Opinions very welcome!

daaboots · Post by **daaboots** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:25 am

DoubtedNeon wrote:...but is modding this car worth it?

No... save your money.

Swordfish2Cowboy · Post by **Swordfish2Cowboy** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:25 am

DoubtedNeon wrote:oh i c! so, in a sense...mods sort of multiply ur hp..not just stack up...right? i saw this one show that the people added a throttle body spacer to a gt mustang with mods and it boosted it 18 hp on the dyno...kinda like that?

All depends on how well your mods work together with each other, and how well they work with your engine. The trick is to get mods that will compliment each other, and eliminate any bottlenecks and weak links so you can pull the most out of your mods.

You won't get nearly the amount of hp gains from a camshaft if you don't have the right timing or the right springs to go with the hotter cam, and the +40 gains everyone has said they've gotten with their turbo won't happen if you've still got a stock exhaust. But they add up more than that, sometimes taking the entire string of mods you've put on your car into account.

Also, it sounds like an infomercial that you were watching. From thinking about it, it doesn't seem like a longer tube will give you any increase, especially 18 horsepower. Maybe if the Mustang didn't have a TB before, or had something ridiculously restrictive and then they widened it would you get something like that. But we're talking about having an opening the size of a pea in comparison. But I have no idea.

DoubtedNeon · Post by **DoubtedNeon** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:33 pm

just got home from working...gotta pay off that lip kit haha...my car looks alot diff with the side panels gone, added my gps and hid the wire under the dash

01neon01 · Post by **01neon01** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:19 pm

welcome to the family first of all. and to answer your question if its worth modding at all, its all preference. if you want a car to mod and try to go fast in then by all means get a 2000-2002 r/t. if your looking for a decent daily driver with room and good gas mileage keep you atx neon.

i know theres no way in hell mine will ever be "fast" but i still mod it. i just like having a car thats fun to drive and economical as well.

DoubtedNeon · Post by **DoubtedNeon** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:42 pm

dude ur car can be fast...theres srt4s out there with 500+ horsepower...

its all about getting the will up to do it

Swordfish2Cowboy · Post by **Swordfish2Cowboy** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:32 pm

An SRT-4 set the land speed record for the fastest factory production four cylinder car. 235MPH, with an average of 219. Over 1000 horses.

JRM · Post by **JRM** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:36 pm

Work on suspension for now is my vote.

01neon01 · Post by **01neon01** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 12:34 am

JRM wrote:Work on suspension for now is my vote.

+1 ive been wanting to get the hotchkiss sway bar set for a while now...

swordsailor · Post by **swordsailor** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 12:40 pm

Well DoubtedNeon... you are not alone. I've got an '04 ATX SXT also and have been wrestling with the same issues you have. Basically, how much should I upgrade my car when I know the platform is not ideal. I've added an Ebay 2.25" CAI so far. I've only noticed some better throttle response and improved sound. It may have added 1 or 2 extra HP, but I haven't dyno'd it yet.

One of the things I've read elsewhere (in the engine forum, I think) was to change out/upgrade the computer. As you may know, one of the downsides to the NGC in our cars is that it negates the benefit of most of the mods you do. So getting a computer that will recognise and accept mods seems like a good idea. I'm no expert on the ECU - I'm just regurgitating info for your benefit. I plan on looking into it further but I think adding a new ECU should be on your list. Lot's of folks seem to recommend the Mopar ECU. And then, there's always the Megasquirt - which I know basically nothing about.

What is your overall goal? Mine is to get my ATX car up to around 150 HP. I think that's realistic. Anything over that would just be icing on the cake. I figure that's my HP cap since the Wife won't let me swap in a MTX let alone doing an SRT swap. What does everyone else think? Is 150 HP an attainable goal?

For what it's worth, the next mods I do will be on the suspension as well. Someone wisely said that there's not much point in adding massive power to your engine before you have a suspension that can control it... or something like that.

By the way, have you heard about the idea of taking off the weatherstripping along the back of the hood/engine? In theory, it allows for better air circulation into and out of the engine bay, which 'should' provide fresher, cooler air and therefore more HP. It's 'supposed' to give about 1 extra HP. I've removed mine. I can't say I've noticed any gains but the theory is sound so I figured why not give it a try. You should at least consider it.

Post by **racer12306** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:04 pm

The other problem with the NGC computer is that no one makes a plug and play replacement performance computer for it.

Your only option in the computer department is a standalone such as Megasquirt.

Also, another issue with the 03+ Neons is that the compression ratio was lowered to 9.3, which may be a bigger reason why mods don't do as much.

DoubtedNeon · Post by **DoubtedNeon** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:09 pm

i have determined that i will be doing a srt4 swap and will begin collecting parts for my car...the swap will take a long time because i need to pay it off/ has a 3/36k warranty that allows me to change out anything but not mess with the actual engine tranny, but i will begin gathering parts for this that way i can do it, right now i will do swaps i can use before and after the upgrade, such as suspension

dansou5 · Post by **dansou5** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 9:29 am

I dont know if you are only going for power but you really need to look into ditching the black door moldings, and color matching the door handles. Would make it look so much better, and not cost much.

asanti · Post by **asanti** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 6:18 pm

I'm also on the suspension bandwagon, but also vote to add better braking to the suspension too. Make it handle and brake better and you'll love your car that much more. After you source the parts for the swap, then worry about dropping an SRT4 motor in. The MAIN killer with you having the newer 4sp ATX is that you really can't do much to them. If you had the 31th 3sp from a '00 or '01 it would be a different story as those can be modded to hold more power. Case in point: Darryl Cox's 9-sec street driven SRT4 uses the 3sp ATX, same with Steve Lockett's 10-sec 1st gen with an SRT motor and big turbo.

Later
Allex

DoubtedNeon · Post by **DoubtedNeon** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 2:44 am

again my ideas have changed...just an atx swap...could anyone point me in the direction of a how to on this that i can memorize???

asanti · Post by **asanti** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:36 am

DoubtedNeon Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 2:44 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

again my ideas have changed...just an atx swap...could anyone point me in the direction of a how to on this that i can memorize???

Sure, easy mantra to memorize: "4sp ATX is electronically controlled + somewhat weaker overall, 3sp ATX is hydraulically controlled + a stronger, better supported platform". The bad news is IIRC there's no easy way to swap the two without spending some big $$."

Later
Allex

DoubtedNeon · Post by **DoubtedNeon** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:49 pm

oops i mean a MTX swap to my neon! lol dur

WickedJester · Post by **WickedJester** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:15 am

I would recommend that you really sit down and weight out your money situation. Think this out very clearly before you start on anything.

You were just talking about your warranty and then you said your going to swap out the tranny. That will void your warranty. You think Dodge is going to be happy with a tranny swap under warranty?

Do your suspension and braking mods and wait for your warranty to run up. You dont want to ruin that warranty and then something break. Just my $.02

DoubtedNeon · Post by **DoubtedNeon** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 8:40 pm

no no i am gonna gather parts and do it when the warranty runs out. ide really like to do suspension swap tho, i have apsolutly no idea what to buy for that kinda thing tho

2GN.ORG

Opinions very welcome!

Re: Opinions very welcome!