i agree. u save prob 1000 bucks or more by doin a sxt or se and u can get wheels and tires with that, or like riceeater said, put it into a used turbo kit (or save for the mods of your choice).

dblsg · Post by **dblsg** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 1:54 am

neons are great... haha, mine is a SXT and when people ride in it there like 'damn, i didn't know neons where this kwick'.... haha, they underestimate the POWER of the neon

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 6:56 am

Find an ACR - you will love it

Check KBB.com and search around, you will find plenty of cars in your area, or within a few hundred miles of you.

I like the clean look of the ACR, personally, over the r/t. The 03+ R/T does look pretty sweet, however, so that might be a good route to go. People complain about the ECU in the 03+ though, and the 02 acr/rt have a few quirks as well. A good choice of car would be an 01 rt/acr. Lots of upgrades, still the same great look, and less "quirks".

Good luck and welcome to world of "Neons"

Post by **jonnymopar** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:26 am

orangeblastsxt wrote:
Diablo0 wrote:You can get an ACR with A/C Most of them had A/C in fact
no kidding? they had to have it as an extra when it was purchased right? i thought an acr was just a stripped out, race version r/t? pretty sure thats how the 1gens were. hmm

Whoa, and I thought ACR stood for Air Conditioning Removed.

$6800 is good for an R/T. Get it if you can.

Post by **Diablo0** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 10:16 am

ACR = American Club Racer

OB · Post by OB » Thu Feb 02, 2006 10:21 am

orangeblastsxt wrote:
Diablo0 wrote:
Whoa, and I thought ACR stood for Air Conditioning Removed.

lmao thats a good one. ^^^

yep diablos got it, as usual. I DID think they came strictly w/o ac though. thanks for clearing that up.

Frizbe · Post by **Frizbe** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 10:30 am

orangeblastsxt wrote: No matter what you do there is PLENTY of mods that will make any neon blow doors off just about anything,

Excuse me? Did I hear that right?
Come on man, I've heard of brand pride and everything but let's stick to reality here. Even when I had my Neon I knew my place in the car food chain.

Knoxville_R/T · Post by **Knoxville_R/T** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 11:16 am

I would recommend the r/t or the acr. The intake is better, head has stock exhaust ports that are larger then a worked non-magnum, the cam is nice(about a crane 11), and the header is a tubular borla designed header.

Now like rice_eater said, if you are going to go turbo or swap out the motor all this will not matter. I would suggest the rt/acr for the all motor route. 01's are the best to mod since they are the least picky when it comes to computers and bolt-ons.

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 11:46 am

In 2002 only 5 red ACR's (like mine) out of 81 had no AC. Out of 279 total, there were only 20 without AC. For the entire 2001-02 ACR's, only 69 out of 718 had no AC. Thats about 10% of the ACR's made for 01-02 which did not have AC.

Actually, the AC package was a whole deal - you got a tape player with AM/FM and the AC.
Here is a link to the info.

http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?t ... production

OB · Post by OB » Thu Feb 02, 2006 12:39 pm

im assuming the 1g acrs were produced in larger numbers w/o AC then? what actually makes the acr different besides the ac/radio delete? didnt they get better suspension? ive only seen ONE 03+ rt on the road, and zero acrs. every neon i see is usually base (es) and about 30% or so are SXT's. lots of srt4s runnin around my area but no acrs or r/ts. id like to have one of each someday, all fully restored and tastedully modified, sittin in a big garage for a Sunday drive. Man i cant wait till im rich!

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 12:47 pm

ACR's have no side door moulding, no cd player, no power windows, dynamic adjustable suspension, magnum engine, black "slick" seats, faux carbon radio bezel, 4 wheel disc, abs, trac control, only came in red, white, black and silver, no fog lights, only came in 5 speed - options were tape player w/ am/fm and a/c.

Knoxville_R/T · Post by **Knoxville_R/T** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 2:26 pm

and they came with the 15x6" "snowflake" wheels instead of the 16" silverstones like the rt

J8t4m · Post by **J8t4m** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 3:02 pm

Hey Man!!

Maybe I can shed some light on the subject -

I had an 03 SXT (manual transmission) - I totaled it (phone poles are unforgiving)

I now have an 02 R/T

The difference between the two (out of the box) is huge (in my opinion)
The R/T looks alot better to . . .

Ive had alot more comments/compliments with my 02 body style than i did with the 03

When i did have my SXT - I was kicking myself for not getting the R/T merely for the fact that you already have the magnum header - The better ratio transmission - Better ECU - Dual exhaust - trac control

After i totaled the 03 I went back to driving my old 98 jeep cherokee - And (Image this) - I totaled that car as well (not my fault) - So went looking for another neon Just happen to find the R/T at a dealership - Took it on a test drive . . as was very impressed . . . . . Not only by the speed - but by the handeling . . . and not to mention the braking power . . . its amazing - one article i read said they got the R/T to stop from 60-0 in 122 feet (only 2 feet more than the SRT)

Also. . . just for comparisions sake . . . I got my White 2k2 R/T (with 28k miles) for 7500 . . . . in brand super good condition (sun roof - 4 disc changer)
I live in indiana . . There are a few guys on neons.org that didnt pay much more than 7k for 2k2's with no more than 30k on the clock . . . .

So I guess the bottom dollar is . . . If your going for out of the box performance - get the R/T . . . or you could go alittle cheaper and get the SXT . . . but its gonna take more money to get it as fast as an R/T - In my opinion . . . coming from someone thats owned both - The R/T is the sh!t . . .

grambo · Post by **grambo** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 3:26 pm

Boy did you spark a thread!! Welcome to the MB. That silver R/T you are looking at is a great starting point for a FUN car. The Magnum motor is tough. I've babied mine (changed oil every 3K with Schaefer's synth. race). I've got 100K on it and it still turns left when I punch it in the powerband!
You will especially love the high Rpm range. Redline is 6500ish and it still pulls.
The ACR has 26 way adjustable struts from the factory. I love mine so much that when one got F-d up I bought more instead of aftermarket.
Now that you are here you will also see an abundance of parts available too. Get your R/T and I've got KYB's and Eibach Pro's waiting for you. I've also got three Adj. Struts. One more and you've got a canyon carver.
Buy that R/T dude. I would if it wasn't so far away. Oh and yes, ricers suck. Our cars are American.