Nitrous or Boost? First off, Hello, I am new to this forum. I own a 1998 Dodge neon sport coupe with an automatic. It has a DOHC motor with a cold-air intake, and thats it. I drag race at my local spot, Oceola Raceway, with my mustang. It sucks. I think I could beat it with my neon but I want to beat my Dad's mustang. I don't want to spend more than a grand doing it though!

How could I get a 13 sec time in the quarter mile with my little neon? The flaws of course most of you know, the automatic and the return-less fuel system.

For Turbo: Could I A) use the AFC Neo to piggy-back the injectors? or B) use the return kit from FWDPerformance's SRT-4 kit? I already have a TD05 12a turbo and manifold. The 12a could be upgraded later to a 16g or 20g.

For Nitrous Oxide: Could I A) run a dry system? B) Tee off the fuel line and run a wet system? or C) mount a small fuel cell in the trunk and run a dedicated fuel line and pump.

How much power will be enough, and can the stock pistons and rods handle it? Will I need to uprgrade the cams or to a header(for nitrous)?

I really would be interested in hearing from those of you who have neons modified as such. Your input will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

stock rods and pistons cant handle nitrous AND turbo. if your are going to do turbo and want your car to be reliable i would suggest ordering a crate motor from howell automotive...comes with the forged pistons and rods...etc.

 

You can piece together a srt-4/custom turbo kit for under 1000. You will need to spoolboy mod your fuel pump canister, use a walboro fuel pump, rrfpr, and use the fitting on your fuel rail for the return. There are alot of write ups on it, just search. The srt-4 turbo is a direct fit. That includes the turbo and manifold. They say the neon engine can handle 8 psi safely. I ran 10-12psi for 2 months fine. Ran 13psi for 2 blocks and cracked a piston. Big mistake. If I were going to turbo again I would run 6. I dont care for nos. But if your going to use it just use a wet setup. You will need a missing link or voltage clamp for you engine management. Dont use a safc for turbo. Thats more for cams and stuff. Dont touch the injectors either. They are good up to 8psi of boost.

 

Also. #12 crane cam is recommended because it reduces turbo lag. I think dazzeler was running 13's with his gutted neon 8psi with crane #12 cam. Maybe it was lower 14's.

 

you can piece the srt turbo kit together for under a grand true but i found that for that much you got the basics and just wat you need to run it... i ended up paying about 2k and bout all the gauges, and extra odds-n-ends to monitor my car and keep it safe

 

if your not wanting to spend over $1,000 then your probally not going to get all the stuff you need to saftely setup a good turbo system.....same with nitrous...

i had over $12,000 in my neon...it was faster then hell, but thats still more then $1,000

 

u know u wanna build another one! do it do it!

 

I need to clarify, nitrous or turbo, not both. I found some cool links similar to this subject on this forum. Such as the bolt-ons done by the mag Sport Compact. I found this very disappointing since it sounded like a lot of money. Even with mustangs, nothing compares to strapping on a power adder. I can always pay for cams, pistons and rods later. I like the idea of running 6lbs of boost or the idea of a 50hp shot of juice. Can these motors withstand this miniscule amount of power???

To be specific:
1) Who do you know that runs 13s in the Quarter mile in a neon and what setup do they use?

2)Who's running nitrous at all, because if it's no one, I'd love to be the first!

Check this link out. This car ran 11s with nitrous, but keep in mind, I only want a 13.
http://www.turbomagazine.com/feature...ged/index.html

 

you can get a fogger kit (i dont recommend them at all) but they are cheap, like 500 bucks. you will need a wot switch, ect for the nitrous to prevent you or someone from pushing the button while at dle and causing damage to your motor.

nitrous will be your best bet to get into the 13's for under 1k, turbo, well, your looking to spend at least that in just some of the parts. not to mention something to tune it with like a wideband, intercooler, pipes, bov, oil lines, fuel pump, ect ect.

i had 4k in my car including the 300.00 paintjob i did myself and i was only able to get a 13.7. a 75 shot with just a tid bit smaller fuel jet if you run a wet system is a good setup to get into the 13's, but you will have to do a bit of gutting of the neon, perhaps a pair of DOT's or full slicks to boot.
you have no other supporting mods to help in this, so i recommend alot of weight deduction to try and get your car down in the lower 2klb range. my car was 2250 and it was gutted other than the dash and drivers seat.
do not cheap out on going fast. if you do not have the money to play the game, save it to do it right.

 

Thats so true dazzellerr! $1K on a 4cyl wont get you as fast as $1K on a V8. Maybe 13s are impossible without at least $2K OR a Hahn racecraft kit. I may still try the nitrous though only because I always wanted to try it, and because I am in the mood to rebuild a shortblock! Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it.